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OpenBID Client is a Google Sheets-based VFX bidding template for production-side supervisors and producers. It helps teams send bid breakdowns, compare vendor bids, create VFX tech memos, and manage NDAs.

Install the OpenBID Studio Google Sheets add-on first. Then use the information icons inside the spreadsheet to access setup videos and how-to guidance.

Use the Create new bid breakdowns menu item.

Send the vendor the main bid breakdown as usual, then make a manual copy of the spreadsheet you sent. Rename the copy so you can identify what it represents, then paste its URL below the other URLs in the Bid History list on the Overview tab.

The main tabs include Cover Sheet, Overview, Shot Bid Breakdown, Asset Bid Breakdown, Add Vendors, NDA Template, and Vendor Shot or Asset Bids.

Add your project details, enter shots and approximate assets, add vendor email addresses, send NDAs with our Google e-signature template, assign vendors to the relevant line items, and then use the Send Bid Breakdown menu item.

Yes. You can customize the sheet, but avoid renaming tabs if you want full compatibility with the OpenBID add-on.

You can vote on features here, submit FAQ questions here, mention help.group@vfx2.com in comments, or join the OpenBID Google Group.

OpenBID was created by Marcus LeVere, a VFX supervisor. You can connect through LinkedIn.

OpenBID Vendor Portfolio is an extension for managing multiple OpenBID Vendor spreadsheets, crew planning, cash flow, and staffing visibility across bids.

Name your Profit Plan, add your OpenBID URLs, group those bids into Profit Planner spreadsheets, set the project start date, and enter your initial department sizes.

Common tabs include Summary, Grand Totals, Bid Rates, Asset Bid Breakdown, Shot Templates, Shot Breakdown, Totals, Payment Schedule and Cash Flow, Crew Plan, and OpenAI Integration.

The Summary tab pulls data from Grand Totals to create a clean, client-ready overview of the bid.

Enter rates, overhead per day, default markup, and the client budget in the Bid Rates tab. You can also set department-specific values and on-set supervisor or data wrangler costs.

Yes. You can build shot templates directly in the sheet or import them from another spreadsheet.

Add each asset with a thumbnail, description, type, and difficulty. OpenBID then helps you bid the asset and flags duplicate names or missing entries.

Enter shot IDs, apply templates, and complete the relevant bid data. The sheet can also flag duplicate shot names and support thumbnails and YouTube chapter references.

Use OpenBID Studio to prepare the bid for presentation, or export it as a PDF. Review the actual file and sharing permissions before sending. Hidden tabs are not an access-control boundary; share a reviewed export or a separate copy containing only information the recipient should receive.

The compute field is a flexible placeholder for costs such as rendering or other custom calculations.

Yes. You can rename department disciplines on the Bid Rates tab, and blank departments are allowed.

The template supports up to 16 department slots. You can rename those slots, but adding more than 16 is not supported in the current setup.

Yes. Add your own formulas in empty cells on Grand Totals or anywhere else you want to show additional currency conversions.

The recommended workflow is one episode per spreadsheet, then a portfolio or profit planner sheet to combine all episodes.

Create a zero-cost asset in the later episode sheet and link the asset name back to the original spreadsheet, instead of duplicating the full cost.

Use the cuts column to scale a line item across multiple assumed shots.

For shots, use hidden column CN to track locations and split the number of cuts across duplicate shot rows. For assets, use column BF and split work into sub-assets by location. If your setup becomes too complex, separate sheets are usually easier to manage.

Those numbers usually come from spreadsheet notes. In the Google Sheets print sidebar, open Formatting and turn off notes.

Open any Google Sheet and launch OpenBID from the Extensions menu.

Check whether the image URL can be accessed by the spreadsheet's image function. Do not make confidential production images public to fix a thumbnail. Use an approved sharing method for your project, or ask the OpenBID community about a workflow that meets your access requirements.

Adding or inserting rows can affect named ranges and template formulas. Compare the affected cells with a clean copy of your template, use the provided filter views where possible, and follow the in-sheet guidance for your version before changing its structure.

Run Undo Prep for Client first to reveal all columns, then use Export to ShotGrid again.

Check the hidden Export Shots and Export Assets tabs and repair the broken formulas before exporting again.

Read the specific warning and review the referenced functions, links, and requested access before continuing. If the message is unexpected, ask the OpenBID community for help with your template version and remove sensitive information from any screenshot you share.

The template name is usually not being referenced correctly. Link the template cell to the correct Shot Templates cell, for example ='SHOT TEMPLATES'!$F$6.

Only the content entered into the GPT() or DALLE() custom function is sent to OpenAI. OpenBID does not store or intercept spreadsheet content for those requests.

OpenAI was the first AI provider added to OpenBID. Other LLM providers are not currently built into the template.

OpenBID tracks add-on menu usage and basic operational error logging. It does not read spreadsheet contents for general usage analytics. You can review the latest details in the Privacy Policy.