So when I first loaded up Celtx, it looked pretty casual, laid back, quite relaxed - something I love, love, love when I'm writing, especially when I write scripts! When you first load it up, you have to decide on what you're writing. This ranges from a Film, to a Radio broadcast, all the way to novels - so listen up, novelists!
I felt that the interface was quite good! In fact, more than good, it was great. And if you read my other reviews, I don't usually rate things so well! It has neutral colors, and is certainly pleasing to the eye, whilst being a casual, free software, it is most definitely flexible.
As well as being flexible, it is very forgiving to the newbie, it has many different ways of keeping track of actors, characters, locations and even props! As well as this, it allows you to use their set templates, I've only used the Film setting however, but you simply press the drop-down menu and you get to select what you would like to type in next - scene, character, action, dialogue? You got it!
Now, if you've ever read a review of mine before, you know that I am usually a little critical when it comes to the negatives... well, I'll try to be level with this product, because it is quite good, and I would love it if you tried it out the next time you wanted to write a script.
The interface, on the flip side, is rather unprofessional. If I had to pick between this and something more pro, I'd go to the more pro stuff. I know I said that I love a casual lay out, but sadly, the screen just looks cluttered, and most certainly it can get hard to locate what you need - at one point, I totally lost the log button, and I had to go on a treasure hunt for that little thing, because I forgot who was playing the main character!
Another negative is the bad templates - yes, they are handy, yes, they can give newbies an idea of how to use Celtx, and yes, they are pretty cool, but no, they aren't reliable, and no, they don't take full advantage of all the text pre-sets such as actions. If you are new, don't rely on that. Try to download a copy of a good script (like from your fave film) then read through it. See how it's set-up. Think you could master that script writing biz? Then don't use Celtx.
The page time is also strange: usually, for every 1 page is 1 minute, but no. With Celtx is can equate to 3 minutes, or even half a minute.
Thanks for reading, I'm sorry it was so short and ended abruptly but I have a very tight deadline to get this script wrote!
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| Prototype DVD cover? I think so! |
Kristi<3
