Wednesday 14 January 2009

Free scriptwriting programme


Am majorly distracted with finishing the script I mentioned last time. I have pasted it into a free programme called Celtx which is really great! It even has a storyboard facility which allows you to download images.

I have heard mention of printing glitches, but haven't got that far yet. I'll keep you posted. If it does work out it'll save me a packet.

Anyway, the script is either going to be a play or a sitcom, not sure which at this stage. It's been ages since I wrote a script, and I forgot how much fun it is. No more descriptive passages, it's all action and dialogue!

5 comments:

Tracy said...

I'd never heard of Sophocles or this new one, although I do have an early version of Final Draft.
Have fun writing your script.

I'm still ironing out a couple of things with my new computer but feel like I'm almost back to normal.
:)

Anonymous said...

Page2Stage is also free and very good.

Incidentally, where did you hear that Sophocles was bought?

Sandra Patterson said...

Thanks, JP. I found a useful discussion about the Sophocles demise here:
http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/showthread.php?t=42407

Do you have it? I recently got a competitive upgrade to MovieMagic Screenwriter for $100 and it seems pretty good too.

I've heard a few worrying complaints about Celtx losing files since I posted this. I had page2stage ages ago but it doesn't like Vista (in common with most programmes!)

Anonymous said...

Hi Sandra, I bought Sophocles a couple of years ago and still have the Beta version running on my laptop. I also have Page2Stage on my laptop and it doesn't have any problems with Vista. I do keep Vista up to date though, all patches and everything.

I also read the donedealpro forums (and contributed) but I believe the 'sale' speculation was put to bed by Tim's brother on the same site where there was a 'fix' for Sophocles.

Sandra Patterson said...

Hi JP, my problems with Sophocles date from getting my (Vista) laptop. I tried the add-on at the time but still couldn't get Sophocles to work. It didn't matter then as I was novel writing anyway so I just let it lie. It's only recently I've gone back to it.
It's a shame to hear about Tim's problems, but in the end I decided it's best to have a reliable programme. There's nothing worse than doing a load of work and then losing it or not being able to access it, is there? The main screenwriting programmes (MM and FD)are industry standard and so have to keep up with the current operating systems. I suppose that's why you have to pay so much more for them, but at least you know a few years down the line they won't disappear or become ridden with incompatibility problems.
But I miss Sophocles. It was a terrific programme.