How to import availability from Google Calendar

This page is written for the person who received an availability request, so a coordinator can forward it as-is. The Google Calendar import only reads busy and free times to fill in the form. It doesn't add anything to your calendar and it doesn't keep syncing.

Steps

1. Open the availability link from the production's email.
2. Check Timezone at the top of the form, next to Production Hours and Shooting Dates.
3. Under Select Available Times, click Sync with Google Calendar.
4. Sign in to Google in the popup and allow calendar access.
5. In Select Calendars, untick anything that shouldn't block time, like a shared family calendar or a birthdays calendar. All calendars start ticked.
6. Choose a Buffer Time: No buffer, 15 minutes, 30 minutes (the default), or 45 minutes. The buffer is added before and after each event.
7. Click Sync Selected Calendars. Calendar Sync Complete tells you how many time slots were marked available.
8. Look over the grid and drag to change anything the calendar got wrong.
9. Click Submit Availability.

How the grid gets filled

The form covers every day from the first to the last shooting date, split into 15-minute slots across the production's hours. A slot is marked available when it doesn't overlap any busy event once the buffer is added.

For example, with hours of 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, a day has 48 slots. A 2:00 to 3:00 PM appointment with a 30-minute buffer blocks 1:30 to 3:30 PM, which is 8 slots, leaving 40 available.

Syncing replaces the whole grid, including anything you selected by hand, so sync first and adjust afterward.

If it doesn't work

• Nothing happens after clicking: your browser probably blocked the popup. Allow popups for the page and click again.
• "Authentication Failed" means sign-in was cancelled or access wasn't allowed. Try again and approve calendar access.
• An event didn't block time? In Google Calendar, events set to show you as Available instead of Busy don't count.
• Using Outlook or Apple Calendar? The sync only works with Google. Select times by hand, or tell the production, who can enter availability from a calendar screenshot.
• "Sync Failed" is usually a connection drop. Reload the page and sync again.

Production-side setup is in how to send availability requests, and the Google Calendar integration page lists what the import does and doesn't read.