It`s time for me to get new software...I have hollywood screenwriter, which is an older version of moviemagic.... No more technical support.

So the time has come for an upgrade...Moviemagic screenwriter or final draft ?

I need help.... Pros and cons would also help peeps

thanks :)

Mark

I would prob suggest getting celtix. it's free. :)

Is that what you use gabe?

I know a few people on here use it and obviously if it`s free... That's a good pro.

thanks
Mark

I use Movie magic Screenwriter and I personally love it.  I have no complaints with it.  I have the ability to do pretty much anything I want with it (once I figure out how to do it, that is).  I do feel it is very flexible.

I have an old version and have heard the newer ones are even better.  You may be able to upgrade even, have you checked?  I get E-Mails every time a new version is released, and I think the cost for me to upgraded to the newest version out with all the bells and whistles is only like $75.

I've never used FD, but I do know there are and have been issues with every version.  I don't know what the deal is, but many...and I mean MANY scripts I read in FD just don't look good in PDF form.  They don't scroll well either.

If I were you, I'd go to the Write Bros site and see if you can upgrade.  If there's nothing there, I'd call them.  IMO, the company has one of if not the best customer support I've ever come across.  There has never been a time when I've called and the phone rang more than 3 times before a very polite, extremely knowledgeable, and helpful customer service person picked up and answered every question I had.

That's what i use. It's been good to me. lol.

Thanks Jeff.... I know that anytime I called the Write brothers technical support, I never had a problem and they would walk me through everything.... I'm leaning towards them, if only because South Park uses it :)

Mark

Quoted from Dreamscale I use Movie magic Screenwriter and I personally love it.

Same here. Think it's a great software. :) Couldn't tell you much on FD, never used it.

MM or FD. Coke or Pepsi. Same but different. I have used both and have had no problems with neither. I tend to stick to FD - just like I stick to Coke - for no other reason than I like it better.

I would definitely stay away from Celtix. Yes, it's free but it's free for a reason.

I've always used FD8.
Never had any complaints about it...
So, I don't change.

I've noticed folks I work with tend to use it.
I've gotten complaints when I submit material written with other software.
Spacing/scrolling issues in the pdf were the most common complaint.

E.D.

Quoted from Electric Dreamer Spacing/scrolling issues in the pdf were the most common complaint.E.D.

That's exactly the complaint I have for many PDF's from FD written scripts.  Weird...

I've been with Final Draft since 6.  I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say it's industry standard, but I have met very few writers who did not have FD on their laptops.  I toyed with Celtx for the iPad functionality, but it's interface is still clunky compared to MM and FD, so you get what you pay for.  Enough love for MM above to consider it totally usable.  Try a trial of each, see what you like.  I tend to prefer Final Draft exclusively, but as long as it feels comfortable when you'e formatting, go with what works for you.

I wrote Grand Avenue in this:

http://www.page2stage.com/

I love the look and feel of the page, and it also has a character report, so you can see every bit of dialogue your character speaks and look for 'voice'. And yes, it's free...

There's a pretty big flaw though in that it doesn't allow a cover page so you must create one, and then your first page will actually say page 2 and down the road. I can tell you though that no one who's read GA has ever remarked about it. I think page count only becomes an issue if you get to the borderline of too many pages...

Thanks for the feedback guys... It looks like Moviemagic for me :)

Mark

Quoted from sniper I would definitely stay away from Celtix. Yes, it's free but it's free for a reason.

Not too sure what the problem is with Celtx...???

When I've checked, and being an interesting person like I am, so I have checked (and I mean, like putting the programs side by side) - Celtx and FD appear to format exactly the same. MM appears to do it differently and I read stuff about people saying the margins are out.

Formatting wise, though I can't tell much difference - MM appears to have a lot more functionality going into the production end of things, like doing a breakdown - I'm not totally familiar with FD, but I don't think you can do a schedule from it? But maybe someone knows more about this - but you can do this in Celtx - although I've got no idea as to how good it actually is.

You can definitely do a number of production reports from FD.  It has the same functions as MM.  There was one earlier version of FD that had issues with PDFs being too big and therefore they were sluggish when they scrolled but the newest version does not have this problem.

I like Final Draft 7 due to the assign voice funtionality. For some reason when I hear my scripts read back to me, I can find flaws better. Final Draft 8 has issues playing the different downloadable voices, but FD 7 plays them just fine.

If you can obtain it -  sophocles.  It's the best, basic, software.  

If you can afford it - movie outline.  It's the most complete.  

I use and love them both for different reasons.  I loath Final Draft 8.  Won't even boot it up anymore.  Got it from my wife as a gift "god bless her"...

Quoted from Baltis I loath Final Draft 8.  Won't even boot it up anymore.  Got it from my wife as a gift "god bless her"...

lol

You gotta love "the wife" gifts.

Mark

I've used both and it's a mixed bag. I think the features and usability is significantly more superior in Movie Magic, so that's what I use every time I have the choice in the matter. FD just has some really clunky things that drive me nuts that can be done with a click of a button in MMS. I also tend to have way more crashes with FD, especially in Windows.

But then again, FD seems to be the more prevalent industry standard, so if you're looking into making a serious go at this to the big time, you'll probably have to both own and be fluent in FD.

I've solved this by writing in MMS and then just copying and pasting it to FD so that I can deliver it in the format that the people seem to require it. The formatting will be messed up, but that's actually a pretty good proofreading step. You have to pay attention to the text when you're correcting the format.