iPads have made a lot of people's lives easierand not just by giving them a larger screen on which to watch movies and play Candy Crush. There are plenty of apps out there that help filmmakers complete their work faster and with greater control, and if you don't know what these apps are, then today is your lucky day. The team over at Film Riot have named a couple that can not only help you more quickly accomplish certain tedious tasks in post, like masking, but also help you gain more control when fine-tuning certain areas in your timeline.


I've had an iPad for a while, but I have yet to really look into its potential as a cinematic tool. However, the two apps host Ryan Connolly mentions in the video certainly provide a strong case for using an iPad on film projects for those, like me, who haven't thought to do so yet.

Astropad

The first app Connolly talks about is Astropad, which is a $30 app that allows you to mirror your Mac workspace with your iPad so you can take advantage of its touchscreen feature. Essentially, once you sync your iPad to your Mac, you can use it like a Wacom tablet to do a number of different things in post, like create masks, a zillion times faster. All you really need is a stylus to get going.

CTRL+Console

CTRL+Console turns your iPad into a touchscreen console for Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and other post-production programs. With it your iPad becomes a powerful extension of your workspace, one that gives you a tactile experience sans mouse. You can add gesture controls, choose which consoles you want, and not have to worry about lag. It's free to download, but in order to get the console you want (Premiere, Final Cut, etc.), you'll have to fork over $30 for the editor and $5 for the controller.

Have you ever used Astropad or CTRL+Console? Do you think they're worth the money? What are some iPad apps that you think filmmakers should check out? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Film Riot