AV Equipment List Template and Method
By VJ Ries · Published 2026-07-12 · Updated 2026-08-01 · 10 min read
An AV equipment list (also called a gear list or pull sheet) is the counted set of every device, accessory and cable a show needs, detailed enough for the shop to pull it and the crew to check it in against the truck. Build it as columns: item, quantity, category, the device or run it serves, notes. Derive it from your signal-flow diagram instead of retyping it from memory, so nothing you designed gets left on the shelf. Then add spares and consumables as their own lines. One list then covers the shop pull, the load-in check and the cost basis at once.
What is an AV equipment list (gear list vs pull sheet vs packing list)?
Names blur in the field, and mostly that is fine. A gear list or equipment list is the count of everything a show needs; a pull sheet is that same list handed to the shop or warehouse to physically pull and stage. A packing list is narrower: what actually went into a specific case or road box, checked at the case rather than at the system. Same data. Different job at a different moment, so keep one master list and let the pull sheet and packing list be views of it, rather than retyped cousins that drift apart.
One thing the gear list is not: an asset inventory. It answers what this show needs, not what the company owns and where it sits. Serials belong in an asset system. So do purchase dates and depreciation. The show gear list stays a per-project document derived from the design, which keeps it small and current.
What columns does a gear list need?
Enough to pull, pack and check the item without a phone call. That is what each line has to carry, and it is when a gear list earns its keep. The set below is the working template. Trim to taste. But the shop needs a quantity and a clear name, and the crew needs to know what each item is for.
| Column | What it holds | Why it earns a column |
|---|---|---|
| Item / model | Manufacturer and model, named the same as on the diagram | One name per device across every document, or a tired crew reads synonyms as different gear |
| Quantity | Count needed for this show, spares counted separately | The number the shop pulls against |
| Category | Video, audio, network, power, rigging, cable, accessory | Lets you sort the pull by department and by case |
| Serves / location | The device, rack, position, or run this item supports | Turns a flat list into something you can check against the diagram |
| Owned / rented / sub | Where the item comes from for this show | Rental and sub-rental lines drive cost and return deadlines |
| Notes | Firmware, included accessories, known quirks, case number | The field for everything a stranger would otherwise radio you about |
Keep the item name canonical. The device is called the same thing on the signal-flow diagram and the cable schedule; same on the rack elevation and the gear list. Synonyms are how one camera quietly becomes two line items and one of them never ships.
Where the list should come from: the diagram, not a memory dump
Where it comes from is the difference between a gear list that is right and one that is merely typed. A list built from memory, or copied from the last similar show, inherits every omission of that memory and every mismatch of that show. A list derived from the design cannot forget a device the design contains, because every device that carries signal had to be placed to make a path work.
Which is the whole argument for pulling the gear list off the drawing instead of maintaining it by hand:
- Nothing drawn is forgotten. If the converter is on the drawing, it is on the list. The count stops depending on whether you remembered the glue gear at 1 a.m.
- Quantities are real, not guessed. Three cameras drawn is three cameras counted, plus the tally of every converter, DA, and cable the paths actually use.
- Change once, re-export. Move to a bigger switcher or add a record path, and the gear list updates from the same edit, so the drawing and the list never disagree.
WireFlow's gear list works exactly that way: every device you place on the diagram lands on an exportable equipment list automatically, grouped by category and counted. It re-derives whenever the design changes. The mechanics, and how to group and export the list, are in gear list from a diagram. The same project data also feeds the cable schedule and the rack elevations. The numbers agree because they share a source. Nobody reconciled them by hand.
How do you handle spares and consumables?
Backup for something you already carry, that is a spare: a spare camera body, a spare radio channel. A consumable is something you expect to use up or lose. Gaff tape. Batteries. Cable ties. The patch cables that walk off at every load-out. Both belong on the list as their own lines, rather than folded into the primary count, or the shop pulls one camera when you needed two and the reconciliation at strike lies to you.
