[CLZ News] Sneak preview: cast/crew/creator/character editing in CLZ Comics/Movies and Comic/Movie Connect!

CLZ Alwin here, with the CLZ Newsletter for June 2023. And it is a bit of a strange one, because we did not do ANY software updates this month (apart from some small bug fixes for the Windows versions and one bug fix build for CLZ Comics iOS).

The reason is simple: the entire dev team is working on a major project for our movie and comic tools, a project that we have been postponing for many years, because of the complexity and the enormous amount of work. But we have finally started on it:

The ability to add and edit cast and crew lists in the CLZ Movies mobile app and the Movie Connect web-based software. Similarly, the adding and editing of creator and character lists in CLZ Comics and Comic Connect. And of course, the syncing of these custom lists through the CLZ Cloud.

So let’s use this newsletter for a nice sneak preview of these updates:

• Sneak Preview: Creators / Characters editing in CLZ Comics
• Sneak Preview: Cast / Crew editing in CLZ Movies
• Coming up: similar updates for Movie Connect / Comic Connect
• What about Movie Collector / Comic Collector for Windows?
• ETA?

Sneak Preview: Creators / Characters editing in CLZ Comics

Here’s a sneak preview of the Creators editing in the CLZ Comics mobile app (on the new “Creators” tab in the Edit Comic screen).

By default, all your comics will use the automatic Creator list from our Core online comic database. If you want to edit and customize the list, just toggle it to “Custom Creators” at the top. Then you will be able to re-order, edit, add and remove creator entries.

Adding creators is super-easy and requires a minimum of typing. Just tap “Add Creator” at the bottom, select the creator type (e.g. Cover Artist). Then the Find Cover Artist screen lets you search our Core creator list, using a “search as you type” search tool. Typing just a few letters usually give you the creator you were looking for.

For example, in the screenshot below, typing just “adams” gives you Neal Adams at the top. Tap his name to add him to the creator list as the Cover Artist. Quick, easy and no typos!

Sneak Preview: Cast / Crew editing in CLZ Movies

Here’s a sneak preview of the Cast editing in the CLZ Movies mobile app (on the new “Cast” tab in the Edit Movie screen).

By default, all your movies will use the automatic Cast list from our Core online movie database. If you want to edit and customize the list, just toggle it to “Custom Cast” at the top. Then you will be able to re-order, edit, add and remove cast members

Adding cast members is super-easy and requires a minimum of typing. The Find Actor screen lets you search our Core actor list, using a “search as you type” search tool. Typing just a few letters usually give you the actor you were looking for.

For example, in the screenshot below, typing just “busc” gives you Steve Buscemi at the top. Tap his name to add him to the cast list. Quick, easy and no typos!

Coming up: similar updates for Movie Connect / Comic Connect

Yes, the customizing of cast/crew lists and creator/character lists is also coming to the Connect web-based editions.

The above sneak preview screenshots are for the CLZ mobile apps, but the user interface for Movie Connect and Comic Connect will be quite similar, of course designed for the big screen of your computer.
Same Custom list toggle, similar editing tables, and the same super-quick Core lookups for persons!

What about Movie Collector / Comic Collector for Windows?

Now… the desktop versions of Movie Collector and Comic Collector have of course allowed custom cast, crew, creator and character lists for years. But still, we have big updates coming up for these Windows editions too!

Obviously, the main thing that will be added here is the ability to SYNC those custom lists to the CLZ Cloud, so that you can finally get your own modifications to your CLZ mobile app, the CLZ Cloud site and maybe your Connect web-based software.

Maybe this will even pave the way to finally switching over to Connect?

Also, we will be bringing the new Core person lookup screens to the Collector desktop software, so that adding actors, directors, creators and characters to your custom lists will become much easier and more accurate.

ETA?

So… when is this all coming?
This is a tough one, as this is a complex project, both in terms of the technical complexities, but also regarding the UI/UX design. At the moment, the technical hurdles have all been tackled (we think), but we are still doing constant tweaks to the UI (in fact, we had a huge epiphany about the crew and creator editing just yesterday).

Currently, the movie products (Movie Connect, CLZ Movies and Movie Collector) are closest to release, because we started with those. My best guess for these would be: within 4 weeks.

The development of the comic tools is a bit behind, but with the experience of the movie editions, we expect these to follow 3 or 4 weeks later, say within 2 months.

It’s a long wait, I know, but I guarantee it will be worth it!

Enjoy!