Celtx -- Anyone aware of this program?

Posted by JohnK
Jun 30, 2008 at 10:52 PM

There’s a fair amount of discussion about Celtx over on the software forum at Done Deal (screenwriting forums) if anyone is interested:
http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=21 . They do discuss outliners occasionally, but obviously in a specific context.

The general consensus appears to be that Celtx is maturing nicely. The huge barrier that a program such as Celtx faces is that screenwriters have to be convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that a program is rock solid before they will entrust a script to it—for obvious reasons. Most screenplay software uses proprietary file formats, so you can’t afford to take a risk. (Proprietary formats are perhaps understandable in the case of scriptwriting software—the file generally contains not only the script, but the outline, comments, preparatory notes etc.—although in the end most scripts circulate as PDFs).

I have fallen victim to this once already. I used to use Sophocles, a wonderful, elegant, lean program that was by far the best piece of screenwriting software available (and relatively cheap at $120—yes that’s cheap for screenwriting software). But it was a one-man band, and a couple of months ago the web site (sophocles.net) vanished. No warning. Which wouldn’t have been a complete disaster apart from the fact that each install of Sophocles (even on the same machine) required online activation. Cue a lot of worried screenwriters (see above-mentioned forum)...

I considered Celtx. Briefly. I made a quick decision that I would, reluctantly, go with one of the “industry standards” (which for the record are Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter—they both like to call themselves the industry standard). Both hopelessly over-priced for what they do, and neither is as good as Sophocles. But I have learned my lesson. For mission-critical software, no more one-man bands, no risks. Follow the herd.