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By LeeHounshell - 13 Years Ago
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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
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By seppgirty - 13 Years Ago
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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.
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By animagic - 13 Years Ago
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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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By planetstardragon - 13 Years Ago
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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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By animagic - 13 Years Ago
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planetstardragon (4/29/2013)
might be nice if Reallusion made some software that integrated with iclone and cta for screenwriting / storyboarding.With some tweaking RL could recreate something like FrameForge at an attractive price.
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By seppgirty - 13 Years Ago
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With some tweaking RL could recreate something like FrameForge at an attractive price.
Lol :w00t: if RL made one, it would cost at least a $100.00 and have a lot of work arounds in it.
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By animagic - 13 Years Ago
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seppgirty (5/1/2013)
With some tweaking RL could recreate something like FrameForge at an attractive price. Lol :w00t: if RL made one, it would cost at least a $100.00 and have a lot of work arounds in it. Yes, but FrameForge is between $300 and $500, or so...;)
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By planetstardragon - 13 Years Ago
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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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By DELETED2 - 13 Years Ago
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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.
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By Colonel_Klink - 13 Years Ago
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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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By thebiz.movies - 13 Years Ago
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For most of my projects (2-15 minutes, less than 50 lines of dialog) I find a simple text editor does the trick just fine. And a handy dandy (and ever present) notebook for all my ideas both visual and dialog.
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By LarryPlane - 13 Years Ago
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I only ever use Celtx. I was working with MS Word templates for a while, but man it was a frustrating experience. I don't ever use the on-line side of Celtx and can always save my files to my hard drive. The button to use is the very big "SAVE" one on the interface.... Not sure how the OP has missed that, unless the intention is to spread negative information about Celtx! I think if you are going to write a review on an application, especially one as good as Celtx and one that is also free, it's worth checking the facts first!
Unless the OP is talking about the iPad version? I don't have access to that.
I have written many scripts with Celtx and it does exactly what I want it to do, look after the formatting while remaining invisible to my creative process. Not something I found with other software solutions. Two of my plays that won awards were written with this software (see http://paulekert.com/awards.html for details) Although I like to think it was the writing wot won it for me, not the software ;)
It's also able to convert a script into a shot list, which is nice when you want to quickly run up an rough draft of what the film needs to make it happen.
Celtx is free, does everything I want it to and it's not let me down so far (touch wood). What more could I want? The online side of it I have never touched and probably never will, being an insular lone wolf type of writer/film maker.
Paul
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By justaviking - 13 Years Ago
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Paul, Thank you for the great endorsement. I will have to give it a try. I briefly considered some commercial software once, but i never got serious enough to justify spending over $100 on it. But for free, without needing to store everything online, and based on your comments, it sounds like it is definitely worth checking out. About your awards: Congratulations! If you keep working at it, perhaps someday you can earn a Golden Pinhead. :) :D (Seriously, though, congratulations.)
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By lamethod - 13 Years Ago
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It's not worth using anything except for Final Draft 8, in my opinion. I've been writing for years and have used Celtx, Movie Magic and Final Draft 7. Not to mention MSWord screenplay templates, which work fine if you're only writing shorts.
Best, Linda
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By animagic - 13 Years Ago
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For those interested in a comparison between Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter, both of which are used by professional writers, here is an article that puts both side-by-side: http://prashantg.com/. I use MMS, but one gripe I have is that it has not been updated in years, so issues are not being addressed. FD is several years old as well.
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By LarryPlane - 13 Years Ago
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Many professional writers use Final Draft because the production company demand it, although ironically many don't know how to use the production features (updated script copies and so on) that Final Draft uses. The differences between Celtx and Final draft are minimal, but if you are an independent film maker then it's a no-brainer to chose Celtx. If you get a contract to write for TV or a film company, then splurge out on Final Draft and write it off to tax.
Just to echo the above post, Celtx is the only one that appears to be in current development. Final Draft hasn't seen any significant improvements for some time.
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