Tool Monday: Celtx
Monday, July 26, 2010

I switched from Final Draft to Celtx about one and a half month ago. It is still a choice I am happy about.

Celtx is a completely free screenwriting and pre-production program. It is not only aimed at film, but also at theatre, comics, audio and other sorts of media production.

The program supports plug-ins and there is a variety of those, some costs money. Personally I’ve found the Performance Tracker, the Full Screen Mode and the colored notes very useful.

Is it too good to be true that Celtx is as good screenwriter program as Final Draft? The answer is yes. But I think it won’t be the case within a year or so.

Celtx is still a young program and still has some flaws and bugs that Final Draft grown out of, like I never had the kind of formatting problems in Final Draft that occasionally appears in Celtx. Yes, I have been cursing.

Still Celtx outscore Final Draft. Why? It’s not only because it is completely free and installs without problem. No, there is so much more.

Most of all I just love to have all my files collected in one project. I add the pdf-versions I’ve sent, the feedback I get in return, my mindmaps, my reseach, and links to places, all in one place. (I’ve requested a new feature where you can export these files, because that is not possible at the moment though.)

With this project file attitude comes the option to do your own templates. And here is a little tip for you: import one project to Celtx first, work with it and get a feeling for what you need and then do a template with your basics; when this is done, import all ongoing projects. Me, I dived right in and imported everything with the basic template, and now I feel those four links and that basic mindmap would have been a great idea to have had in that template.



The script notes work better in Celtx than in Final Draft. You get them in a column to the right, depending on scene. Easy to find, easy to access. I could never use Final Draft’s because they popped out in an own window that often appeared outside the main window, which means they wasn’t visible or reachable for me.

You can have your scenes on index cards, and if you buy the Plot View you can move them around along a timeline and also with different heights, for different subplots.

Each character gets its own note in the Master Catalog where you can add additional info and later in pre-production tie an actor to the part. You can also add extra notes for the scenes and organize the crew needed. And not to forget: you can do storyboards.

So yes, there is more to Celtx than Final Draft, no only because it is free.

But mostly I think it is a matter of attitude. Celtx is the program for the future, for the young generation, people grown up with Internet and to used find free programs to use, unwilling to pay but gladly contribute in the same fashion. Celtx is open, it accepts plug-ins and share its source code.

Final Draft simply feels old. Yes, it still has the best editor, and if they hurry they might get along on the train heading for the future, but then they better run fast, because as soon as Celtx’s editor meets up to standards, there is no use for a program you need to pay for.

Alright, Final Draft is more or less industrial standard, but remember: it is only standard as long as we permit it to be.