Looking for screenwriting software? Wringing your hands over whether to spend your hard-earned cash on Final Draft or Movie Magic? They're both serviceable programs, with various pros and cons. Either one will set you back at least 150 bucks, not exactly a bargain. What if I told you about an excellent alternative, and one that was absolutely free? Free you say? Yes, says I! Ruben, you sure are one cheap bastard, says you.
I've been using Celtx for over a year, and now can't imagine life without it. The new Version .9.9.5 released this year with upgrades that could put its two competitors on the endangered species list. For users familiar with professional screenwriting programs, the interface is recognizable, with options that format your screenplay automatically as you go. Celtx remembers your character names and locations, and has all the basics that allow you to focus energy on writing rather than fiddling with margins.
Celtx, like Final Draft and Movie Magic, has settings for Plays, Radio Plays, AV Scripts, Documentaries and Music Videos. With the new version, you can also create index cards, storyboards, breakdowns and schedules. Not bad, right? An exciting Celtx feature I haven't tested, is its ability to enable collaborative work. With Celtx, projects are saved on your hard drive, as well as on the Celtx online server. You can keep your work private, or share it with others. As I'm about to go into pre-production with a new video project, I'm really excited to test out this project-sharing mode.
My favorite thing about Celtx is its PDF generation. In the past year, I've uploaded all my previous plays and projects into Celtx and converted them into PDF files. This has allowed me to start submitting work digitally, something I was reluctant to do in the past. I've found uploading Word files into Celtx to be pretty convenient. It automatically formats scripts written in Word, but you'll find you'll have to do a bit of format-tweaking afterwards (something you'd have to do with FD or MM).
The new version has eliminated most of the gripes I'd reserved for the software. Celtx .9.9.5 runs really smoothly, and some of the small formatting bugs that used to crop up seem to have been dealt with. There's also a handy video tutorial that expertly explains the basics, so you can get right to work. Celtx runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and uses Firefox code as a platform. Why not give it a try, and let me know what you think!
