Simple Software

[hv213a]

Yes, I have read Storyist 2 User's Guide and Show Getting Started Guide. That's how I became aware that there was a discrepancy of information between the two guides. The User's Guide doesn't even mention Screen Play, in the Table of Contents.

 

I have done everything that has been mentioned in the above post, many, many, many times. The results are always the same.

 

I've tried importing the script by saving as; Word 2003 XML, 2007 docx , RTF, RTF with RTFD and Open Document Test (odt).

 

After importing my script into the screenplay format, the Styles changes from Action to Header 1 and that's where my problems start.

 

I can see by playing with model how easy it is to use. I just can't figure out how to make it work with my imported script. I'm not too keen on rewriting the whole script from scratch but that maybe that's where I'll end up.

 

Can you understand my frustration now?

 

I didn't mean to get everyone's panties in a bunch with my initial posting but it sure has brought out a lot of other view points that have been shared and should be considered.

 

And no, I don't take any of these comments personal, as I hope you don't. A professional, no matter what discipline, learns to separate business and emotions. I try to save the emotions for my characters!

 

As always, "Thank You",

Klaatu

[marguerite]

Yes, I have read Storyist 2 User's Guide and Show Getting Started Guide. That's how I became aware that there was a discrepancy of information between the two guides. The User's Guide doesn't even mention Screen Play, in the Table of Contents.

There may be discrepancies if Steve forgot to update the Getting Started Guide for V2. He and Christina should definitely take care of that.

 

I have done everything that has been mentioned in the above post, many, many, many times. The results are always the same.

 

I've tried importing the script by saving as; Word 2003 XML, 2007 docx , RTF, RTF with RTFD and Open Document Test (odt).

 

After importing my script into the screenplay format, the Styles changes from Action to Header 1 and that's where my problems start.

So the problem is primarily with your imported script, and not with creating a new script within Storyist. That switch from Action to Header 1 is the crucial clue that Agent Joe Friday would have revealed at the last minute. It means that the exporting program (Pages) is applying a style called Header 1 to that paragraph. Why it is doing that, I don't know. There is a step-by-step solution, but it's a tad complicated. Steve offered to fix the file for you. Perhaps you'd like to take him up on the offer? If not, one of us will post the step-by-step.

I can see by playing with model how easy it is to use. I just can't figure out how to make it work with my imported script. I'm not too keen on rewriting the whole script from scratch but that maybe that's where I'll end up.

No, don't do that. There is a simple solution. See above. You could also try emoKid's suggestion of copying the entire file in Pages and pasting it into Storyist, then applying the styles (or did you do that already?). Tedious, but less tedious than retyping the lot.

Can you understand my frustration now?

Yes!

I didn't mean to get everyone's panties in a bunch with my initial posting but it sure has brought out a lot of other view points that have been shared and should be considered.

 

And no, I don't take any of these comments personal, as I hope you don't. A professional, no matter what discipline, learns to separate business and emotions. I try to save the emotions for my characters!

 

As always, "Thank You",

Klaatu

Good. We're just trying to help. I admit to a certain irritation when it seemed that you only wanted to complain, because I do not work for Storyist, do not get a cent from the program, but nonetheless gave up my entire writing time so far this weekend to exploring the Screenplay template—which as a novelist I have never used—to see if it really was as counterintuitive as you suggested. I found it extremely simple to use and couldn't quite "get" what the problem was.

 

But if you really are looking for a solution, that's different. I'm happy to help and am sure others are, too. Importing is a bit of a bear—and not only in Storyist—because it means persuading some program that speaks only French to communicate with another program that prefers to speak German. But I have done it successfully many times, and I can assure you that it will work.

 

 

Before I burden you with a ton of steps, though, I want to make sure you aren't going to send the file to Steve (which, frankly, I would recommend at this point).

Hang in there!

M

[hv213a]

To All,

 

When I go to work tonight, I am going to take my script that is now in Pages and export it into Word using a PC. Then, tomorrow morning when I get home, I'll try to import it into Storyist, as a Word RTF doc, as suggested and see what happens.

