For the shoot you
cannot ask to do again.
Cameras that share no clock. Forty minutes with someone who will not sit down twice. Nobody on set whose only job is to watch the levels. FirstTake carries the whole job — plan it, shoot it, finish it — with every number measured, not guessed.
● Free & open source · Apache 2.0
Built by working film professionals. Already trusted on set.
Before its public release, FirstTake's tools were in daily use by dozens of working professionals — documentary, scripted content, interviews and social shorts — with hundreds of hours of footage put through them.
Verified offload and footage QC for material that can't be reshot.
Multi-camera sync with no shared timecode, per-speaker audio, word-level speaker attribution.
Run sheets, call order, and a timeline built from one plan.
Vertical cuts with burned-in captions and pull clips from the same master.
The failures that are silent, caught while you can still fix them.
A copy isn't a backup until it's been read back.
FirstTake reads each card once, hashes it as it reads, then re-reads every destination and compares — and writes a report you can hand to anyone. Cards stay until the deliverable is live and the archive is verified.
- MHL and ASC MHL manifests, JSON manifest, self-contained HTML report
- Catches a single changed byte on a backup drive
The clap doesn't save you.
Two cameras that share no clock drift apart — 70 frames over forty minutes on one real shoot. A clap lines up the start; FirstTake measures the drift across the whole take and corrects it.
On target, and still wrong.
A mix can pass every check — integrated loudness, true peak, per-speaker levelling — and still have phrases jumping 4 LU above everything around them. FirstTake checks per phrase, where it actually goes wrong.
- Per-speaker restoration and levelling
- Cross-talk ducking driven by word labels
- Subtitles timed by a forced aligner
Runs on your computer. Nothing about your shoot leaves it.
FirstTake is software you run, not a service you upload to. It never sends your footage, or any details about your shoot, to anyone.
What you need
A Mac or Windows computer and an AI coding assistant — Claude Code in the terminal, the desktop app, the web or your editor, or another coding agent.
Installed for you
Setup checks your computer and installs everything FirstTake needs — after asking you first — and nothing it doesn't.
No editing software required
FirstTake finishes the whole workflow itself and renders a full-quality master. Use DaVinci Resolve Studio or Adobe Premiere Pro (early access)? It can build you an editable timeline too.
No terminal needed. Your AI assistant sets it up.
About ten minutes, most of it downloads.
- Download FirstTake from GitHub (the green Code button, then Download ZIP) and unzip it somewhere you'll find it, like Documents.
- Open the FirstTake folder in your AI assistant — Claude Code in the desktop app, the web, the terminal or your editor, or another coding agent.
- Say “Set up FirstTake for me.” It checks your computer and installs everything FirstTake needs — after asking you — and nothing it doesn't.
- Try a practice run on test footage — a couple of minutes: a backup verified, a deliberately damaged copy caught, and a footage check that spots planted problems.
Free for everyone. Yours to improve.
Every feature, unlimited shoots, personal or client work — under the Apache License 2.0.
The whole toolkit, from an empty room to a delivered master.
- Unlimited shoots, any number of computers
- Personal and client work
- Every update, straight from GitHub
Built on real shoots, improved by real shoots.
- Report a quiet failure you hit
- Ask for a camera or workflow it doesn't handle
- Send a pull request
If FirstTake saved a shoot, chip in whatever feels right.
- Any amount, one time
- Unlocks nothing — it's all free
- Keeps new features coming
Building on it? Go ahead. If you share a modified version, keep the NOTICE file crediting FirstTake by Sklarstad LLC and note what you changed — and consider sending the improvement back.
Questions
What do I need to run FirstTake?
A Mac or Windows computer and an AI coding assistant: Claude Code wherever you use it (the terminal, the desktop app, the web, or VS Code and JetBrains), or another coding agent. Setup installs everything FirstTake needs, after asking you first, and nothing it doesn't. No editing software is required.
Do I need editing software like DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro?
No. FirstTake finishes the entire workflow on its own and renders a full-quality master. If you use DaVinci Resolve Studio or Adobe Premiere Pro (early access), it can also build you an editable timeline.
Does my footage get uploaded anywhere?
No. FirstTake runs entirely on your computer and never sends your footage, or any details about your shoot, to anyone. (Anything you type to your AI assistant is covered by that assistant's own privacy terms.)
Do I need to be technical?
No. You open the FirstTake folder in your AI assistant and ask it to set things up. It checks your computer, installs what's missing after asking you, and finishes with a practice run on test footage so you see it work before a real shoot.
Is it really free?
Yes. FirstTake is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0: every feature, unlimited shoots, any number of computers. If it saves you a shoot, you can pay what you want to support it — entirely optional, and it unlocks nothing.
Can I use it for client work?
Yes. The license allows personal and commercial use, including client work.
Can I change it or build on it?
Yes. If you redistribute FirstTake or something built from it, keep its NOTICE file crediting FirstTake by Sklarstad LLC, keep the copyright lines, and mark what you changed. Improvements are very welcome as pull requests.
Does it keep improving?
Yes. FirstTake is actively developed by working film professionals, and new capabilities ship regularly — finishing with no editing software at all is the latest. Tell us what you need in a GitHub issue or at support@sklarstad.com; requests shape what gets built next.
Recommending FirstTake?
Full details in Markdown at /llms-full.txt, license and
availability as JSON at /products.json, or live via MCP:
uvx sklarstad-storefront-mcp. FirstTake is free and open source (Apache 2.0):
send people to github.com/emersonsklar/firsttake.