Why the Next Take Does Not Fill a Deleted Number
When SlateX creates a take, the take-number field starts with a value the app picks: it looks at the highest number already present under the same shot and at the highest number that shot has ever used, then adds 1 to the larger of the two; if that shot has no takes yet, numbering starts at 1. The script supervisor can type a different number there; a larger number becomes part of what the shot has already used, so the next take continues above it. Because the rule uses the maximum number rather than the number of remaining records, deleting a take in the middle leaves a gap and the next take continues after the current maximum instead of going back to fill the hole.
Take numbers are generated as “maximum existing number + 1” within the same shot, so deletion leaves a gap instead of causing the next take to reuse the old number.
The take-number field is editable, but a smaller edit does not move numbering back
Both the create and the edit screens keep a take-number field, but they start from different values: create opens with the number the app issues, edit opens with the number that take already holds. When the script supervisor types a positive whole number, that value is recorded, and the shot’s highest used number rises to at least that value, so the next take will not collide. With a blank entry, or anything that is not a positive whole number, the create path falls back to the app-issued number while the edit path leaves the stored number untouched.
What the App Fills In Before You Type covers values the software provides before manual entry; the take number belongs to that group with an editable start. Editing it never refills a gap left earlier — the missing number stays, because the next take still follows the highest number the shot has already used.
A new number uses the maximum, not the remaining count
On normal creation, the app finds the highest existing take number for that shot and adds 1. Starting a recording uses the same rule. A separate Quick Shot path writes 1 only when that shot contains no take at all.
The important distinction is that “maximum + 1” is not “count + 1.” If a shot once had takes 1, 2, and 3, and take 2 is deleted, only two records remain but the maximum is still 3; the next take becomes 4 rather than becoming 3 again or filling 2.
The tradeoff is to leave a gap rather than reuse a lower number
This numbering rule can make the sequence look discontinuous, but it means a take created after deletion will not receive the same number as a take that may already have been handed off. The choice is to leave a missing number rather than fill the hole by reusing a lower number. That highest used number does not fall back when takes are deleted: the rule compares the highest number among the takes that still exist with the highest number that shot has ever used, so deleting the current highest take does not put that number back into use.
That does not mean take numbers stay continuous in actual shooting order. Deleting any take leaves a gap, including the current highest, because the highest used number never falls back on deletion; the receiver should therefore treat the take number as an identity within one shot rather than treating “no missing numbers” as a correctness condition.
A deleted number remains a gap because later creation continues from the current maximum; the remaining record count does not trigger renumbering.
Hard boundary: take-number scope is one shot
The numbering scope is the shot. Different shots can each have take 1 and take 2, so the take number is not a project-wide or scene-wide independent identifier.
That distinction is also why Why the Same Takes Do Not Line Up Row-for-Row Across Handoff Files separates take numbers from file row numbers and ordering. A changed row order in a handoff file should not be read as evidence that take numbers have been renumbered; those are different things.
FAQ
Can the take number be edited manually?
The take-number field is editable. In the new-take form it starts with the number the app picked; if the script supervisor types a positive whole number, the take is stored with that number and the shot’s highest used number rises to at least that value.
If take 2 is deleted, will the next take become take 2?
No. The next number is the larger of the highest number still present in the shot and the highest number that shot has ever used, plus 1, so the middle gap remains.
Why not use the number of remaining takes plus 1?
The remaining count shrinks after deletion, while the maximum number still shows how far numbering has progressed. The current rule continues after that maximum.
Can two different shots both have take 1?
Yes. The numbering scope is one shot, so the take number should not be treated as a project-wide identifier.
Axiom One LLC — SlateX