Software
Review: Movie Magic Screenwriter 6.0 Pg. 2
The program will open up the previous versions of Movie Magic without any problem - I opened up a screenplay that was starting on MM 2000 and everything was fine. I didn't even have to Save As or rename the file. As with the previous version, it will also import Microsoft Word documents, and the user has the option to chose to just import the text or to let the program interpret the file and automatically add proper formatting. The software does a pretty good job at figuring out characters, scene headings, and dialogue, though occasionally it makes a few mistakes. Best to check through the document after doing an import. (Additionally, Microsoft Word, Final Draft etc, need to be converted to rtf before importing.)
When opening a previously used document or importing a new one, I did notice that it is difficult to change things. I tried deleting a scene heading and changing its time of day, but the program wouldn't accept a different scene location, and didn't want to add the daytime setting at the end.
The program also beeps at you whenever there's a misspelling. This seems a little unnecessary, as it uses the Word concept of underlining a misspelled word with a red squiggly line. And this beeping sound keeps repeating itself every time one presses the "Enter" key, or uses Ctrl+End to get to the end of the document. This setting can be changed in the options menu, but it's a little hard to find, and for users who haven't yet gotten used to the program it could get really annoying really fast.
The program's option menu is quite extensive, and nearly all of the auto-fill setting can be changed there. This is rather handy to have and would be useful for a new user to experiment with while getting used to the program. At least having the flexibility makes it possible for each user to set their own preferences.
Movie Magic Screanwriter 6 also retains the ability to make notes in the script, but now they can be color-coded.
Depth of Options
As with most of our reviews on new iterations of products we've reviewed in the past, we'll start with the new features and then confirm the things that have stuck around from the past.
NaviDoc The new NaviDoc allows you to keep track of four elements: Scenes, Outline, Notes, and Bookmarks. The Scenes panel is a big improvement over the old Scene Pilot. Now, besides just navigating your scenes, you can sort them by int/ext, location, Time of Day and Scene number. The Outline Panel provides you with a fully customizable integrated outliner and also allows you to rearrange parts of your script by dragging and dropping them. The Notes Panel provides an easy way to view and navigate your document via the notes in your document, and you now have the ability to create note categories that are color coded. The Bookmarks Panel is similar to the past bookmark feature, though easier to use and access. All of the Navidoc Panels allow for full customization of the appearance of the elements that appear in the panel.
Emailing
You can now e-mail your document from within the program as a Screenwriter 6, Screenwriter 2000, RTF and PDF formats.
