Final Draft 8.0 Screenwriting Software for Mac and Windows from Final Draft is the industry-standard application for screenwriters. Used by such prolific scribes as J.J. Abrams and Oliver Stone, the software automatically formats your words into the proper screenplay format.
Simply put your story to paper, Final Draft will do the rest. It centers dialog, adds scene headings, keeps track of character names for consistency, and properly paginates pages. You'll be able to add notes and feedback for personal reference, and make notes of script changes made during production.
The full-featured software offers several ways to view your script content, including a Scene View for a high-level look, and Script Compare to highlight changes across script version. With several ways to review your Script, you can analyze a character's dialog word count or count the number of scenes that use a particular location.
Note:
This is an educational package that requires proof of current educational status. You'll be requested to submit any one of the following: .edu email address, class schedule, tuition invoice, pay stub (for faculty), or a student or faculty ID.
Story Development
Send to Script
Select one or more individual Index Card Summaries and copy the content directly into the script. If there is only a Scene Heading, the content will appear directly below the Scene Heading as an Action element. Otherwise, the text will appear at the end of any previously existing content in the scene
Scene View
Scene View allows you to outline script ideas and reorder scenes from a high level. Select, drag, and drop one or more scenes to reorganize your ideas as you outline. Insert new scenes easily, and hide or show information important to you, such as a scene's action, title, and summary. Scene View also displays a scene's color so you can quickly identify one scene from another. Print your Scene View or just view it alongside the script. With a double click you can sync the script to instantly go to any scene you've selected in Scene View
Scene Navigator
Scene Navigator manages and displays important scene details on a floating palette. Manage the pace and flow of your story and keep track of up to nine categories of information related to your scenes. The Scene Navigator is sortable and customizable, and it displays details about your script such as a scene's title, color, page number, length, and location. Best of all, it syncs with the script with a single click. As your script progresses, you can pick and choose the columns of information that are relevant for your current phase of writing
Scene Properties Inspector
Track data specific to each scene in this floating palette, such as the scene's story beats that will eventually make up the action, characters, and dialog of the scene. In the Scene Properties Inspector you can add and edit your scene's title such as "Villain Introduced," and add color to the scene to help you track elements like storylines, character arcs, and material you need to get back to later. Like the Navigator, the SPI will display the details of whatever scene you're working on in your script so that you have your summary notes handy as you need them
Index Cards
Double-sided cards display the script's scene on one side and the summary on the other. The Summary View allows you to enter ideas directly into the index card such as your basic outline, notes, sequence or act markers, comments, locations, blocking – anything you need to build and organize your story. You can also color your Index Cards to help organize themes, character arcs, A and B stories, etc. Select and rearrange multiple cards at once if you need to reorder your scenes, or print your Index Cards directly on 3 x 5" or 4 x 6" cards for visualizing and organizing scenes outside of the application. Double-clicking on a card in Split Panel View will automatically sync the scene selected with your script
File Format (XML)
Final Draft version 8 introduces a file format that the company has shared with technology partners to improve the writer's overall scriptwriting experience. Now you can save to the Final Draft file format (.fdx) in a variety of products. Your information can then be opened directly in Final Draft with perfect format and structure. No more reformatting in Final Draft and no more re-typing or lost information
Writing & Rewriting
Text Highlighting
A new toolbar button has been added that will allow you to select and highlight text using one of five bright highlight colors provided, one of the seven colors used in the Navigator/Index Cards/Scene View, or a custom color if you require additional options
Pagination
An option informs you if you have set the Header/Footer margins off the printable area of the page, or if you attempt to print to a new printer that has margins larger than those you've set in the page layout. In either case, you will be given the option to ignore the settings or adjust the margins on the script prior to printing
Spotlight Search
On Mac, you will be able to search using the Spotlight feature and find any version 8 files (.fdx/.fdxt) containing your searched words. The search will look in the script text, title page, script notes, scene summaries, and scene titles and will open to the first instance of the word if it appears in script or title-page text
Printing and PDF Options
Not only can you print your script in its entirety, you can choose which sets of revisions you want to print and you can print other views such as the Scene View and Index Cards. We've added the ability for you to print directly on 3 x 5" or 4 x 6" index cards or print your script directly to PDF so you can decide whether to send a full script or a subset of pages via PDF. The Title Page is also conveniently available as an option to include in your PDF or printed output. The Save as PDF option in the File menu has the added benefit of allowing you to choose whether to include the Title Page or not in the Save as PDF dialog box when you save the file. The Save as PDF option has also been added to all text files (Title Pages, Reports, and Text templates). The print dialog has options that enable you to print by Scene Number or to print a range of scenes. Script options also include the ability to print all scenarios once you enter Revision Mode (all revised pages, the active revision, any unrevised pages, or a specific revision set). You can also print a collated script with the latest set of revisions for any given page
Script Compare
Version 8 of the software provides more granularity for comparing the changes you've made – specifically individual words and punctuation. Compare two drafts of the same script (.fdr or .fdx) and Final Draft will highlight any changes, allowing you to easily see the differences from one file to the next
The Panels System
Like most writers, you probably need to keep a lot of ideas at the front of your mind while you're writing. With the Panels System, you can split your screen into separate panels and view your script pages in one panel while you view another section of the script, your Index Cards, or Scene View in the other panel. With the Panels System you can compare two scenes' dialog and pacing side by side even though they may be separated by a vast number of pages. If you want an overview of each scene, use the Index Cards or Scene View on one side and the script in the other. A double click in any scene will keep the panels in sync