 

Part of the problem might be that I use Mac at home and PC at work to do my writing. I know they are two different systems but it seems to have worked up until now. You are probably right about Pages importing hidden codes along with the text. I have only recently switched from PC to Mac and will never go back.

 

This is what we fear for the 787, the software is Windows based!!!!! During early testing, they found a kid sitting in coach, could hack thru the inflight entertainment system and into the flight control program and take control of the aircraft. What were they thinking? We hope we're wrong but the phrase; "the blue screen of death", could take on a whole new meaning. Not a happy thought at thirty thousand feet.

 

I'll report back Monday and let you know the results of my test.

 

And as much as I appreciate it, please don't sacrifice your personal time for these troubleshooting efforts. I know how important this time is to each of you.

 

Regards,

Klaatu

[Steve E]

I may never fly again.

 

Waiting for teleporters.

- Thoth.

[marguerite]

To All,

 

When I go to work tonight, I am going to take my script that is now in Pages and export it into Word using a PC. Then, tomorrow morning when I get home, I'll try to import it into Storyist, as a Word RTF doc, as suggested and see what happens.

 

Part of the problem might be that I use Mac at home and PC at work to do my writing. I know they are two different systems but it seems to have worked up until now. You are probably right about Pages importing hidden codes along with the text. I have only recently switched from PC to Mac and will never go back.

 

This is what we fear for the 787, the software is Windows based!!!!! During early testing, they found a kid sitting in coach, could hack thru the inflight entertainment system and into the flight control program and take control of the aircraft. What were they thinking? We hope we're wrong but the phrase; "the blue screen of death", could take on a whole new meaning. Not a happy thought at thirty thousand feet.

 

I'll report back Monday and let you know the results of my test.

 

And as much as I appreciate it, please don't sacrifice your personal time for these troubleshooting efforts. I know how important this time is to each of you.

 

Regards,

Klaatu

Couple of tips that may help you along. First, export from Pages as a DOC file, not RTF. That should preserve your Pages styles, if any.

 

Have you used Styles in Word? If you have, make sure your Format Menu is open and you can see the styles, then click on a couple of your paragraphs, one after another. See if the style name changes in ways that make sense to you (Action, Character, Transition, whatever). If not, make a list of the styles that show up (if everything shows up as Normal, this is going to be a pain to import, RTF or not). You will use this during or after File Import in Storyist.

 

If everything is styled as Normal and you are comfortable defining styles in Word, create enough styles to cover the basics and apply them in Word. You don't even have to define specific fonts and such for the styles: just click on a paragraph, click on New Style, and give it a name; then apply that name to all paragraphs of that type (click paragraph, click style name).

 

When you've done that, save the file to RTF from within Word. Then start up Storyist and choose File > Import. Make sure there is a check mark next to "Run the Import Assistant after importing." Choose your file and click Import.

 

Click OK or Next until you get to a window that lets you specify styles. Go to each double-headed arrow and tell Storyist which style you want the Word style to become. Click through the rest of the windows, changing as needed. When you get to the end, Storyist should have found each Word style and turned it into a Storyist style, then applied the associated formatting. If it hasn't done that, it's respecting any differences it thinks you've set up, and you can make the changes inside Storyist. But let's not worry about that until you have your file reasonably functional.

 

As for your story about the Windows programming, Like Thoth, I may never fly again.

Best,

M

[hv213a]

IMG_0177.JPG

 

A little change of subject.....

 

Don't know if this image will come thru, so if it does, here's the scoop.

 

During my "spare" time, I volunteer at PAWS, Progressive Animal Welfare Society.

I have worked with the Wildlife Center and the Companion Animal Center (Dogs and Cats)

since last Sept. It has been a very interesting chapter in my life.

 

During a meeting at the Seattle Paragliding Club, one of the members brought in this Owl.

His name is Hooligan. He and a car collided just before last xmas. The resultant damage

to his left wing was too severe to save and required amputation.

