StoryMill - 3.1

Montage - A review and comparison to Storymill

I have been using the demo of Storymill for about a week writing my new project. Because it is a script I am working on there are things I am missing in it, although there are many nice features. I also downloaded the last version of Montage (1.4) to see if any developments have been made to it, since the last version I used, I did not like.

Although Storymill is for novels and Montage for scripts, they both target creative writers. As one of them I am making this comparison.

Surprisingly although Montage has been longer in the line-up of Mariner Software it is much less refined than Storymill. Here is a comparison:

1) The Progress meter feature lacks from Montage. Screenwriters need to keep track of their productivity as well.

2)User interface under Montage: The content in Research window and Task window cannot be moved around. It is automatically sorted. Besides that, when sorting by name, a very annoying thing happens. number 10 does not follow number 9, in order, but goes after number 1... Storymill on the other hand lets you move things around.

3)The double-clicking of content in Storymill makes it pop up on a separate window. It would really be useful for Montage too, which does not have that feature either.

4) Smart view is a great feature in both programs.

5)This is personal, but aesthetically the icons in Montage are not so nice as the ones in Storymill. Actually they look like OS9 icons..

6)Timeline which is only in Storymill, would be tremendously helpful for screenwriter using Montage as well.

7) Tagging in Storymill is like the “Add keyword” option in Montage, only in storymill it works better.

8) The beginners’ Tutorial in Storymill is a very nice extra that comes with the program. Again Montage lacks is it.

9) Full screen only works on script and scenes mode in Montage. Not in synopsis mode or any other. In storymill all windows can be viewed in full screen. And it is really nice to work on synopses or character profiles in full screen. This is a real shame.

10) Button for making annotations in storymill. In montage you have to go through the menu each time you want to make a note.

11)No option for deselecting the auto Backup. If you deselect it you cannot save your work at all.

12) Annotations can ONLY be made in script mode, not in synopsis, character, scene or other mode in Montage. Again in Storymill things are much better. ANnotations can be made on every mode.

The list goes on...

13) Exporting is so unintuitive in Montage. In Storymill you have a preview of exactly what is going to be exported and you can change it accordingly. In Montage you export first and then you check if you exported the right thing.

I am still finding more handicaps in montage the more I use it. It is really sad as it could have been developed to a very nice application.

As I said earlier Storymill is definitely much more refined than Montage. If you are a novelist you are lucky and good to go with Storymill. If on the other hand you are a script writer like me, then you you have to look elsewhere and definitely not spend the money for purchasing this version.

I would purchase anytime Storymill if it only had standard script formating and outline. On the other hand Montage compared to the Storymill features are very thin.

For the moment and my current project (which is a Feature Film) I will be using Storymill for Synopses, Characters, Research, Scene Ideas, and ONLY then I will go to Montage to write the script, but I might still prefer Final Draft until a better version of either Storymill or Montage comes out or even better if they would merge it in one application as it seems that Storymill and Montage are in fact one application cut in half and therefore crippled. You can download the Demos and see for yourselves.

The first thing I noticed is that on my MacBook Pro's screen, the written text is miniscule. True, for chapters, you can double click the chapter name and a new edit window pops up, allowing you to set the zoom level, but all the other windows don't seem to have the setting. My old, tired eyes have a hard time with this.

I set up a time line (one nifty feature) with a number of scenes - these are horizontal bars along a time line. A little later, after switching to another view and returning, all the scenes but one had disappeared. Closed the app and later opened it up again - lo and behold, the scenes reappeared. You can grab the bar and stretch or compact it, but sometimes, as the mouse moves left and right, the bar looses connection and begins moving at a different rate or just collapses. Definite problems here.

Overall, I just felt that the product didn't work with me, didn't fit like a glove. I've used Scrivener, and that seems very intuitive and responsive to me. StoryMill did not impress me.