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Product Review
Final Draft AV: Ah, What Might Have Been
If only the Final Draft folks had spent as much time designing this new software as they spent designing the handsome box around it, Final Draft AV might have been one of the great v1.0s of all time.
Unfortunately, they didn't.
After more than two years of development, Final Draft has unveiled Final Draft AV, their software for writing in the two-column format on Mac or IBM. As you probably know, the two-column format is favored in the creation of TV and radio ads, corporate videos, documentaries, even short film scripts.
COBB ROUGH
FD AV feels simplistic and inflexible. Some of its ideas are just plain bad, such as supplying Times New Roman as the default font. Courier, anyone?
One would imagine that a preference change would rid one of that problem, but that's not an option in this version. If you "select all" and change the font, that will help you with the text you've typed; however, if you type anything additional, it is entered in Times New Roman. Header entries must be changed one item at a time.
Perhaps "AV" stands for "Aggravating Version."
A few of the program's shortcomings:
*No way to mark revised copy from one draft to the next.
*No smart type feature for character names or anything else, as there is in FD.
*No way to number scenes.
*If you put the character name in line with the dialogue, the entire text column must be centered.
*Inflexible header layout.
*"Select all" ignores headers.
*No way to lock pages.
Is this Final Draft AV 2001, or WordStar 1981? Cripes, c'mon, guys!
PROMISES, PROMISES
The program has so few features and such limited flexibility, there isn't much to explain.
Consequently, the FD AV manual feels skimpy, as if they had to stretch to fill it and make it look substantial.
Generally, the manual has more promises of future improvements than information, more urges to register for the "good stuff" to be incorporated into upgrades than helpful explanations. On virtually every page, the FD AV manual promises upgrades that will deliver the level of flexibility and features that, it seems to me, should have been standard equipment on this version. The manual urges users to email their suggestions to tech support, and promises to incorporate those suggestions into future versions.
Here's a thought: People have been emailing design suggestions for this software for two years--why not start by implementing those, before calling for different or redundant suggestions?
The program has techno-gliteches as well. For instance, colons pop up at the end of audio descriptions; though I remove them, they return. Deleting large blocks of text leaves artifacts on the screen that only disappear after scrolling away from the affected area. Cutting and pasting audio bumps character names out of the way or causes the pasted block to be underlined as if it were a character. Marking too much text at once to change the font causes the program to crash.
There are more, but you should discover them for yourself.
Maybe upgrades will solve these shortcomings, but when? And what will they cost? My overriding question is, if these are know shortcomings (as the manual admits), why weren't they solved before this edition was sold?
OVERALL: "EH"
I feel especially disappointed by this software, partly because I long for what might have been, partly because it doesn't feel like the Final Draft folks gave this their maximum effort. They have proved themselves capable of producing a solid, industry-standard product in the past. For them to limp out with this effort just seems, well, lame.
No doubt the developers would say, "Hey, c'mon--Final Draft wasn't perfect when it came out, and look how well it has evolved over the years." That's true, but when Final Draft came out, there was nothing else like it. Naturally, it took a while to build from the ground up. But FD AV is a variation on a theme. Why do they have to reinvent the wheel? The developers should have been able to incorporate what they know into a smoother, more finished "first" product.
Indeed, the "introductory" price of $149 should have been closer to $69. Either that, or the software should not have been served until it was finished baking.
If you've got an AV, TV or corporate project that calls for this kind of formatting, it's probably worth slogging through the use of this version. Allow yourself time to learn and get used to the hardheadedness of the program. If you can, wait for the next version. It'll be much better--the manual says so.
SUMMARY
Product: Final Draft AV
Grade: C+.
Pros: Audio stays with Video in two-column format. Some layout flexibility. Pretty box.
Cons: Few choices in Preferences settings. Tedious to make changes. Lacks standard features of Final Draft. Endless promises of improvement. Techno glitches. High sticker price for what you get.
Final Draft AV is available online, at The Writers Bookstore in Westwood and wherever Final Draft is sold. CD includes both Mac and IBM versions, and documents are, allegedly, transferable between the two platforms. If I knew anyone using IBM, I would have tested this claim, but I don't.
Good luck!
BAW |
