|
|
 - Final DraftI started using Final Draft7 immediately. The instructions were simple; the tutorial was practical and effective. I was able to begin the work on my screenplay in a short period of time. It is easy to use. I did my outline in WORD and wish I'd had Final Draft from the beginning. SJW Rating: - Wish I had More TimeFrom what I've seen of this product, it has everything that I need to write professional looking plays. I just need to find the time to explore all of the features...and to write in general. I've written one script, and re-formatted another using this program, and have been very impressed with how much time this program can save you once you know what you're doing. Rating:  - This program sucksI'm a professional screenwriter who started on FD back in the day and then converted to Movie Magic. I'm having to use FD 7 on a project I'm collaborating on and it's crashed 5 times now. I hate the interface, it's glitchy, and it doesn't have cool MM features. I do like the format when you print, but man, it ain't worth it. Wish I'd talked my partner into going w/ Movie Magic. Rating: - Much better than no software at allI haven't tried any other scriptwriting software but this one worked well for me. It's time-saving and makes your script look the way it's supposed to. It's easy to use and I like the format check it will do for you before you print. I think the voices feature is a cool idea but in reality the voices are useless because they don't sound human or have a clue as to inflection. There are more applications and features that are probably awesome but I haven't checked them out yet. Overall,I do recommend it. Rating:  - Final Draft for the Geek-Speak ChallengedMy screenwriting coach advised me to bump up my work by converting to the industry standard, which I did: Final Draft V7.3.1. The product works exactly as expected. As a long-time geek, familiar with software documentation, I found theirs seriously lacking -- obviously written by programmers. (Limited English, abundant screenshots, third-person, talk-down-to-you voice.) That's okay, if you speak geek, they don't change the interface and you don't mind being talked-down-to. This means that their customer service team must work harder than necessary, holding hands with people learning how to use product features. Be prepared for first-tier contact challenges that infer you might be a pirate 'user', who has innocently 'borrowed' a friend's copy of their product. (Even if this is not true.) Ultimately, the contact experience that we developed left me with a sweet taste for a company that works hard at catering to and handling creative types. I'm smart enough to work my way around faux file-save challenges; to crank up automatic saves and e-mail myself a daily copy of my work. And generally, I can hack my way into features and discover how they work.
|