 

Within weeks, Hooligan bonded with his care giver and went everywhere with him. This

spring, Hooligan went paragliding. Sitting on the care givers shoulder, he leaned his face

into the wind and stretched out his right wing to aid in the flight.

 

Hooligan comes to the meetings and is passed around to anyone who wishes to bond with

this gentle creature. He loves to have his head and neck rubbed. Pretty amazing when you

think about it. Here's a wild creature giving his trust to strangers, who just months ago,

sought to avoid, living in seclusion.

 

Klaatu

[btjeppesen]

I don't have a lot to contribute to this conversation. I don't write screenplays. But I found this thread raise some coincidental topics which, were this a horror film, I'd be at Disneyland, enjoying the last bit before the end of the world.

 

You see, I had a dream about 747s last night. In it, my sister, brother and I were in my brother's place. It was mid-summer, and started pouring heavily outside, which is odd in So Cal. We were shutting everything up when I heard the sound of many 747s flying overhead. I went outside to see what was happening. In the clouds, which had not been there moments before, thousands of 747s were flying merely inches apart, which of course is dangerous, and they were flying in zigzag patterns, practically reversing direction instantly, as a fighter might do by flipping. At times, they flew sideways. It was maneuverability of which 747s are definitely not capable. I called my brother out, and was equally astonished by the 747s which continued to dip out of the clouds, then disappear back in, then pass our house. It felt like some sort of military procession. And then, out of the clouds broke a massive structure, upon which was printed, "U.S. Matriarch." Just the bit I could see looked to be the size of at least 20 of the 747s, but then the sky cleared around this thing, and I fell to my rear. This was no plane. It was a ship, like you'd expect to find in space, and it stretched at least to the northern, eastern and southern horizons. There is nothing like this, to my knowledge, but there it was, vivid and real. My brother and I called for our sister, but she couldn't hear us under the weight of the ships roar. We ran into the house and pulled her out. I don't remember how she reacted to it, since my own shock still overwhelmed me. I asked my brother about the ship, hoping he knew something that I didn't, but he was just as clueless. Before I woke, I remember thinking that there was no way these things were from Earth, and that the branding and appearance of the ships were designed specifically to confuse our people.

 

Anyway, that dream was so vivid, and I plan to use this in a story. I just thought I'd bring it up, considering you work on 747s. Hope you enjoyed.

[Joolissa]

IMG_0177.JPG

 

A little change of subject.....

 

Don't know if this image will come thru, so if it does, here's the scoop.

 

During my "spare" time, I volunteer at PAWS, Progressive Animal Welfare Society.

I have worked with the Wildlife Center and the Companion Animal Center (Dogs and Cats)

since last Sept. It has been a very interesting chapter in my life.

 

During a meeting at the Seattle Paragliding Club, one of the members brought in this Owl.

His name is Hooligan. He and a car collided just before last xmas. The resultant damage

to his left wing was too severe to save and required amputation.

 

Within weeks, Hooligan bonded with his care giver and went everywhere with him. This

spring, Hooligan went paragliding. Sitting on the care givers shoulder, he leaned his face

into the wind and stretched out his right wing to aid in the flight.

 

Hooligan comes to the meetings and is passed around to anyone who wishes to bond with

this gentle creature. He loves to have his head and neck rubbed. Pretty amazing when you

think about it. Here's a wild creature giving his trust to strangers, who just months ago,

sought to avoid, living in seclusion.

 

Klaatu

 

Squee!!! That's amazing! I've volunteered at a local Nature Center, worked at a feed and farm store, and have owned my own little zoo throughout my life (currently 6 snakes, 4 turtles (though 1-3 of those may be released), 2 geckos, and 2 cats). I love animals and this story was really great! I bet that owl must have really loved being back in the air. Amazing. I am currently developing a business plan to start my own animal education programs/center and dream of having a "sanctuary" type place where I can house unreleasable wildlife.

