As you approach DFM170 Introduction to Cinematography you will get an address confirmation email from our distribution center. The purpose of this email is make sure your address is correct and has not changed since your computer techkit shipment was received. After you've confirmed your address with our distribution center, your camera techkit will be queue for shipment and arrive shortly after.

Your camera techkit is shipped by our vendor, B&H Photo Video via FedEx.  The best way to be notified as soon as boxes ship is to download the FedEx app on your mobile device or sign up for an account on your computer.  Register for a free Delivery Manager account using the same address, telephone, and LAFS email you used to confirm with the LAFS Distribution Center.  Make sure to enable notifications. This will alert you when there is any activity with your boxes.

As soon as you receive your complete shipment—which will arrive over several days and consist of 15-18 boxes in total—make sure to inspect items immediately. You'll use the inventory checklist (link located on the menu bar) to help you account for the items you have and also note any damages. All damaged or missing items will need to be documented on the inventory checklist form within two weeks of receipt for the techkit support team to assist with getting these issues rectified.  Beyond 30 days of receiving your shipment, there are limited options with regards to how we can solve complex issues.

Every so often, the items that make up our techkits go through revisions or changes based on product availability and updates to the curriculum.  This means that your items may be slightly different than the items shown in course materials or a techkit video. If you have any questions about an item or cannot find training for it here, please feel free to reach out and setup a support session. We are happy to meet with you and get you up to speed on your techkit gear.

Adobe Creative Cloud comes with your active enrollment in the LAFS Digital Filmmaking Program.  If you have already created a personal Creative Cloud account prior to being an LAFS Digital Filmmaking student, you'll need to make sure to sign out of your personal profile and login using your LAFS.edu email and LMS password.  Many students try to install software using a personal email account and this will not allow access to all of the programs needed for your courses.  

To install Adobe Creative Cloud, please follow the student guide HERE.

Final Draft is an industry standard script writing software which is included with your LAFS Digital Filmmaking active enrollment.  When you recieve your first techkit (computer and accessories), you will also get an email from our distribution center containing the license code for Final Draft.  As with all LAFS correspondence, this is sent to your LAFS.edu student email and not your personal email account.  It is also posted on the LAFS student website HERE. Make sure to sign in to this site using your LAFS.edu email and LMS password to gain access to your student home page.  Then, scroll down the page and locate the heading in the right column labeled "SOFTWARE CODES".  Your license code is displayed here.

To install Final Draft, please follow the student guide at HERE.

If you are getting the "Invalid Customer Number" error when activating Final Draft, this can be solved by watching this video HERE.

Your Final Draft access code works for version 12. This is the version your should install. If you download a previous version of the software, the credential will not activate.

There are several ways to take a screenshot of your computer screen.

• Screenshot Widget (Take a still image or record screen video): Press and hold the COMMAND KEY, SHIFT KEY, and press the number 5. This opens the screenshot widget which will allow you to capture a still portion or the entire screen. You can also record a video of your screen from the options on the bottom of the screen.

• Quick Entire Screen:  Press and hold the COMMAND KEY, SHIFT KEY, and press the number 3. The screenshot will save on your desktop.

• Quick Area of Screen: Press and hold the COMMAND KEY, SHIFT KEY, and press the number 4. Notice your mouse arrow turns into a crosshair.  Use the mouse to click (hold down click) and drag around a specific area of your screen. When you are ready to take the screenshot of the area, release the mouse click and the screenshot will save on your desktop.

If you already own an iPhone, iPad, or other Apple product before entering the film program, please use your personal Apple ID when setting up your LAFS issued Apple devices.  The software that you will be using for the online filmmaking program is not associated with your Apple ID specifically.

Swank digital film library is a catalogue of curated films which will be referenced in your film courses.  You cannot sign in to Swank directly. To access Swank, it is important that you follow the steps below:

• Click on the link HERE.

• You will be prompted to LOGIN to the LMS. 

• Login to the LMS as you would normally using your LAFS credentials.

• After verifying your credentials, you will be re-directed to Swank Digital Campus.

• Choose a listing that you'd like to view and click "WATCH"