Screenwriting software is rather self explanatory, basically it is a glorified word processor that allows writers to easily format their writing in a script fashion. I won’t focus on Pros of Final Draft because there aren’t many. It formats your screen play so you don’t have to. There are however so many cons with this particular application I could rant forever, but I keep to a short list.
1) It costs $229! common its a word processor and not a good one at that…
2) It has a strict and very limited license, you have to activate the software on your computer, not only is it a pain in the ass you are only allowed to install it on 2 computers. That may be fine for some writers but I personally have two laptops and a desktop that I work on. for $229 I expect more flexibility.
3) The Program itself is not intuitive, if I’m writing dialog between a few characters it should be-capable of guessing the correct auto complete information when selecting character names and scene headings. It guesses wrong about 20% of the time.
4) The spell check is the worst. It has trouble guessing the correct word and it doesn’t even have built in definitions for common camera direction or set lingo. i.e. if I write CU for close up it thinks the word is misspelled.
5) There is no easy way to store snippets or notes in the program, yes there is a script-note feature but it is more complex than it should be.
6) Updates are nonexistent, this isn’t a complex program, it takes forever for basic updates to come out and when a new version comes out there is a list of lackluster features for your $70 upgrade..
If this software didn’t have a strangle hold on the industry as a standard it would wither and die.. I know I won’t attend the funeral when it does…