 

Anyway, since that's off subject, I'll come back onto the beaten path. I too had huge amounts of trouble importing my manuscript into Storyist. Mine was a novel, but I'm sure the issues are the same. It really isn't Storyist's fault, at least not wholly, because if you can style your script in word to match the styles in Storyist, your piece will import correctly with you having to do minimal changes once it's in. Hang in there, and Steve or M (who is Queen of the Beta's and Goddess of Importation ) will be able to help you out.

 

Animal Enthusiast

- Jules

[hv213a]

Jules,

 

Your animal "sanctuary" sounds interesting but make sure you have the funds for vet care, as it can escalate out of control pretty fast. PAWS doesn't euthanize unless it absolutely has to, unfortunately, with limited funds, sometimes the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the one, especially if the injury is too severe.

 

I thought having a kiosk at the local mall, would be an ideal setting for animal education and interaction with the public. Nothing elitists donations better the the feel of a warm fuzzy puppy, kitten or rabbit, etc. next to your face.

 

Since I couldn't figure out how to import the picture of Hooligan into this entry, I put it in my member photo. Best wishes with your "sanctuary"!

 

Klaatu

[Steakpirate]

I apologize in advance for wandering back on subject, but I hope you'll indulge me.

 

I wouldn't be opposed for a Storyist user-mode type situation, where you could manipulate key combinations for commands for that particular user (Which you could name something along the lines of Screenwriting.)

 

You could also have something like automatically working with certain templates or fonts depending on which user you are in. Of course the name or some visual identifier would have to exist somewhere to let you know what you're working as.

 

 

Just don't kill the clean, default view. I don't know what I'd do if Storyist was no longer friendly to those who couldn't be bothered.

 

 

My 3¢. (Why not go the extra mile?)

 

SteakPirate

[itotah]

I've used Final Draft for years and I've always longed for a more comprehensive screenwriting program. One that will let me add notes, explore characters, plot, structure, outline, brainstorming AND format the screenplay. This program does not exist. Storyist is half an attempt for a professional screenwriter. While is has many features that are valuable, an incomplete program is just that -- incomplete.

 

To someone like myself who needs an intuitive screenplay formatting program as well as all the other features, I am forced to return to Final Draft for the actual scripting. With Final Draft (and Screenwriter), I can easily customize the minimum number of keystrokes so when I'm writing the actual script, I am not distracted by the word processor. Alternating character names appear with the return key, dialogue appears after characters, etc., etc., etc. That's the main point of these programs -- to make the actual writing flow.

 

It's clear to me that the inventors of Storyist are novelists and not screenwriters because so many basics are left out. It wouldn't take much coding to put these features in. I wish a professional screenwriter would develop software such as Storyist but finish the job. Then, we'd have a valuable alternative to Final Draft that I would be very excited about.

 

We need customization and features that require the minimal keystrokes when formating so we can just concentrate on the creativity. I am still looking for that piece of software. Right now, for me, it's a combination of Final Draft, Word, and OmniOutliner. Storyist doesn't cut it for someone who writes scripts for a living. It's unfortunate, because the other features are valuable and missing from the mainstream programs.

[btjeppesen]

I've used Final Draft for years and I've always longed for a more comprehensive screenwriting program. One that will let me add notes, explore characters, plot, structure, outline, brainstorming AND format the screenplay. This program does not exist. Storyist is half an attempt for a professional screenwriter. While is has many features that are valuable, an incomplete program is just that -- incomplete.

 

To someone like myself who needs an intuitive screenplay formatting program as well as all the other features, I am forced to return to Final Draft for the actual scripting. With Final Draft (and Screenwriter), I can easily customize the minimum number of keystrokes so when I'm writing the actual script, I am not distracted by the word processor. Alternating character names appear with the return key, dialogue appears after characters, etc., etc., etc. That's the main point of these programs -- to make the actual writing flow.

 

It's clear to me that the inventors of Storyist are novelists and not screenwriters because so many basics are left out. It wouldn't take much coding to put these features in. I wish a professional screenwriter would develop software such as Storyist but finish the job. Then, we'd have a valuable alternative to Final Draft that I would be very excited about.

