Hi Everybody,

I recently started researching screenwriting software and want to share some of my findings.

Celtx is mentioned several places on this board, and I did give it a try, but some aspects of
the software made me a little uncomfortable. I don't really want to save my script online,
and I'm not looking for a collaborative environment, as I plan on writing and developing my
original idea by myself for now. So I kept looking. It seems that "Final Draft 8" is the industry
standard, but at $250 I wanted to find a more cost effective solution. Also, I'm a programmer
by trade, so an open-source screenwriting package gives me both peace of mind and
ability to modify the software if I feel it lacking someplace.

With that in mind, I found a solution called "Trelby." It was written by an engineer who felt
Celtx didn't quite fit his needs, and IMHO Trelby seems to surpass Celtx's capability for writing.
Trelby does not have integrated media. For that need (eg. comic book storyboards) Celtx seems superior.

I did download the Trelby source code, and managed to build my own Windows distribution locally.
Trelby seems to be quite a useful piece of software, and so I'm sharing with you now.
I'm still quite new to screenwriting, but so far this seems to fill my need.
Trelby can import Text, Celtx, Final Draft, Fountain and Fade-In.
Trelby can export scripts in PDF, RTF, Final Draft XML, HTML, Fountain and Formatted Text.

If any of you have experience with Trelby, please share it. I would love to hear your opinions, good or bad.

Regular Trelby distributions for Windows, Linux and a MacOS-beta can be downloaded from their official site: http://www.trelby.org
For those of you
who are Python programmers, the GPL source code is online at github here:
https://github.com/oskusalerma/trelby

Also I found an interesting write-up on Trelby here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/trelby-free-screenplay-writing-software-windows-linux/

Finally, I found some really good concise notes taken from "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier.
You can read those notes here: http://www.monarchknights.com/teacherwebpages/tiernan/documents/ImportantScreenplayNotes.pdf


I hope you find this info useful.

-Lee

that's funny, i have celtix and i don't have to save online. Maybe the newest version makes you do that.

but, thanks for the heads up on Trelby.

Gamer, Lover, Filmmaker

Celtix online workspace is an option, but you are not required to use it as far as I know. There were some other things I didn't like about Celtix, which made me decide to buy Movie Magic Screenwriter.

Trelby may be a good alternative when you just start out. I like the fact it has PDF creation built in, something that Celtix lacked when I tried it.

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might be nice if Reallusion made some software that integrated with iclone and cta for screenwriting / storyboarding.

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With some tweaking RL could recreate something like FrameForge at an attractive price.

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Lol :w00t: if RL made one, it would cost at least a $100.00 and have a lot of work arounds in it.

Gamer, Lover, Filmmaker

Yes, but FrameForge is between $300 and $500, or so...;)

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hypothetically speaking, if reallusion made a screenwriting program - from reading this thread - there would be 2 modes - one for a person to work in a group ( over the net with a server like they did for widget cast would be cool to exchange projects ) - and one in solo mode ?

I'm interested in this because I've been trying to come up with ways to collaborate with other people ...some that own iclone and some that don't - so far my closest game plan to this was not screenwriting software but the google docs "Presentation" which is very much like microsoft powerpoint

I liked it because you could embed youtube videos, links, zip files, pictures or text and invite others to update / share / exchange ideas and each project would have custom permissions, so thats nice for organizing multiple teams / projects.

I'm still new to the whole screenwriting thing, but I understand the concept and wanted to make something that my non techie friends could use too - like for example , embed youtube videos into the presentation for ideas / directions to film. And maybe another would be an editor downloading clips as we go along. etc

I thought it would be fun to run with this topic and discreetly pick everyone's brain on how to properly use screenwriting software and what makes a good team or solo environment screenwriting workflow! lol :cool:


what tools, features are critical "make it or break it" tools for you guys in screenwriting / storyboarding software ?

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You'll laugh but my sboards are done in Publisher. The main reason is that theres a virtual desktop and I can splatter all my ideas and rough takes/stills on its' virtual desktop without invading the actual "Paper/Board" being able to flicker through hundreds of pages and insert the ideas as and when I engineer a way to include them. Also it saves the state of the desktop for when I reopen it all and there it is, an idea splash of everything. Even if it does look like clutter. :D :P

I'm completely intrigued with Trelby. Ill take a look now. Thanks for that.

I'm a Sophocles user. Unfortunately the development stopped many years ago, and it just by the grace of the Gods that I haven't a. updated my computer, and b. it hasn't stopped working since it required online activation. Celtx is ok, and I've used a template in MS Word when I was going through a couple of courses on screenwriting.

As for storyboarding, I've tried Frameforge and Toon Boom, but find it easier to use pencil and paper to roughly sketch my boards. Sometimes I scan them into the PC, but that is only when I couple the drawings with location shot taken with my camera. Antics 3D was okay for storyboards, and Iclone can do much the same.

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