Primary quantity on the drawing: 12 SDI cables of a given length Spare ratio you carry for that item: assume 15 percent (use your own failure history, not this number) Raw spares: 12 x 0.15 = 1.8 Round up to whole units: ceil(1.8) = 2 spare cables Gear list lines: 12 primary + 2 spare = 14 pulled, spares tracked as their own line
The ratio is a planning heuristic, not a spec. A critical single point of failure (the only switcher, the only encoder) is not sized by percentage: it gets a true one-for-one backup or a documented redundant path.
Weights and power draw: pull the numbers, do not guess them
Guessed wattage on a power plot becomes a tripped breaker. Guessed case weight becomes a rigging problem. A good transport or power plan often needs weights, power draw, current or heat figures. So if your gear list carries them, take those numbers from the manufacturer rather than estimating them. The list is a fine place to record these values. Not the place to invent them.
Keep the list in sync: one design, many documents
Rarely does a gear list travel alone. It is one document in the AV tech pack, sitting alongside the diagram, the cable schedule and the rack elevations; the pack only holds together when every document derives from the same design. Build the drawing once. Derive the gear list, the cable schedule and the rack views from it, then re-export the whole pack when the design changes. See exporting diagrams and tech packs for how the packet is assembled and revision-stamped.
Version the list the way you version everything else. Date it. Mark its state (pulled, issued, as-built). Let one person own the current revision. The as-built list, corrected for what actually shipped and what got sub-rented late, is the copy worth keeping: it is where the next show at that scale starts.
One list, three jobs: pull, check-in, and return
Three separate jobs at three moments, all from the same gear list, and it is worth being explicit about each so nothing falls between them:
- Pull (shop). The warehouse pulls against quantities and stages by category. Anything short or substituted is noted on the list before it leaves, not discovered on site.
- Check-in (load-in). The crew counts the truck against the list as it comes off, so a missing case is a phone call to the shop at load-in, when it can still be couriered, not a discovery during focus.
- Return (strike). Everything reconciles back against the list at strike: consumables used, spares deployed, gear damaged or lost, all captured while the show is still in the room. That is what makes the next budget and the next pull honest.
None of this needs special software; a clean spreadsheet run with discipline beats a fancy tool run carelessly, and what derivation buys you is that the list you pull, check and return against is the same list the design produced, so the count is right before anyone touches a case. For where the gear list sits in the wider prep timeline, work through the full AV preproduction checklist.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a gear list and a pull sheet?
- In practice they are the same data at two moments. The gear list is the master count of what the show needs; the pull sheet is that list handed to the shop or warehouse to physically pull and stage. Keep one source list and treat the pull sheet as a view of it, so a change to the design updates both instead of one.
- Is a gear list the same as an inventory?
- No. A gear list is a per-show document: what this build needs. An asset inventory is what a company owns (serials, values, locations) and it outlives any single show. A gear list can pull names from a device library. But it stays small and about the current project, rather than a register of everything in the warehouse.
- How do I make a gear list from a signal-flow diagram?
- Devices you place on the diagram each become a line item, so a port-aware tool can count them for you. In WireFlow the equipment list is derived from the placed devices automatically, grouped by category and exportable; it re-derives when the design changes. The manual equivalent is walking the finished drawing device by device, tallying each one into your columns. Converters and DAs included.
- How many spares should a gear list include?
- There is no universal number. Size spares from your own failure history rather than a rule of thumb. Consumable items like cable often carry a modest percentage buffer, while a critical single point of failure gets a true one-for-one backup or a documented redundant path instead of a percentage. Whatever you carry, list spares as their own lines so the primary count stays honest.
- Does WireFlow have a downloadable gear list template?
- WireFlow generates the equipment list from your diagram rather than handing you a blank spreadsheet. That is the point: the list comes from the design, already counted, instead of being maintained by hand. If you want to start from columns today, the set in this article is the working template. Copy it into a sheet. Or place your devices and export the derived list.
Pull your gear list from the diagram
Every device you place lands on an exportable equipment list automatically, nothing forgotten between the drawing and the truck.