 

We need customization and features that require the minimal keystrokes when formating so we can just concentrate on the creativity. I am still looking for that piece of software. Right now, for me, it's a combination of Final Draft, Word, and OmniOutliner. Storyist doesn't cut it for someone who writes scripts for a living. It's unfortunate, because the other features are valuable and missing from the mainstream programs.

 

Hi itotah, and welcome to the forums. I've occasionally seen people post request features or asking about the reason for the omission of certain features, and usually these features are actually in Storyist. Unfortunately, I could not tell from your message exactly what the features are that you are looking for. I've played with Final Draft, and the keystrokes are nearly identical. And per earlier posts in this thread, it appears that some activities require fewer steps than Final Draft and other scriptwriting software. Could you tell us what you are specifically looking for the program to do? In fact, if it is something that is simple to program, and you list step by step how you would want it to function, Steve, the program developer, might take a closer look at implementing it. I've found that he is always open to new ideas to develop for this program. And, you never know--the feature might be in there but just not spelled out in the manual as well as it could have been. If that is the case, it is something Steve would definitely want to know about, and many of us posters could tell you how to do what you are wanting to do.

 

Brian

[marguerite]

Forgive the duplication, but these simple instructions have become buried in a long discussion.

 

Itotah, welcome to the forums. As Brian points out, there is considerable functionality in Storyist for screenplay writing. For example:

 

Click to open a new film script from the Project Menu.

Select all scenes but the first. Hit Delete to remove them.

Click after the : that ends FADE IN: Hit return twice. The style chooser appears.

Move cursor to Character or, if you have Leopard, type C. Hit return.

Type character name (if you have already defined your characters, Storyist will autocomplete their names). Hit return. Note that Storyist is set to Parenthetical.

Type paranthetical. Hit return. Note that Storyist is set to Action.

Type action. Note that all these are now in standard formatting.

Repeat as needed. When you are ready to add a scene, either hit Command-Enter or move to the Project View (on the left side of the screen), make sure the current scene is selected, and hit the + at the bottom left corner of the screen.

 

No keystrokes at all except to select the Character style. All you have to do is type and hit return.

 

If you would like more explanation, better explanation, or additional features, I have found Steve very open and responsive to suggestions. You can also ask questions on this forum at any hour of the day and get an answer within a short time from any of at least half-a-dozen fellow users. And if there is something specific that makes you consider the program incomplete, I'm sure we'd all like to hear about it!

Best regards,

Marguerite

[nadinbrzezinski]

You are going to laugh... but my choice for screenwriting software lives on my Ipod... screenwriter is the name of the app.

 

Yes, I have FD on my computer, but I have found I can do the screen writing far better on the Pod. I also have a few other programs by the way...

 

Now I do the screenwriting to help me develop characters these days... not to do a full feature film or stage play... but definitey the small screen of the IPOD touch is great for that. And the new version is working even better for that since now I can export and import into the damn cute thing.

 

Oh and FD is great for writing, and montage... I love the thing since I can use color...

 

:-)

[Steve]

and montage... I love the thing since I can use color...

 

Thanks Nadin,

 

So how do you use color? Color coding of text? Index cards?

 

-Steve

[nadinbrzezinski]

Thanks Nadin,

 

So how do you use color? Color coding of text? Index cards?

 

-Steve

 

One of the templates is in color, color coding each section. Green for dialogue, another green for character name, blue for action and so forth.

 

It helps my addled mind.

[Steve]

One of the templates is in color, color coding each section. Green for dialogue, another green for character name, blue for action and so forth.

 

It helps my addled mind.

 

Color is great for that.

 

Easy enough to set up with Storyist too.

 

-Steve

[nadinbrzezinski]

Color is great for that.

 

Easy enough to set up with Storyist too.

 

-Steve

 

Right now using either montage or the IPOD for figuring out speech patterns. It is not a serious screen play. Now if I can figure out what formats to use for this program, given I am using the IPOD touch...

 

IN fact should do some work with a few of my characters... they sound a little too similar... so I may just go ahead and do a scene on storyist to get me feet wet.