Every other Thursday, Tempest Pictures takes a look at a particular piece of 'stuff' that helps make our lives a little easier. This week, we're giving you a short look into Celtx, a free, preproduction planning software for media projects available for Mac, PC, Linux, and a bunch of other OS systems that even the most obscure of tech geeks will be able to use. While we had an older version of the software sitting on our desktop unused, we revisited the website, upgraded to the latest release, and now it takes a crowbar to pry our hands from the keyboard.
While we don't use a rating system for these types of entries, we at least want to give you a fair idea of exactly what each item of 'stuff' is capable of, so we'll run down the shortlist of benefits that each spotlight item has as we continue this series.

What is it?
Via the Celtx Official Website...

Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production software. It has everything you need to take your story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share.

Celtx helps you pre-produce all types of media - film, video, documentary, theater, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, videocasts, and however else you choose to tell your story.
Unlike scriptwriting software and sites, you can use Celtx for the entire pre-production process - write scripts, storyboard scenes and sequences, develop characters, breakdown & tag elements, schedule production, and prepare detailed and informative production reports for cast and crew.

Why We Like It:

1. Kiss Clipboards Goodbye. To call 'Celtx' an alternative to Final Draft would be an understatement. Celtx isn't just a simple screenwriting software. Image this: I'm in the program, skimming through a particular portion of the script. I find the scene I'm looking for, and I move my mouse over to a certain character's line of dialogue. Once I click the character's name, a separate tab opens up, containing all the information I've entered about that character, including his name, his appearance, his background, his relationship to other characters, concept art, storyboards, the actor portraying him, and much more. I move my cursor to the name of the actor, and click again. A separate tab opens the actor's headshot, resume, contact information, and hours he is available to shoot.
Here's a separate but equally cool example: we've written a scene in a newer project that takes place at a funeral. Normally, you'd need a clipboard to hold all the different info we collected while scouting for locations. Not anymore. Scroll to the scene in the script, click on its header, and a tab opens up with a Folder dedicated to the location. Location fees for 5 separate funeral homes are set in a comparative table. Click on a particular one, and you get the phone number. Want to location scout? Just go snap a few photos. Drag and drop the image files into the location's folder inside of Celtx, and you've got all of the production information for your entire film inside a single file.
Celtx eliminates all need for excess paper...large binders full of countless bits of information, file folders, post it notes, etc. are all replaced with the software package. Without a doubt, Celtx is a huge time and money saver.

2. User Friendly GUI. Did we mention that it's pretty? The interface is non-intrusive, and quite comfortable to use. While programs like Final Draft have a learning curve if you wish to accomplish deeper tasks, Celtx is ready-to-go right out of the (digital) box. The interface of Celtx is so spot-on, you can literally open it up for the first time and start writing. Everything about the program simply feels natural, meaning that even the most casual consumer can figure it out in mere minutes.

Users will feel right at home with the tab functions and side bars. It operates similarly to your average internet browser, and looks just about the same. Overall, things are kept simple, and we love it.

3. Universal Appeal. This thing works in practically every OS available. It's nice to be able to email an updated file to a Mac-wielding crew member and a Windows-toting actor all at once. Even Linux users get some love, and with a community of die hard developers, I wouldn't be surprised if they figure out how to install this thing on a coconut by 2010.



4. Editability. Because of the nature of the Celtx workflow, you can edit almost anything in real time. Change a character's name, and all the pages that mention him will be updated immediately. Even if you have a file that doesn't work natively in the Celtx interface, you can still import it to the project assets box and open it in a separate program. This helps a lot when it comes to combining other programs like Microsoft Office (or the free alternative OpenOffice). If you have a budget list in a spreadsheet file, feel free to just drop it into Celtx just to keep everything nice and organized.

5. Price Tag. Did we mention that it's free? Yep. $0.00. No cash down. No cash ever. Compare that with the price tag on other preproduction programs, and you'll see how Celtx is quite hard to beat. So why not try it out? Even if you hate it, you won't be out any green. It's a win-win situation.

What Needs Improvement:
Okay, here's the kicker: any client you run in to will use Final Draft. I know. It's ridiculous. Especially when this thing is out there for a grand total of nothing. Regardless, Celtx lacks a lot of exporting choices when it comes to the script. Don't expect to hit File, then Export to Final Draft, and sit back and relax. Right out of the box, Celtx only allows you to export to Text file or an interactive HTML. While most programs like Final Draft have tools to convert these files to a native format, don't expect your average client to.
Moreover, while workarounds for problems like this exist, we'd love to see the next Celtx release answer these issues directly. This single issue is really the biggest problem we see with the program.

Final Word: Celtx. Despite a lack of export options, it's an awesome program. An awesome free program, to be exact. If you're looking to make a huge leap in terms of organization for your projects, then give this program a try. We did, and we've never been happier.

To check out Celtx, click here to visit their official site.