Montage - 1.2.2

Have just bought montage.

It is nearly an excellent piece of software undermined by silly and annoying flaws. I think they are easily fixable. Montage could be easily tweaked to be the best screenwriting software-- FAR superior to the primitive Final Draft et al, but until then the bad points undo much of the good.

(overall I think the script template interface in Apple's 'Pages' is a surprisingly good model, easy to work with, though hard to integrate with the dreadful Final Draft).

1-- Sometimes the import menu item is grey/not accessible other times it works fine. I cansee no logic behind when or why the change is made -- no idea why it changes. Is it a bug?

2--About half the time if I select text and press delete the text doesn't get deleted, the cursor just jumps back to the start of the text which is no longer highlighted. Don't understand this.

3--If I delete a big chunk of text, the page count/graphics do niot seem to update very well.

4-- THE CUTTING TOOL IS TERRIBLE, It does not work in a consistent way that I understand and does not seem undoable.

5--I need to do occasional exceptions to format without having to edit the elements template. Say I want to be able centre one line of text (to show what it says on an advertising sign, with a rough idea of the layout) too hard to do in Montage).

6--The spell-checker only works on some words, no sure of the logic behind itsometimes its necessary to paste words in. (does it only spell check words as they are typed?)

7-- I want to be able to "Paste and match style" for text from other applications.

8--WYSIWYG should apply across the board. Page numbers / headers / more's & cont'ds etc should be visible at all times, NOT just added when printing as then maybe I forgot to do 'em right.

8a-All of these elements should be added to be on PDFs. It is not to have the script being different printed to a pdf etc.

9--Why when I go to export a pdf or whatver is the name of the file not automatically based on the name of the montage file with pdf added? Its sensible, its what most other software does.

10--If I accidentally delete the return between a parenthetical line and line of dialogue. i can't get a new return. Is this a glitch? Again, annoying.

11-- All style attributes should be customisable/put into the toolbars -- basically everything (Apple's Pages is a good model for this).

12--I'd like strikethrough in the menu/toolbars? Is a common fature to show deleted lines. Also give it a key command.

13--The little window it first opens in is silly and useless -- have it open at the same workspace layout as when closed. It wastes time having to do it every-time again. FCP/Adobe products have a save window layout option which is excellent.

14--Due to some kind of bug when the software opens and I go to fullscreen I can only see half a script page.

15--I'd like to be to be able to turn of the contextual menus and do returns in the same style as I'm working in.

16--The automatic back ups aren't that useful. The single back-up file is consistently updated, its only really useful if a new file is created every time.
Also there should be an option to turn it off, I personally can organise it better myself.

17 -- dictionaries in different languages?

18 -- ability to add / customise key commands

19 -- ability to merge documents.

I tried twice but am not allowed onto the support forums, despite buying the product!!!

(from a professional screen/TV writer hotshot)

There are two main ways of breaking down Montage 1.5.1; first as a native Macintosh application, and second as a screenwriting application. Under the first category, Montage is an excellent program. There are small areas where "fit and finish" need work, but these are small considerations compared to the overall stability and usefulness provided by the program. Unlike Final Draft 7, which STILL looks like an OS 9 application that has been left in the backyard to rust, Montage has all of the look and feel of what an OS X application should be. Application menus are clear and concise, and the commands work like you would expect them to. Borrowing concepts like the "Snowflake Method" of building a story, the user is given a wide variety of informational inputs to collect and write his or her story with. What gives Montage its most modern feel, is not the programming interface, a but a new paradigm in document and information collection; Conceptualization. Conceptualization is where Montage's second great strength comes into play. Programs like Final Draft are the end stop for the writing process. There is no information collection, versioning or data input until the writer sets down to pen the script. With Montage, the entire process of collecting, sorting, prioritizing and enabling ideas is included into the writing process. While still outputting scripts that make the grade, the writer has so much more control and choice. Among the best features: Full screen editing with customizable viewing options A wide variety of document input and viewing options; Script,Scene,Outline,Characters,Locations,Research,Tasks,Contacts,Queries,Synopsis,Title Page Tab-access to all script elements Several screenplay, teleplay and stage play template options for compatibility (Final Draft native and 17 other choices - even for the BBC!) Export to 8 file formats Import to all 18 templates Complete element configuration Scene navigation, keywording, annotations, A & B scripts, script lockoffs - scene numbering during production, Smart Views Does not run on Windows! One more thing... The people at Mariner Software are exceedingly helpful, kind and knowledgeable. You will not find that level of service from Final Draft in any way. In fact, try going through the activation process for Final Draft... not a fun experience