Realistic Page Count Estimation, Help for a New 2nd AD

Hey everyone,

I'm a 2nd AD, still fairly new to the game, and I'm really trying to fine-tune my understanding of how long scenes actually take to shoot. I’ve been reading up on common pitfalls, and ‘overly optimistic page counts’ keeps coming up as a big one. I totally get it, a scene that reads short can blow up in practical terms.

On my last project, an indie feature, we had some VFX heavy stuff shot on an ALEXA Mini where I was constantly underestimating setup and reset times. Even a simple dialogue scene with an AMIRA, a track, and a couple of PavoTube II 30X’s took longer than I’d anticipated.

My current approach is to break down scenes by shot types and complexity, but it still feels a bit theoretical sometimes. I'm wondering if there's a more practical, granular method that seasoned ADs use to really get a handle on time estimation.

What’s a good, practical way for a new AD to develop a more realistic sense of time estimation for different scene types, beyond just reading the script?