Celtx and I are about to fall out.

[stuckupmyownera]

When I first discovered it I was delighted at its wealth of useful features.
Now I've written my first script on it, it's driving me nuts. It can't handle dragging-and-dropping and when I cut and paste it has to think about it so long that I fear for my computer's life. No auto-correct or auto-capitalise options (and I was so used to having the beginnings of all my sentences capitalised automatically!) and the page-breaks keep screwing up. Not to mention I have to stop typing for half a minute every time it auto-saves. And I wish you could turn off the drop down character-name/slugline menus.

But how can I go back to trusty old ScreenForge now?? No index cards, no character profiles, no 'project library', no slugline index or dialogue reports or adding musical tracks and pictures.

I just wanted to rant a bit, really. I'm so frustrated! Do you get on with Celtx? Or can you recommend me something with all the good bits of both and none of the bad bits? ;)

[dpaterso]

Just askin', what OS/processor/memory do you have? First thing to establish is a benchmark.

-Derek

[icerose]

Auto-correct and auto-capitalize drive me crazy, unless it's like the slug-lines where it puts it in the correct type and such. I don't use Celtx though, I use final draft myself, and love it. I don't have any problems with the page-breaks or anything, really. (Though my keyboard drives me nuts because it likes to add in spaces when it isn't supposed to.)

But then again, I like my programs to be pretty much invisible and just work around what I'm already doing. My typing is also pretty accurate the first time out, so I don't have to go back and correct much. I'm sure that also lends to it. I don't know if FD has the auto correct features, I've never used them, and FD would also cost you. So, hopefully some other members can weigh in.

[stuckupmyownera]

Hmm let's see. I'm a bit of a hardware dummy but it's Windows XP...

I found this too...
AM Sempron processor 2600+
1.60Ghz, 224mb of RAM

I run Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Word and Excel, Windows Media Player and Picasa all without any trouble. It's just Celtx.

[dpaterso]

That's a reasonable processor/memory combination. Your memory isn't huge but XP runs happily with less. When you run Celtx do you have any other programs open? The answer's probably "Of course not, d'you think I'm stupid?" but it's one of those "got to ask..." questions. :)

Edit: a quick Google search for "Celtx running slow" gets a few hits, for example:

http://forums.celtx.com/viewtopic.php?p=1195&sid=508118c73b149db54dfa48265a7026bd

-Derek

[caustic]

At first I loved Celtx. One being it was free, the other the seemingly painless use and GUI.

After using it, I also noticed a slowness. I'm a FD7 user myself, and I love the layout. Like said, its pretty much invisible (few toolbars/sidebars to clutter the screen). I have a 10" netbook, so LCD real estate is valuable.

To each his own, but I love FD7. Hands down. No hang ups yet at all.

[mario_c]

No auto correct? Mine works fine, version 0.9.9.6. Yeah, it does take a minute when you highlight a block of text but otherwise ease of use is still off the hook.
I am curious about Final Draft and what is so great about it that I should pay all that money for it, when I have everything I need for free. I'm not being an asshole, I'm really curious.

[stuckupmyownera]

Mario, do you ever find when you drag and drop a bit of text that it disappears altogether?? What is that all about? Mine does it all the time!

Derek, as with the above, it's not only the slowness that's frustrating me. I do sometimes run it with a web browser open, or an excel doc that I use to organise myself, but I've been paying attention and it doesn't make any difference either way.

I guess I will end up using Final Draft. After I've bought a laptop and a dozen other things I'm saving for... I've just revived my free demo and it doesn't have any of the operating problems I'm experiencing with Celtx. I didn't like it much first time I tried it as it's quite a big leap from Screenforge, but now I think Celtx has eased me into that way of working a bit (tabs and enters instead of having everything on hotkeys).
I'll miss Screenforge's comprehensive autocorrections though! And it makes for a smaller page count than Celtx or FD, which is a big thing for me since I always struggle to keep my page count down. (My first two pages in Screenforge equal two pages and three lines on FD, or nearly two and a half pages on Celtx! :eek: )

If I knew how, I'd totally write my own custom software :D

[caustic]

For me, it offers the auto-format without anything else to look at while I'm typing. Pretty much Word or OOWrite. Very straight-forward. Also, it has a certain "flow" to it that I may be making up, it just seems to flow smoother than the other programs.

You could also ask why chocolate is better than vanilla. Just personal preference.

Stuck up just said it. It's all about tab and enter. I LOVE those things!

[icerose]

I am curious about Final Draft and what is so great about it that I should pay all that money for it, when I have everything I need for free. I'm not being an asshole, I'm really curious.

I got mine for free, a friend of mine tried it, decided script writing was not for him, and suddenly had this program he'd paid money for, so he gave it to me. Yes, he does have money to burn.

Anyway, I haven't tried any other programs so I can't do a comparison, but doing a free trial would give you enough info to see if it works for you or not.

