Final Draft...

[Xeditor]

Tell me, is Final Draft worth getting?  I've heard great things.

[sphinx]

i've never used anything other than final draft, it is very helpful when you're writing on riffs of dialogue and such---you don't have to worry too much about the formatting when you're writing.  i can't say whether or not it's worth the money, since i've never tried anything else, i just took cj's word for it

[RegularKarate]

I'd say get it if you write a lot.  It helps you move along faster.

[MacGuffin]

i've never used anything other than final draft, it is very helpful when you're writing on riffs of dialogue and such---you don't have to worry too much about the formatting when you're writing.  i can't say whether or not it's worth the money, since i've never tried anything else

I agree with everything sphinx said...except I have Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000.

FINAL DRAFT VERSION 5 & MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER 2000:
http://www.screenstyle.com/findraf50vsm.html

Download a demo of Final Draft here:
http://www.finaldraft.com/downloads/demos.html

Download a demo of Movie Magic here:
http://www.screenplay.com/support/demos/index.html#scw

[Xeditor]

Demo?  Ever hear of Kazaa?  I'll just get full-versions.  Illegal...yes!  Do I care....no!  It's the way of the world now.  But thanks, I will illegally download both of those.  I AM AN ONLINE PIRATE!

[sphinx]

Demo?  Ever hear of Kazaa?  I'll just get full-versions.  Illegal...yes!  Do I care....no!  It's the way of the world now.  But thanks, I will illegally download both of those.  I AM AN ONLINE PIRATE!

xeditor, please try not to so blatantly support piracy.  these boards aren't the same as the old c&c ones where even a hint of piracy would get your post deleted, but perhaps you could be more subtle, eh?

[Xixax]

Well stated.

I'm not mr. Squeaky clean (as I type this on a newsgroup-obtained version of Windows XP), but when it comes to software I certainly do buy my fair share. Photoshop, Director, Flash, Premiere, Office, God knows how many OS's - all the tools a web geek uses and then some.

So, I'm a tad resentful of people who do nothing but steal software since I've paid out the nose for so much of it legally myself.

There's no denying that software piracy is theft - particularly for smaller companies like the ones that write the software of which you speak. For a small company like mine, I can appreciate the fact that a single software license will pay a portion of a bandwidth bill, or an electric bill, or a bit of a programmer's salary. This kind of focus gets lost the larger a software company becomes, but even then you have to realize that new improved software versions are a direct result of how many copies were purchased of the previous version.

Download it from Kazaa and mess with it a little, but if you like the product, you really should eventually buy (or in the case of shareware, register) it.

I will now temporarily step down from my soapbox until the topic arises again.

[MacGuffin]

Demo?  Ever hear of Kazaa?  I'll just get full-versions.  Illegal...yes!  Do I care....no!  It's the way of the world now.  But thanks, I will illegally download both of those.  I AM AN ONLINE PIRATE!

Then what was the point of this thread?

[aclockworkjj]

Xixax.....I would have to disagree about the larger the company the more legalities get lost.  I work for a very big ecommerce dept.  and the software is all legal......put it this way....when to get to a certain point in growth, the 1st fines for software infridgment start at 10 grand.....now, so when I need a $800 program, they buy if for me, instead of paying those penalties.....

[RegularKarate]

Xixax.....I would have to disagree about the larger the company the more legalities get lost.  I work for a very big ecommerce dept.  and the software is all legal......put it this way....when to get to a certain point in growth, the 1st fines for software infridgment start at 10 grand.....now, so when I need a $800 program, they buy if for me, instead of paying those penalties.....

I'm pretty sure he was talking about the other side of it.

Large companies can't really get away with piracy without getting fined a whopping amount, he meant that pirating software designed by bigger companies isn't the same as pirating software by smaller companies.

[Xixax]

he meant that pirating software designed by bigger companies isn't the same as pirating software by smaller companies.

Exactly.

Not that both aren't wrong, but the impact is different.

Pirating a small software company's program might mean the difference between that company making payroll that week or not.

Pirating a large software company's program means that you're chipping away, little by little, at the quality of future products (among other things).

It's still felt, but in an entirely different manner.

I do pirate software now and then, but I delete it after checking it out most of the time. If I find a program that I like that I have downloaded illegally, I will 9 times out of 10 end up purchasing the software. I like the idea of supporting things I believe in.

[aclockworkjj]

Ah...I see now....sorry, it was early in the morning when I first replied...needed more coffee I think.

[Jeremy Blackman]

getting

Oh, ok. I get it.

I don't know... If I wrote on a pirated copy of Final Cut Pro, I'd probably write a catholic guilt story or something.

Yes, it is worth buying, although the only other thing I've even tried was some Microsoft Word template.

[sphinx]

Yes, it is worth buying, although the only other thing I've even tried was some Microsoft Word template.

MICROSOFT WORD OWNS, BRUTHA

[Jeremy Blackman]