I stumbled across this app and it seems pretty good. Has anybody used it? What are others using for script writing? Also is there a template for Word for script writing?

celtx.com/

Celtx is a useful program. It can function as a full production utility, allowing you to tag elements in the script and to generate call sheets and other such reports that would be useful. Also, it has an 'index card' feature that's interesting. When you change the order of the index cards, the associated scenes within your script will rearrange as well. Movie Magic Screenwriter has this feature too, and does tagging like Travis mentioned.
Celtx is opensource and therefore constantly in development. As updates show up, you are notified on the splash screen on startup. It features online posting (inherently a backup) of your scripts with the option to selectively share your scripts with other users and otherwise restrict access from the general public.
I've got little things that bother me with it, one being that when you want to add a parenthetical to a body of dialog, instead of typing a hot key, you have to go up and choose 'Parenthetical' from a drop-down menu. There's also a pagination issue. If you print from your edit window, the pagination and formatting will be wrong. The reason behind this is that you have a script edit window, and a final formatting window that applies all of the formatting to what you've written. Basically, the editing window is not WYSIWYG, and users in the celtx forums report a discrepancy of a couple of pages to several pages between the edit window and the Type Set window. I don't like the multi-window thing and prefer to see exactly what it is that I'm writing, but some of my friends love it, so I guess it could be seen as a personal preference. As long as you remember to use the type set window for printing and reviewing, it should be fine.

I've used both programs, movie magic screenwriter for my own writing and celtx for a project over the summer that required that I collaborate with another writer (he only had celtx). Based on usage, I am a strong supporter of Movie Magic Screenwriter. It has revision support, page locking, collaborative editing features, and lots of templates to help you out. I've yet to find anything in Screenwriter that really bothers me. If you've got the money, I'd say go for it. If you don't have the money, Celtx is free and does a great job.

Celtx is a great program especially for a freebie. It has a lot to offer an independent filmmaker with no cash in the wallet.

Celtx does have some bugs alright but I am sure it will get better. They do have a big following so it should continue to be developed into a better app.

I'm one of garrettcode's friends who is a huge advocate of Celtx. I wasn't too impressed with Final Draft, especially because of the price. Movie Magic Screenwriter seems to be a good app and I have no beef with it.

But Celtx does everything I need it to do and more. It is a great development/pre-production tool. It allows you to create different script formats for film, television, A/V, and generate those easily into PDFs. Tagging items allows for comprehensive breakdowns for scheduling and budgeting your shoot. All sorts of forms can be generated in Celtx. Index Cards allow you to easily flip your scenes around without the headache of copy and pasting for hours. Uploading to their server gives you a safe backup and allows you to remotely share your project with others. There are many amazing features and the best part is it's a free app that can be installed on any operating system.

It is far superior to any other free open source app I've used. And I should know, I had Linux installed on my PC for years to avoid using Windows as much as possible, then I got a Mac

If you're not already locked into a Movie Magic Screenwriter or other workflow and budget is an issue I highly recommend Celtx.

garrettcode wrote:


I disagree. If you've got the money I would put it into my next project and/or purchase another memory card for my camera, ram for a computer, or anything else and simply use Celtx. It does everything you need to do and if your only complaints are needing to click to another window, or use a drop-down menu then I hardly think that's worth the hundreds of dollars that some software costs which accomplishes the same thing.

Celtx is without a doubt one of the very best open source software programs that exists. It's been fully supported and does everything that all the other writing programs can do. It's simply a matter of a different interface, and adjusting to that interface if you're tied into something already. While Celtx was in beta it had some bugs but the final releases before it's official release worked nearly perfectly, and the current version has next to no problems. I've had to have a problem or a crash with Celtx and I'm always writing new ideas and working on different little projects.

In response to the multi-window environment, I'd like to explain my reasons for liking it so much. The "editing" window provides me a way to add notes, explanations, tags, etc. and basically make a mess of the page with all my zany writing habits. Then I have the crisp clean "typeset" window which is always the version I print (I don't know why anyone would print the "edit" window to submit, have reviewed, or anything, that's not it's purpose in the least so the complaints about the page number difference seems negligible if not an end user failing to understand the program). But this may be just cause I'm a chaotic writer and then Celtx formats for me.

Anyways, that's my two cents.

garrettcode wrote:


There is a hotkey of sorts in Celtx. "("

Instead of writing dialoge type a "(" and it automatically converts to a parenthetical.

nzat wrote:


Yeah, there is that. Where I ran into the problem that I described was during the revision process when I wanted to add a parenthetical. It would turn everything following the "(" into the parenthetical, not just create a field for me to type in. Selecting from the dropdown list gave me the field and didn't mess with the other work I'd done.

Well....

In spite of my ranting about how great Celtx is, I have found something that is incredibly annoying about it.

You can't generate a PDF or look at your script in proper format without it being on the internet. I discovered this over the weekend when I went out of town to write. I was still able to write, I just couldn't see it in proper format. That's really annoying. REALLY.

So there's a grand fault to the program.

- Zach

If I am not mistaken I think you can't generate typeset but you can generate a PDF. It is annoying if you don't have a connection to have to keep hitting cancel several times to get Celtx to open.

A work around is copy and paste into Word or another word processor.

I tried. You can't generate a PDF either...In order for it to set your project for the right typeset/formatting it has to connect to the celtx server.

Copying to a word document would work to an extent, but kind of defeats the purpose.

I have never had any trouble generating a PDF with Celtx. I just click the Typeset tab next to the Script tab at the bottom. In Typeset mode just click the 'Save PDF' button at the top. This is of course editing offline. If there is some conflict with logging in online, you can always just hit File>Print and click the 'Save PDF' button in the bottom left hand corner of the Print dialog box.

I tried what you said offline and no, you're wrong, it doesn't work. If you're using Celtx and it formatted and it allowed you to make a PDF and print to a PDS you must've been online. I just tried it on a Mac Pro, an iMac, and Powerbook -- and then I tried it on a windows computer to verify. I also did some research -- people have been complaining about this for years.

We aren't typical users, we know how to print in mac and also how to save to PDF.

If what you are referring to is NOT BEING LOGGED ON TO THE CELTX service that's completely different. Celtx itself can still log on to their servers to format your script whether you are logged in to post your scripts or not. That is a completely different matter.

No worries, I'm sure everyone here knows how to save a PDF out from a Mac. I just thought it might be a possible workaround solution to the problem. But now I see we are talking about two different situations. Sorry for the mix-up.

Yeah, I understand. I'm pretty bitter about Celtx doing that to me, so I'm just angry. I'll get over it.

I just saved a PDF when i was not connected to the internet and I compared it to the type set tab. Looks the same to me.

You were on the internet.

You had to have been -- Unplug your computer's network cord and turn off the wireless and then try it. You'll have an error that won't let you typeset even, and when you go to do a PDF it will hang.

I'm not blowing steam here, this is from the Celtx programmers themselves saying that they have no intention of changing it from requiring to be online to format your scripts. I've tested it on a good 15 different machines not just at my house that weren't online at all and it was not able to format them. Everything from OS X to Windows 7, and everything from a Mac Pro to a macbook to a Dell.