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Final Draft 8 – What’s Changed?

Another great screencast from John August, going into geeky detail with what's changed with screenwriting software Final Draft 8:

Final Draft 8 is largely identical to FD7, with some better chrome. If you’re happy with FD7, the addition of a fairly useful navigator and a new XML file format may or may not be enough reason to upgrade

--johnaugust.com » Final Draft 8, briefly

I upgraded to 7 from 5 and in a lot of ways found 7 to be a step backwards because there were so many bugs. It doesn't sound like 8 suffers from the bug issues, nor does it sound like it adds any really compelling features.

I've never used any other screenwriting program, so I can't really compare. I know if budget is an issue, the open source Celtx or a macro collection for Word (if you already have it) are probably the best options. Not that Final Draft ($179, $79 upgrade) or Movie Magic Screenwriter ($153.99) are particularly expensive compared to the software needed for other professions.

I say this as someone who does professional work in Avid MediaComposer and Photoshop -- both of which are, thankfully, provided by my employer.

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.