Final Draft 8
I recently reviewed Final Draft 8, the screenwriting software, for MacUser UK magazine. Besides viewing the review in the magazine (available in all good newsagents) you can now also view it online at the MacUser site. Click here to read Ben Frain’s review of Final Draft 8 at MacUser UK.
If you can’t hear any sound using Windows 7, the chances are, if everything driver wise is installed correctly, your audio playback device is configured to ‘headphones’ instead of ’speakers’. You can check this by right-clicking the sound icon (bottom right of the Taskbar) and choosing ‘Open Volume Mixer’. Now play some audio (just click a video on youtube.com). If the green bars jump up and down everything is configured correctly, you just need to change the default playback device. Right click the sound icon again and choose ‘Playback devices’ from the resultant menu. You’ll then see this window:
Playback devices in Windows 7
When I’m using Windows I like to use the Quick Launch. You know, the section next to the Start button where you can stack commonly used short cuts to launch your programs. Here is what it looks like on my Windows 7…
Windows 7 Quick Launch
Windows 7, by default doesn’t have it. Thankfully it can be added fairly easily with a little jiggery pockery. Here’s how:
1. Unlock the Taskbar by right clicking on it and untick the ‘Lock the taskbar’ option.
2. Right click and empty area of the toolbar and choose Toolbars > New Toolbar
3. In the address bar at the top of the resultant window copy and paste this text in: %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch You will need to highlight everything already in the box and then press enter. Now click the ‘Select Folder’ button at the bottom of the Window. The ‘Quick Launch’ text will now appear over on the right of the Taskbar
4. To get the Taskbar to the left (as it is in XP etc) drag the dotted line to the left of it e.g.
until it is right over on the left.
5. Now we just need it to show the icons, so right click in the Quick Launch area and unselect ‘Show Text’ and ‘Show Title’
6. If you want larger icons, right-click the Quick Launch and choose View > Large Icons.
If you are searching around in Windows 7 RC to find a mail client or photo editing application - it’s not there. Not by default anyway. To get these applications, click Start, then type ‘essentials’ and then click the first link - ‘go online to get windows live essentials’. Alternatively, just open Internet Explorer and paste ‘http://download.live.com/wlmail‘ into the browser.
Then just click download and pick one or all of the applications to download and install. Voila!
NOTE: If you’ve been using Windows XP and Outlook Express and your struggling to find out how to import mail into Windows 7 because you can’t find the option on the interface, you need to click the ’show menu bar’ option by clicking here:
click the middle icon and choose 'show menu bar'
I’ve long bemoaned Windows for being, well Windows. The level of infuriation the various versions have given me over the years has caused me to utter it’s name in contempt more often than is healthy.
However, I’ve recently been test driving the new Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC). And, I’m very impressed. Unlike Vista it’s nice and zippy, the God awful Gadgets are gone (one of the many things robbed and poorly implemented from Mac OSX) and it actually has some really nice features. Further more, it’s running on my test system with just 1GB memory without any grumbles.
I’ll add further posts shortly, as I’ve already had to figure out a few little tweaks to get things set-up how I like them (like adding a Quick Launch to the Taskbar and adding Windows Mail) but this bodes very well for the final product, rumoured to be shipping in October. Interested in trying it for yourself? Head over to the Microsoft site to download Windows 7 Release Candidate
What’s the best screenwriting software? The answer used to be simple. Despite the cost, if you wanted a properly formatted screenplay, TV script or radio play you either used Movie Magic Screenwriter or Final Draft. These days there’s lots more choice, and at much cheaper prices.
Both Final Draft and Screenwriter weigh in at around $199 - $250 so it’s not exactly small change if you aren’t a professional screenwriter and fancy a dabble. Here then, is my round-up of what programs I know of at present that do all the screenplay formatting for you:
Final Draft - currently at version 8, runs on both Mac and Windows with scripts cross compatible. Along with Screenwriter, this is as close to an industry standard as you are going to get. However, at around $250 it’s perhaps overkill for hobbyists. You get both Windows and Mac versions for your money which is useful if you have machines on each platform. Due to Windows lacking the ability to do a distraction free full screen mode (where everything except the page and the cursor is faded into the background) the application isn’t quite as nice to work with as some of the OSX specific programs. Feature wise, along with Screenwriter, it’s as advanced as screenplay software gets.
Screenwriter - currently at version 6 (and on sale at $199), runs on both Mac and Windows with scripts cross compatible. Level pegging with Final Draft in terms of features and installed user base (both get used in the professional industry although Final Draft perhaps has the edge now). Again, the expense of the program means hobbyists may want to look elsewhere. However, this is a powerful fully featured application (complete with production tools that most writers will sadly never need) if you don’t mind stumping up the cash. You can read my full review of this product at the MacUser site.
Montage - currently at version 1.5.2. The is available only on Mac OSX. Because of this, Montage has a few nifty features like the distraction free mode mentioned above. It’s a slick looking program and does everything the average writer is likely to need. Doesn’t have the industry acceptance that Final Draft or Screenwriter does but then, until you have a 3-picture deal lined up - does it really matter? It’s not cheap at $139 but it’s a substantial saving over Final Draft or Screenwriter. It also imports Final Draft files directly, which can be useful…
Celtx - currently at version 2.01. This is FREE. Once more for the people in the cheap seats: FREE! Based on Mozilla code this is a cross platform (not just Windows and Mac, it also runs on Linux and eeePC). If you’re taking your first foray into screenwriting and simply need something that will get the job done, I’d encourage you to start here. It isn’t the finest piece of software but as it costs you nothing, you’d be rude to grumble, no? Make sure you donate if you end up using it.
Movie Outline - currently version 3.05. This is another dual platform title (Mac and Windows) and evolved from a simple step outline or ‘beat sheet’ tool. This is the process of building your screenplay from simple one line story ‘beats’ e.g. for Die Hard: 1. John McClane flies to LA 2. Meets wife and has strained conversation etc all the way through to 499. Yippee Kiyay Motherfunster. It still features this methodology but also works as a complete script formatter. If you build your screenplays in this manner, this would be a good application to use. However, it weighs in at $214 so not cheap.
Scrivener is a bargain ($39) Mac OSX only writing application, currently at version 1.5.1. It primarily caters for novels and other styles of creative writing and has the screenplay editor almost as an afterthought. However, it is perfectly usable for basic scripting and the variety of other tools means it’s a fantastic application to build ideas up with. The screenwriting part of the application handles all the usual page layout necessities but lacks the fancy scene navigation/character tracking found in the more expensive applications. It also has my current favourite feature, the distraction free mode, which Montage is the only other screenwriting program to feature (again, thanks to being OSX only).
Online tools - there’s now a few online tools that enable you to format your script online. If you are interested in an online solution, check out Scriptbuddy, Zhura and Scripped
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