[Billingsgate]

I've tried Celtx as well, and have never experienced any slowness or the problems described above. But it's really buggy in many other areas, and has already crashed once on me, losing an entire 3 days work that was unrecoverable. So I won't touch it with a thousand-foot pole. I've been extremely happy with Movie Magic Screenwriter, which works quite similarly to Final Draft. As someone else said above, the program is almost invisible once you get used to it, and the work flows very smoothly. I chose Movie Magic mainly because at the time I was collaborating with another writer who had it. Either one is a good choice.

Celtx is a different thing altogether, in that it's trying to integrate all pre-production tasks into one interface: from notes to script to storyboard to breakdowns. It's a wonderful concept, useful for anyone writing and producing their own work, and I hope they improve it, because that's exactly what I potentially like about it. For now, used purely as a scriptwriting program, it isn't the equal of the expensive commercial programs.

Do you get what you pay for? Perhaps.

[gophergrrrl]

Hey Stuckie. 224 mb of ram might be your problem-- you might want to look into getting an upgrade. Ram isn't all that expensive. My old beast of a dell (desktop) topped out at 500 mb (it was super old, but worked great and I loved it) and I had some speed issues with celtx. Things lagged a bit, especially adding new scene headings amidst other old ones-- waiting on that got quite frustrating.

I'm now using a new laptop as my writing computer, and it has 2 gig of ram. I don't have much problem with speed anymore, everything is delightfully zippy. Celtx runs great on this laptop.

I think that Celtx is a terrific program. Sure, it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that Final Draft has, but I think it gives FD a good run for its money.

[stuckupmyownera]

Aha. Thanks Gophergrrrl, that's useful. Like I say, I'm saving up for a laptop, so maybe that'll be the answer to my problems...

I followed Derek's link to the Celtx forum (thanks Derek :) ) and they basically reckon it comes down to the computer too.

[mario_c]

Mario, do you ever find when you drag and drop a bit of text that it disappears altogether?? What is that all about? Mine does it all the time!
You mean dragging from an external word processor? Hmm...I started my latest WIP in Pages (their screenplay format option is blech), and copy/pasted into Celtx. You have to check the formatting translates which means a lot of proofing, which you have to do anyway :D Same when I copy/pasted from a .rtf in Windows (I have a dual boot Mac).


If I knew how, I'd totally write my own custom software :DHmm, haven't coded a little C++ in a long time...if only there weren't so many options already out there.

As to the concerns about losing your doc, you can back up to their online hard drive, or to your HD or to an external USB hard drive. Yep, I do all 3 - I'm a little paranoid after once losing a Windows setup to viruses (and yes, I had Norton on, and no, I don't assume Macs are going to remain free of threats forever).

[Medievalist]

Hmm let's see. I'm a bit of a hardware dummy but it's Windows XP...

I found this too...
AM Sempron processor 2600+
1.60Ghz, 224mb of RAM

I run Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Word and Excel, Windows Media Player and Picasa all without any trouble. It's just Celtx.

You almost certainly need more RAM--is that really the amount? It's not a standard number (I'd expect something like 256, or 512); I'm wondering if that's the amount of "virtual memory.'

Also, how much free space do you have on your hard drive? Celtx writes very long files in an odd way--it needs space.

[stuckupmyownera]

You mean dragging from an external word processor? Hmm...I started my latest WIP in Pages (their screenplay format option is blech), and copy/pasted into Celtx. You have to check the formatting translates which means a lot of proofing, which you have to do anyway :D

No, the problem is just moving text within Celtx.
And as for backing up onto their online facility, there's another gripe I have with Celtx. No matter how many times I try it just won't let me open an account. It always times out when it's checking my username. :Shrug:


You almost certainly need more RAM--is that really the amount? It's not a standard number (I'd expect something like 256, or 512); I'm wondering if that's the amount of "virtual memory.'

Also, how much free space do you have on your hard drive? Celtx writes very long files in an odd way--it needs space.

Like I said, I don't know much about hardware, I just found that info in Control Panel somewhere. It's a bit of a 'Frankenstein' machine that my brother put together for me out of old bits 'cause I had no money. But there is plenty of room on the harddrive and I don't clog it up with games or music - it's always served me well until now.

Sounds like the RAM is the problem though. I'll just have to keep saving for that laptop...

[icerose]

Your processor is also very slow. That could be contributing as well as your low ram. Harddrive space has nothing to do with speed, only storage capacity. Your ram and your processor are like your horsepower. The lower the horsepower the slower you're going to go, and if you overwhelm the load you'll bog it down. If you upgrade your processor and ram and may have to upgrade your motherboard because it depends on whether or not the new ones will fit the pin configuration. Saving up for a new one as you said is probably your best bet.

[Doug B]

Another thought - if you don't defragment your disk once in a while, it can really slow down your system. Since you are running XP: Go to start - all programs - accessories - system tools - then Disk Cleanup. When that program has finished then run then Disk Defragment.

[Captain Morgan]

Hmm!

Celtx is my most prized software. Even more so than my trusty Word Perfect.

[Doug B]

Nothing will ever take away Wordperfect's number one position in my writing heart.

[beezle]

I've just started using it. Lotsa fun. Now I just need to figure out how to number my pages...