NYC Midnight : Creative Writing & Screenwriting Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > GENERAL DISCUSSION > Screenwriting Bar & Lounge
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - So, I need a new screenwriting tool/software rec
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

So, I need a new screenwriting tool/software rec

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 456
Author
Message
DContara View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 08 Oct 2019
Status: Offline
Points: 1733
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote DContara Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2019 at 7:50pm
Originally posted by Winer Winer wrote:

I am using Scrivener and love it. I already own it and it's like half or less the cost of Final Draft (which I used about 10 years ago). It works great and has a lot of features for big projects! It's also good for transcribing interviews. =)

Full disclosure: I am on an old Mac (2009) running High Sierra. When I upgrade to a new machine, the version of Scrivener I used for this challenge won't work (2.8.1), so I will have to upgrade (>3.0). I fully expect the new Scrivener to work as well as this ancient one.

I had no idea there were as many screenwriting options out there!


My transition from Scrivener 2 to 3 was seamless, although I use it only for fiction and not for scriptwriting. You’ll love the cleaner interface and the simplified compile options. Also keep in mind that as an owner of v2 you will be entitled to a discount on v3. By the way, Scrivener 3 should work with High Sierra, although if you are considering a new machine anyway, you should probably wait for the hardware upgrade and start clean and reliably from there, rather than slowing down an old machine further Smile
Back to Top
Suave View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2015
Location: Thailand
Status: Offline
Points: 25027
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Nov 2019 at 3:49am
I started with Fade In and liked it - the free version.  When I came up against the wall of free limitations I did a trial of Final Draft and it was ok, then they made me a special offer I could not refuse, so I bought the FD.  Now, I am going to say that I like the FD - the only thing I would caution someone about is that they better make sure to set up the file handling and startup really well if they are going to work on more than one project at a time.  I went with the product settings for the first contest and ended up submitting the wrong version of my entry.  After that snafu, I am a crazy person for wanting multi saved copies, I went into the settings and made it so that no-longer did FD start up on what I last saved - it comes up blank and I have to go and find the file I want to open.  I also did not like them selling me the program then doing an update and wanting me to pay them another $80 within months - they said too bad when I complained.


Edited by Suave - 24 Nov 2019 at 3:49am
Back to Top
Andrea View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt


Joined: 27 Jul 2016
Location: California
Status: Offline
Points: 1631
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Nov 2019 at 11:18am
Suave, I will say that I've had FD since their inception. I wanted to put in a good word for them because I have always found them to be fair, and I've also found their bookkeeping and customer service top notch. They've managed to keep track of me in their system, so when I've gone for long stretches (years) without using FD only to come back and find I needed to put it on a new computer (using a CD for a computer that didn't have one) they were able to find me and help me download. They are great. I cannot comment on the upgrade cost problem, but I've been very pleased. 
Back to Top
DContara View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 08 Oct 2019
Status: Offline
Points: 1733
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DContara Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 1:15am
After a month writing fiction on Scrivener for NaNoWriMo (yes! I did it!), I opened WriterDuet today to start practicing for next weekend’s 2nd challenge of the Short Screenplay contest. It welcomed me with a Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer for a $7.99/month subscription instead of the regular $11.99/month. As I used the free projects for the 1st challenge and was considering the subscription anyway, that was very timely Smile

For those of you out there considering a WD subscription, you might save some $ by looking into it this weekend!
Back to Top
Maiasatara View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Groupie
NYC Midnight Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 26 Oct 2011
Location: Massachusetts
Status: Offline
Points: 202
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Maiasatara Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 3:01pm
I’ve only ever used Movie Magic Screenwriter from my first screenwriting class and all through film school to today. My purchase price got me free updates but I’m not sure whether they do what MS does that I HATE which is basically rent you software forever. I love MM because obviously all the formatting is DONE (and it has sample TV templates - many outdated but I haven’t upgraded in a while.) You can choose either very easy keyboard shortcuts or right click of mouse to access shortcuts (like calling up already typed characters or locations, auto formatting parentheticals and dialogue that carries over pages with ability to cheat orphans.) It even learns words that are unique to your script. Export to PDF and other formats is really easy and the Title Page Generator is kept separate from page numbering. Though I STILL wish we could submit directly in MM formatted docs because I’ve had tiny issues with font sizes on the title page when converting. Inevitably it’s at 11:55pm when Adobe decides to blow up my log line to a font 30 points larger than everything else on the title page. Anyway, good luck!
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 456

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.05
Copyright ©2001-2022 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.141 seconds.