The term screenwriting implies writing scripts or stories for films, video games, and television production. There are screenwriters, who produce an imaginary story, write dialogues of scenes, screenplays, etc. There are multiple types of screenwriting. These include spec scriptwriting, commissioned screenplay, feature assignment writing, rewriting and script doctoring, television writing, writing for daily series, writing for game shows, and video games writing. Screenwriters use specialized software for writing the scripts effectively. The following are the top ten screenwriting software tools, along with their characteristics.
1. Final Draft 10:
One of the commonly used screenwriting software tools by most of the screenwriters is the Final Draft 10. It is composed of a wide range of features that allow screenwriters to write scripts efficiently. Out of the total screenwriters of film and television production, 95% of them use this application. This software tool is one of the leading and top screenwriting tools across the globe. It incorporates more than 300 templates for writing scripts, teleplays, comics, graphic novels, and many others. It is compatible to work with Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
2. StudioBinder:
StudioBinder screenwriting application is specially developed for writing stories for film production. This software tool is an all-in-one application. The features of this application include storyboards, call sheet builder, call sheet templates, shot lists, screenwriting, script breakdowns, shooting schedules, film crew management, file sharing, production calendar, and script sides. It is a highly featured screenwriting tool for film production. It comes with three editions, Indie, Professional, and Studio. The India edition is available at $29 per month, the Professional at $49 per month, and the Studio edition at $99 per month.
3. Movie Magic Screenwriter:
Movie Magic Screenwriter is yet another powerful screenwriting software tool used by many screenwriters. It incorporates a wide range of advanced features that make it easier for screenwriters to write scripts. The features include tagging, breakdown sheets, lists of production, stores, pages, and scenes, and many others. It has the best import feature that can import any screenwriting program. Along with the import and export program, it also supports copying files from other locations and pasting it in this software. It is very easy to use, and has an intuitive user interface.
4. Celtx:
Celtx is another sturdy and fully characterized software tool used by many screenwriters. Apart from screenwriting features, it also incorporates video production and game production features. The features of screenwriting include scriptwriting, storyboards, index cards, breakdown sheets, project catalogs, shooting lists, shooting schedules, call sheets, etc. The screenwriting edition is available at $7.50 per month. The version of video production charges $10 per month, and the version of game production requires $10 per month. The professional team of video and game production use Celtx pro edition.
5. WriterDuet:
Another professional screenwriting software tool is WriterDuet. This application is a cloud-based tool that allows users to work from anywhere and on any device. The screenwriters can discover the perfect formatting, stats and reports, production tool, and many other features. It is also built for collaboration. The features of real-time collaboration include intuitive commenting, co-writing, text chatting, and video chatting. It comes with three editions, Plus, Pro, and Premium. The Plus pack is available at $7.99 per month, the Pro pack at $11.99, and the Premium pack at $15.99.
6. Highland:
Highland is one of the most popular and fully-featured applications for screenwriting. This application can handle all types of screenwriting. This software tool is best suited for screenwriters, novelists, and other writers as well. This application includes gender analysis. The Highland screenwriting application is easy to use and has an intuitive interface. This software tool is developed by the famous and popular screenwriter John August. It includes a formatting tool that requires a Fountain file as input and exports this file into PDF.
7. Fade In:
Another highly recommended software tool for screenwriters is Fade In. This software tool is specially developed for professional use. It is a cross-platform tool that supports almost all major platforms, like Windows, Linux, and macOS systems. Additionally, it is a mobile-friendly tool that is compatible with Android as well as iOS devices. It has a large set of features incorporated in it. These features include revision management, formatting scenes, actions, characters, dialogues, full-screen editing, changing character names, and many other advanced features.
8. Scrivener:
Scrivener is yet another professional screenwriting software tool. This software tool is compatible to work with Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems. However, it is a mobile-friendly software tool for only iOS users. This application is best suited for screenwriters, playwrights, novelists, comedians, journalists, academics, students, short-story writers, etc. It offers a wide range of features to its users. It is very easy to handle, and users feel very great using this application. It incorporates multiple writing styles, like block editor. Users are offered with a large set of templates and icons.
9. KIT Scenarist:
KIT Scenarist is an open-source and free screenwriting application. It is a cross-platform software tool that supports all major platforms, like Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is also compatible to work with Android as well as iOS mobile devices. This application is trusted and used by more than 10,000 authors. It is a user-friendly software tool, and users feel it easy to operate. The features of this application incorporate comparing script versions, fixed scene numbers, the customizable number for fixed scenes, omit scenes, restoring scenes from a backup, can work with synopsis, text documents, and logline.
10. Slugline:
Slugline is another one of the highly-rated leading software tools used by screenwriters. This software tool is specially developed to work with Mac OS X systems. The interface of this application is very intuitive and minimal. The best feature of this software tool is it automates screenplay formatting as users write into it, and it has a drag and drop outlining. It is a mobile-friendly software tool that is compatible to work iPhones and iPads. Additionally, users can save their data and synchronize it using iCloud Drive and Dropbox.
