11 replies to this topic

[emoKid]

I just tried exporting a script to Final Draft and sending it to someone, but they said that they couldn't open it with their copy of Final Draft (v 8).

I tried it again and instead of e-mailing it, put it on a network drive and opened it that way, and it worked.

So I was wondering if anyone knew if GMail or some other e-mails messed up the .fdx file? (I was going to post this in trouble shooting, but it seems more like an issue with gmail than Storyist).

[Steve]

emoKid, on Oct 8 2009, 06:05 PM, said:

I just tried exporting a script to Final Draft and sending it to someone, but they said that they couldn't open it with their copy of Final Draft (v 8).

I tried it again and instead of e-mailing it, put it on a network drive and opened it that way, and it worked.

So I was wondering if anyone knew if GMail or some other e-mails messed up the .fdx file? (I was going to post this in trouble shooting, but it seems more like an issue with gmail than Storyist).

Sounds like your file was modified by their spam filter or their email client. An FDX file is just an XML file, so you can open it with TextEdit and compare the before and after transmission to see what happened.

I'd be happy to take a look at the emailed file if you like.

-Steve

[thealtruismsociety]

Steve I just exported a 100 page Storyist script to FD 8 format, opened it in FD 8 and it was only 90 pages ...? Why? This would be a huge problem for me.

[Steve]

thealtruismsociety, on Dec 28 2010, 09:56 PM, said:

Steve I just exported a 100 page Storyist script to FD 8 format, opened it in FD 8 and it was only 90 pages ...? Why? This would be a huge problem for me.

Hi TAS,

Final Draft uses a tighter default leading (12:0 vs 12:2), which means that the lines are closer together. If you want them to match, you can either increase the leading in Final Draft or decrease the line spacing in Storyist.

-Steve

[thealtruismsociety]

Steve, on Dec 29 2010, 02:07 AM, said:

Hi TAS,

Final Draft uses a tighter default leading (12:0 vs 12:2), which means that the lines are closer together. If you want them to match, you can either increase the leading in Final Draft or decrease the line spacing in Storyist.

-Steve

Sorry, where do I find this option?

And FD is so dominant I would make the default in Storyist match so if I export in FD format and sent to someone, it looks exactly the same without me having to change anything.

Also using it more, Mac OSX system wide spell check doesn't seem to work when I'm working in a note card. I'd like it to work everywhere, only because I'm a horrendous speller.

[Steve]

thealtruismsociety, on Dec 29 2010, 10:47 AM, said:

Sorry, where do I find this option?

To change the line spacing in Storyist:

1) Open your script.

2) Open the Inspector and select the Text Attributes pane

3) Click the Spacing tab

4) Change the line spacing from "At Least" to "Multiple" and set the multiple to 0.85.

You can then update the styles and save the project as a template to use the next time.

thealtruismsociety, on Dec 29 2010, 10:47 AM, said:

Also using it more, Mac OSX system wide spell check doesn't seem to work when I'm working in a note card. I'd like it to work everywhere, only because I'm a horrendous speller.

You can spell check the card text when you're editing the card using the context menu, but due to performance issues, the red underlines do not appear when you're not editing.

[thealtruismsociety]

Steve, on Dec 29 2010, 03:55 PM, said:

To change the line spacing in Storyist:

1) Open your script.

2) Open the Inspector and select the Text Attributes pane

3) Click the Spacing tab

4) Change the line spacing from "At Least" to "Multiple" and set the multiple to 0.85.

You can then update the styles and save the project as a template to use the next time.



You can spell check the card text when you're editing the card using the context menu, but due to performance issues, the red underlines do not appear when you're not editing.

Steve is there any reason for the default not to be what Final Draft uses?

[Steve]

thealtruismsociety, on Dec 29 2010, 01:55 PM, said:

Steve is there any reason for the default not to be what Final Draft uses?

Hi TAS,

The tighter leading is harder to read, so I'd be hesitant to make it the default for a template designed for the writing phase. I understand the reason for the request, though, I'll take a look at adding that as an option.

By the way, which Final Draft template are you using? Final Draft offers several screenplay templates (Screenplay, Cole & Haag, Warner Bros), all of which produce different length scripts.

-Steve

[thealtruismsociety]

Steve, on Dec 30 2010, 01:55 PM, said:

Hi TAS,

The tighter leading is harder to read, so I'd be hesitant to make it the default for a template designed for the writing phase. I understand the reason for the request, though, I'll take a look at adding that as an option.

By the way, which Final Draft template are you using? Final Draft offers several screenplay templates (Screenplay, Cole & Haag, Warner Bros), all of which produce different length scripts.

-Steve

Not using a template at all, but trying to convince some die hard screenwriters to give Storyist a shot but sent them and example and it was 10 pages shorter. This kind of thing SCARES them greatly. I understand it may be harder to read but it's it's not 100% compatible with FD without any alteration it will be a no go for many people. Can you imagine if not knowing this they did a script in Storyist, exported it to .fdx, sent to a studio and got the unfortunate news their scripts was far too short? That could be a bridge burned right there.

Just saying if I write a 100 pages script in Storyist and convert it to a FD format, the most DOMINANT program for script writing there is, (And likely not to change anytime soon, look how horrible it looks. That's cause they know they don't have to put any effort into it.), it should pull up unnoticeable from if I was using FD.

Storyist has so many advantages over FD it's not even funny. But it's not Final Draft.

[thealtruismsociety]

To add to this I made the leading change in my current script. It was 51 pages in FD and it's 61 pages in Storyist ...

[Steve]

thealtruismsociety, on 12 January 2011 - 11:57 PM, said:

To add to this I made the leading change in my current script. It was 51 pages in FD and it's 61 pages in Storyist ...

Also check the margin settings. Do they match?

-Steve

[thealtruismsociety]

Steve, on 13 January 2011 - 12:40 AM, said:

Also check the margin settings. Do they match?

-Steve

Steve one thing I notice while working in both. Dialog. Something that takes 3 lines in FD is only 2 in St so St has a wider width, this is one thing that seems off from FD.