SideTape

How it works

From script to self-tape

Add your script once. SideTape takes you from the first read to the take you send to casting.

  1. Add a script

    Scan the pages with your camera, choose photos, open a PDF or Word file, or paste text.

    SideTape finds the scenes, the characters and their lines. It removes page numbers and “CONT’D” marks, and joins speeches that run across pages.

  2. Check it and choose your part

    SideTape shows what it found and asks if it is right. Fix a name or a line, and undo if you change your mind.

    Then choose the part you are playing. SideTape marks your part in yellow.

  3. Choose who reads the other parts

    Each of the other characters needs a reader. You can mix them in one scene.

    • A phone voice. Ready at once, and nothing leaves this device.
    • Your own recording. Record the other lines yourself and play them back.
    • A friend’s recording. Send the scene to a friend who has SideTape. They record the lines and send them back.
    • An AI reader. Optional. SideTape asks before it sends the scene’s dialogue to make the audio. During the beta it uses the tester code you were sent.

  4. Learn lines

    Press Play to hear the scene. Slow it down if you need to.

    When you are ready, hide your lines in steps: Full, first Words, first Letters, then Hide. Add notes and highlights to remember a beat or a cue.

  5. Rehearse

    Say your lines out loud. SideTape listens on this device and brings the reader in when you finish each line.

    • Stuck? Say “Line” for a prompt or “Whole line” to hear it all.
    • Say “Go back”, “Cue again”, “From the top” or “Pause”.
    • With headphones, press once to pause, twice to move on and three times to go back.
    • Choose Natural rehearsal, which accepts everyday wording such as “gonna”, or Word-perfect.

    You can read a scene through once so SideTape learns how you say your lines. It is optional.

  6. Record a self-tape

    Set up your phone or iPad on its stand and find your mark. The reader plays underneath, from recordings or an AI reader you allow for that script, or someone reads live in the room.

    • The prompter follows you as you speak, so you can keep your eyes up.
    • Start and stop with your headphone button.
    • The take stops by itself a few seconds after the last line.
    • Trim the start and end, then export an MP4 with a file name ready for casting.

    Phone voices are not used in self-tapes.

Start with the sample scene

New to SideTape? Open the sample scene, “The last train”. Its two readers are built in, so you can press Play at once.

Ask to join the beta See all features