Templates
Television show, screenplay, stageplay, and graphic-novel templates are included to help get you started. Looking for an old series no longer on the air or a hot new show? The Final Draft online template library is updated regularly and allows registered users to search a large library of past and present television shows. New shows are added regularly and users can easily download additional templates directly from finaldraft.com
Page Count Management
Our new Leading Style in version 8 allows you to adjust the spacing of the entire script or you can select individual sections of text and adjust their spacing to help manage your page count
Built-In Spell-Checking and Thesaurus
The vastly improved spell-checking engine comes with English (US) and a built-in thesaurus, plus the option to install one of 15 additional language spell-checkers and thesauri. The application provides real-time auto-spell check, catches capitalization errors, and will assist you in finding synonyms. With definitions for 80,000-plus words from Merriam-Webster and a full thesaurus, you have all the tools at your fingertips. In addition, all the words you added to your user dictionary from version 7 will automatically populate your user dictionary when you install Version 8
Remember Workspace
It's important if you are working among multiple drafts to make sure that you are editing the correct version. With the new Workspace preference, you can have Final Draft open all the files you had open, in the order you were working on them, the last time you worked in Final Draft
Final Draft Courier Font
Having a consistent page count that production companies and studios can depend on to help them estimate their budgets is crucial when working on a script. That's why Final Draft offers its own font that will ensure proper pagination on both Windows and Mac systems. For Version 8 the font is easier on the eye, so you can better endure when you're writing for long periods of time
Writing Management
Use the Statistics Report to check how much content you've completed in a writing session to help you manage your writing goals. You can also track information such as your ratio of Action to Dialog and whether there may be some unnecessary profanity in your script if you're attempting to "clean it up"
ScriptNotes
These effective pop-up windows hold your ideas, suggestions, or scene fragments that you've cut but don't want to toss without taking up space onscreen. Use ScriptNotes to provide feedback on a particular scene when reviewing your partner's script, or print your ScriptNotes as a report for easy reference when reviewing your script
Tab and Enter Functions
You can install and start using Final Draft within minutes due to the easy-to-use Tab and Enter functionality that helps format all of the various types of script elements to industry standards
Text to Speech
Have your script read back to you by assigning different male and female voices to each of your characters. You can even assign a narrator for action and other non-dialog script elements. Powered by the text-to-speech engines built into Windows and Mac OS – it's like having a live script reading in your computer
CollaboWriter
Write, edit and discuss a script with other Final Draft users in real time, over the Internet, anywhere in the world. You can transfer "control" back and forth between individuals so that one person makes changes at a time, ensuring that information isn't lost during rewrites
Format Assistant
This useful tool checks your script for common formatting errors, such as missing dialog, extra spaces, carriage returns, and blank elements. You can set it to run every time you print or only when you want it to
100% Cross-Platform
Final Draft scripts are identical on both Windows and Macintosh platforms and can easily be exchanged between both
Script Registry
Final Draft is a preferred file format and the only scriptwriting software with an authorized agreement with the WGAW online registry service
Production
Final Draft Tagger 2
This updated standalone application reads any Final Draft script and enables you to "tag" elements within the script (cast, costumes, props, etc.) and export the results into most scheduling applications. Tagger allows you to select text from the script and add any element with a click of the mouse in any category for that scene – or for any or all scenes where that element appears. The element text is highlighted and color-coded, and can be customized to suit the way you like to work. Created with the help of veteran assistant directors, producers, and unit production managers, Tagger means no more going over a paper script again and again with highlighters
Revisions/Page Locking
From the ability to omit scenes, lock pages & A-pages, as well as set your revision colors, Version 8 provides you all the tools you'll need to take your script through production. With Version 8, there's automatic tracking of the page header's revision color, so you can issue one set of revisions or all of them as needed. Merging pages that have been cut once a script is locked is also a snap. With new how-to tutorials, you have step-by-step instructions on how to merge pages without affecting your overall page count. Final Draft also includes standard revision colors in each film and television template. You will be able to assign any revision as a full draft so that all page headers update to reflect the revision name regardless of whether revisions exist on the page or not. You will also be able to choose how revisions appear in your script by displaying the active revision, all revisions made over time, or the last revision set that occurred for any given page so that you can view a "collated" script
Title Page, Cast Pages, and Locations Pages
All of the Final Draft television templates come preset with easy-to-use information for each series, such as the specific cast list and typical sets/locations. The standard One-Hour and Half-Hour templates will also help you get started on pilots by providing what information should appear in the finished product. The added bonus is that the title page uses its own numbering for tracking the following pages, so it won't add to your overall page count
Customizable Reporting
Final Draft offers seven different reports to give you quick facts about your script. The Scene Report, for example, provides a snapshot of the scene's length, cast, starting page number, and location. The Location Report informs how often a location is used and groups the scenes by INT/EXT. The Character Report includes an "appearance summary," so you know how frequently one character speaks versus the other characters, as well as the total word count for the character. Use the ScriptNotes Report to get a quick scan of all the notes in your script based on each scene and page. The Statistics Report will allow you to track daily writing goals by displaying how many words you've written along with details on the types of elements you used and what percentage of the script they comprise. Need to cast your characters? You can instantly create then print or email Character Sides for any speaking parts in your script