Script writing and Storyboard developer programs what to buy?

I am fining it difficult to script write and to develop a Storyboard in MSWord , and to do a full budget for presentations to customers. I am sure there must be a proper program available for this purpose. I work on FCP and Adobe. What should I buy ?

The last meeting we had a man demo'd storyboarding software. But I cannot find out what it is, as the PAST MEETINGS doesn't have a link to it.

Maybe Michael will chime in and help you out.

its always been my opinion that a big cork wall and thumbtacks cant be beat - but then again, im still whole heartedly against the idea of microwave ovens...

It's hard to beat Final Draft for script writing.

Unlike Microsoft Word where in fifteen years I never figured out how to change the default font, Final Draft has a relatively flat learning curve and some truly impressive writing tools. If you're struggling to write a screenplay in Word (or anything else), Final Draft will stun you. Formatting is almost completely automatic. It tries to guess who's going to talk next and gets it right a creepy amount of the time. Once you start working with it, it's true, you can go as fast as you can type.

It "knows" characters and it can on-the-fly spell check.

The default movie script right out of the box conforms to general Academy format and it can be changed whenever you wish.

I did find a bug. One of the writers in the office messed around with the script formatting templates. There turns out to be no good answer to the question, "What format am I in."

As far as storyboards goes, we get a concept video from the client and "photograph" it using a Sony video printer. Post using sticky tape in a conference room as necessary. Foam Core a must.

Koz

I use storyboard quick from [www.powerproduction.com]

works great for storyboarding



David at Movies Rock in Toronto
[www.tofcpug.com]

here is a new amm " Montage " from Mariner Software

imports Final Draft scripts ...

I am testing Beta 2 / it's Final draft with a well designed interface

[www.marinersoftware.com]

To get through the project you are on -

If working in two column format (video next to audio) rather than dramatic is possible in this case - Try using Word tables. Each shot is a row. Video and audio are the columns. The cells are elastic, but as you add more to a shot - everything below it stays together. I sometimes add a third story board frame column and print in landscape.

This facilitates going to story boarding later (each row is a card) - keeps me organized and doesn't interfere too much with creative flow. Plus - your client will be able to open the file and mark it up.

The drawback is that for some folks - the horizontal lines stop their minds. They get hung up on them, and rather than just writing then moving stuff where it belongs, they get caught up in mechanics.

Ian

<<here is a new amm " Montage " from Mariner Software

imports Final Draft scripts ...

I am testing Beta 2 / it's Final draft with a well designed interface

[www.marinersoftware.com];


That looks promising. Native Cocoa. The only thing I would worry about is a way to get it back into Final Draft should someone else need to work on it.



- Justin Barham -

<<< back into Final Draft should someone else need to work on it.>>>

That's another thing about Final Draft. Everybody has it.

The license, by the way, comes out of the box for two computers. They expect you to write on the laptop at the beach and final in the deskside at home.

Koz

There was something called Corkboard a while back. There IS something called Storyboard Artist, with an impressive cnaned library for quick scene flow workup, which exibits at MacWorld. Then there's my attempt to build an index-card storyboard app inside HyperCard.... that was fun. Sort of. Many years ago.

I mss HyperCard's simplicity. But today, it's Revolution.

- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Set a Level keyframe with Command-Option K !

The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: a professional placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central:
www.neotrondesign.com

www.sketchup.com can be great for doing quick 3d mockups. They've got a video/film library of objects also.

Graeme



[www.nattress.com] - Plugins for FCP-X

I actually spent a couple of days writing my own interface to manage my projects.

My script is a SQL database (think MS Excel) ...

I cut my video based on the 'rows' in the script... (each 'row' is 1 Act/Scene/Actor's Line)... therefore, dialogue between two actors becomes 2, 4, 6, 8 rows.

I make one still frame of each video clip (each 'row' in the script') and name it according to the 'row' in the DB... and put it in the script folder...

When I view the script in a PHP webpage I wrote, it looks to see if there is a .jpg with the same reference number as the 'row' and if so, it prints the jpg...

Voila! A script with pictures!

oh, yeah!, it's all web based... no proprietary software.

Wow Nick that is pretty hardcore. You're not playing games.



- Justin Barham -