Circle, Keep, Hold, and N/G Explained

In on-set record language, Circle generally marks the take explicitly selected by the director, Keep is a usable alternative, Hold means keep the take pending a final judgment, and N/G marks a rejected take. SlateX displays those working terms, but the interface label, the delivered text and the words people use on set are not always the same, so do not infer a meaning from one field name alone.

First establish whether you are reading an interface label or a delivery field — the same mark can be named differently in the two places.

Start with the on-set meaning of the four labels

Circle is the explicitly selected take. Keep is an alternative worth retaining. Hold means the take is being kept while the judgment remains unsettled. N/G means the take is not accepted.

These are working production terms rather than terminology invented by SlateX. The app records those judgments and maps them into its own UI, storage, and handoff fields.

That is why the labels should not be rewritten into an invented score system. What matters is the working meaning of each status and where that status is represented in a particular handoff.

One mark, two places: the interface label and the delivery text

The four marks you read on screen and in the paperwork are Circle, Keep, Hold and N/G. Interface labels come from localized strings, so another language shows its own terms, while the rating text written into delivered files stays fixed English. The easy trap is the neighbouring pair: Keep and Hold are two different marks — match the English literals in the file rather than guessing from a spoken language.

An outward explanation therefore cannot translate a name used inside the app literally and assume it has reproduced the on-set term. The meaning has to follow the labels used in the interface and the handoff, not a name used inside the app.

Delivered rating text also uses fixed English status labels. A different interface language should not be interpreted as proof that the handoff will translate those status strings.

All three handoff files carry the mark, but not with the same test

The ALE now carries two rating columns: Rating holds the on-set label — Circle, Keep, Hold, N/G, empty when a take was never marked — and Circled take holds TRUE or FALSE. A receiver can read which mark a take carried straight out of the ALE, without asking the supervisor.

The CSV carries the same text Rating, plus two TRUE/FALSE columns that do not agree with each other. Circle reads TRUE only for a take labelled Circle. The appended Circled On Set uses the same test as the ALE’s Circled take: on-set circled covers both Circle and Keep, so a Keep take reads back as TRUE there. The Daily Log PDF header has its own rating column too. All three surfacing the mark does not make them say the same thing — read the column name before treating two TRUE/FALSE columns as synonyms.

The useful question is therefore format-specific: does this file have a status field, and what rule turns the on-set mark into that column?

The CSV Circle column is narrower than Rating

The CSV also contains a TRUE/FALSE Circle column. It is TRUE only for the rating that displays as Circle; the other states are FALSE.

That means a Keep take reads FALSE in the Circle column. This does not erase the meaning of Keep; it only shows that this column tests a narrower condition than the full rating.

In the handoff the question “was this circled on set” is answered by the Circled On Set column — on-set circled covers both Circle and Keep — while the Circle column keeps the narrow rule and writes TRUE only for the Circle rating. To reconstruct the full take status, read the text Rating together with the rule of each of those two columns rather than treating Circle=TRUE/FALSE as the whole status model.

For why the two columns diverge and how each one is derived, see Why CSV Has Both Rating and Circle—and Why They Can Disagree.

Rating carries the full text label. The CSV Circle field is only a narrower derived condition.

One Circle per shot holds; the pages display it differently

Setting a take to Circle demotes an existing Circle under the same shot to Keep. The demotion does not depend on where you save: the take list, the new-take form and the edit sheet all write through the same path, so one shot does not keep two Circle takes.

A demotion is not status-only: in the same write the rating level moves down with it (Circle steps down to Keep), while other fields are untouched and nothing crosses shots — a Circle under another shot is left alone.

Different screens can also present the same status differently: the take-list icon and the statistics and representative-media ordering in the associated reference area each follow their own rule. Troubleshooting should begin by identifying which rule the current view follows, then compare that view with the handoff column by column.

FAQ

Which label means the take was explicitly selected?

Circle is the explicitly selected take. Keep is a usable alternative, Hold is retained pending judgment, and N/G is rejected.

Why does the spoken word for keep not match Hold in the paperwork?

Because outward there is one set of names: Keep and Hold are two neighbouring marks, and the delivery text uses the same words as the interface. Match those literals rather than translating a spoken term or a field name.

Can the ALE tell a receiver which take was Circle?

It tells you the mark: read Rating. Do not read Circled take as the circled-with-a-circle flag — its test is on-set circled, which is TRUE for Keep as well as Circle. To reconstruct which take was actually circled, rely on the Rating text, and say the choice out loud to the cutting room from the Daily Log.

Why is a Keep take FALSE in the CSV Circle column?

Because the Circle column tests only the Circle rating. Keep remains visible in the text Rating, while the narrower condition evaluates to FALSE.

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