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Home / Reviews & Snapshots / |
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by Gitta Kellner
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Final Draft, Inc. announced the release of Final Draft AV, version 2.5, a significant upgrade to their self-contained, full-featured word processor specifically designed for dual-column, audio-visual script writing. The dual-column format is used by professionals and consumers who write and produce commercials, documentaries, industrial films, DV shorts and other non-linear scripted material. Final Draft AV 2.5 includes the revolutionary new Rearrange Guide Line as well as expanded importing and exporting capabilities to assist with non-creative collaborators during the script approval process.
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“People tell us that before AV they used to spend more time formatting their scripts than creating them,” says Marc Madnick, President and CEO of Final Draft, Inc. “With Final Draft AV, you can create a blueprint for a production in a fraction of the time it would take to create using a standard word processor.” The difference between AV and other standard word processors is its unique ability to line up content in the video and audio columns and keep it aligned throughout the creative process.
Rearrange Guide Line
A new editing function unique to Final Draft AV is the Rearrange Guide Line. “With the blue Rearrange Guide Line, you can drag and drop copy and see exactly where text will be aligned as it is moved. This enables scenes and shots to be easily reordered and realigned after they are written,” says Kirsten Vensel, Final Draft AV Product Manager.
To see an animation of the Rearrange Guide Line, go to
http://www.finaldraft.com/products/av-features-rearrange.php4
The Future of Audio-Visual Script writing
The company believes the Rearrange Guide Line feature will be an invaluable tool for the writing and rewriting process and is the foundation for a number of major feature additions in future releases of Final Draft AV.
“Over the next few years, our view is that video publishing will become as familiar to the public as desktop publishing is today,” said Madnick. “We anticipate that writing audio-visual scripts will be recognized as an essential part of the creative process.”
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Pricing and Availability
Available immediately, Final Draft AV 2.5 ships with both Windows and Macintosh platforms on a single CD. Retail price is $199 or $49 for registered users of previous versions. To order or for more information, visit http://www.finaldraft.com.
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Final Draft™ International Edition
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Final Draft, Inc., announced the availability of the International Edition of Final Draft™, its top-selling script writing software, which is used to write scripts for movies, television and theater. Final Draft International Edition allows the user to choose from a number of foreign language spell-checkers and thesauri to be used with its easy-to-use dedicated word processor for script writing. In addition, the Getting Started manual is now printed in English, French, German and Spanish. Getting Started Manual is now Multi-Lingual
“The Hollywood format for writing scripts has been adopted throughout the world. Final Draft International Edition makes it effortless for non-English speaking writers to create industry-standard professionally-formatted scripts,” said Scott McMenamin, Director of International Sales for Final Draft, Inc.
Final Draft is the software of choice of such industry giants as Alan Ball, Tom Hanks, Oliver Stone, J.J. Abrams and Michael Bay. Television shows such as "The Sopranos,” "Lost,” “Entourage” and "Desperate Housewives,” feature films such as "Cold Mountain,” “Lost in Translation,” "The Incredibles,” “Sideways" and any of the "Lord of the Rings,” "Harry Potter" and recent James Bond movies are all the results of scripts written with Final Draft.
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Pricing and Availability
Availability is immediate at a retail price of US$289 from Final Draft, Inc. and resellers worldwide. Final Draft comes with both Windows and Macintosh versions included. To order, or for more information, visit www.finaldraft.com..
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Conclusions
After spending some time with both programs, I felt the power of Final Draft and Final Draft AV. It makes writing scripts a better experience. Final Draft AV allows everybody involved in the development of audio-visual scripts to do their work quickly and with a minimum of fuss. Final Draft cannot replace poor writing skills, but it frees up your brain for the creative process. It encourages to write scripts because it is fun and easy. The intuitive interfaces allow for a fast start. Whether you are presenting interactive training programs to students or create multi-media presentations for any audience, Final Draft and Final Draft AV can help you write better scripts. The money and timesaving aspects are important, but let's not forget that reaching the communication objectives is the ultimate goal.
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About Final Draft, Inc.
Final Draft, Inc. was founded in 1991 to develop a script writing program that allows the writer to concentrate on the creative process and not on Hollywood's stringent formatting rules. Since then, Final Draft has become the Hollywood professional's choice and the world's #1-selling scriptwriting program.
The company's headquarters is in Calabasas, California. More information about the company and its products is available at http://www.finaldraft.com.
Final Draft and final Draft AV are registered trademarks of Final Draft, Inc.
Contact: Frank Colin
VP Product Development
Phone: 818.995.8995 x113
Email: colin@finaldraft.com
For more information, please visit www.finaldraft.com.
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