Gorilla for Mac

User Reviews

• It's not a bad alternative to Movie Magic

  r2d2310July 6, 2004

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  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I've used this program for my 35mm short. There were some bugs in the earlier versions (2.0.x) that drove me batty. But many bugs have been fixed. For doing budgets, this is a great program as it allows different scenarios, taxes and percentages, etc. It's an ambitious program, which I think over time will mature into a serious competitor. Currently however, perhaps because the programming is based on Filemaker Pro, there is generally a slowness about it. I'm running a dual processor G5 2 GHz. Considering that all it's doing is moving around text and yes some basic mathmetic calculations, this is not acceptable. But the one thing above all else I wish they could improve is to have a drag-and-drop support of the stripboard. This would save a ton of time and I could think logically about my schedule, quickly, rather than have to type in something like "20.5" to place a strip between item 20 and item 21. This is fine if you move only a few items. But having to consider all the various apsects of filmmaking logistics, it can get quite archaic when you have to type in "20.543" or something like that, especially if you're going to shoot a feature length movie. One of the best thing about it is of course, the price. It's less than half of one of Movie Magic's modules with about ten times the feature. The features are great, but better interface implementation must be made. For example I have to make way too many mouse clicks before I can get to the information I need. The program reflects the nature of gorilla filmmaking. That is to say, oftentimes in filmmaking, you have to just deal and adapt to the situation. If you're good at that you can probably live with Gorilla. If not, bite the bullet and get Movie Magic. The time you save will equate to a lot more dollars saved as well. The guys at Jungle Software are great. But I hope they catch up soon and surpass Movie Magic. Also as a general rule, movie production softwares have one of the worst interface designs. The icons are horsey, the layout of information confusing. Gorilla does a fair job, in comparison with the other titles, but it would be nice if they hired a graphic designer to do it properly. That's it for now. Buy it if you must as a cheaper alternative. But make sure you make plenty of backups.

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