Montage for Mac

User Reviews

• The worst experience I've ever had with software

  dennisgNovember 30, 2010

  Pros

  Easy to use, minimal learning curve, useful features

  Cons

  Auto-complete menus rarely work properly, meaning you have to fully type out characters' names, transitions, and scene headings.

  Summary

  Montage is a simple, no-frills screenplay app that does its job with a minimal learning curve. My introduction to it came when I started a new script a couple of weeks ago, and I found it to be a pleasure to use. One of its features is an auto-complete menu which, in theory, is supposed to present you with a menu of your characters' names when you type the first letter or two. Say, for example, you've got characters by the name of Carl, David, and Christine. When you select the Character style, and type the letter C, you should get a menu that displays both Carl and Christine. Unfortunately, this feature worked for me about 20 percent of the time -- the rest of the time I had to type out the complete name. I logged onto Mariner's user forum and asked if anyone else was experiencing this problem and, if so, is there a solution. Two days later I received an email from Mariner's tech support telling me that this was the first time they'd heard of the problem -- and would I please send them the file so that they could see if they could duplicate the issue with their systems. As you can imagine, sending a screenplay to strangers is a scary proposition. It's a proprietary document, and the thought of someone mishandling the file or even stealing an idea is enough to give anyone pause. But I took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and replied to their email with my file attached -- along with a note that requested that the file is "for your eyes only." A few hours later, I checked back in the forum to see if anyone else had replied to my thread, and lo and behold, there was my file -- attached to a new post that contained the text of my reply email. As you can imagine, this freaked me out, and I sent Mariner tech support another email asking them what on earth they were thinking by posting my proprietary file for all the world to see. And then I discovered THAT email was posted in the thread. You can see how unsettling this would be. I told Mariner that they behaved cavalierly with my screenplay, that I had trusted them, and that they had betrayed that trust. Naturally, THAT email appeared in the thread, too. Finally, they explained to me that any email correspondence that begins as a forum thread will append to the original thread. Why, I asked, did you folks request my file and fail to tell me that? I would never have sent my file had I known it would be posted in a public forum. I ended this situation by asking them to (minimally) notify people that their emails and attachments will appear in the original thread or (better yet) change their system so that emails remain private, as we would expect them to be. Mariner responded by deleting my entire thread, which I assume is how they intend to "deal" with this problem. I've written two books and a weekly newspaper column with Mariner Write, and I'd begun my most recent screenplay with Montage. I was a very loyal Mariner software user and a long-time fan. But they behaved shamefully at every milestone in this sordid affair. They posted in public a proprietary file, despite my request for careful handling. They have apparently decided that their system of posting email correspondence in a public forum works perfectly well. They see no reason to notify people that their files will be mishandled and their trust abused. And they did what all incompetent companies do: they deleted a public thread that takes issue with how their customers are treated. Add all this up and you can understand why I'd abandon their products. This company is not to be trusted.

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• Scriptwriting made easy... a definite plus!

  marcus_kApril 22, 2010

  Pros

  Easy access to all vital information in your script. Various views streamlining the process. Templates essential to help fresh writers.

  Cons

  Depends, but i did have some glitches... scene view would not properly work at times.

  Summary

  If you are an upcoming scriptwriter, a professional who still uses typical word processors, or a producer, director or assistant for one, then working with Montage is definitely the smart choice... While there are more advanced software out there, Montage will definitely answer all your needs in the film making process.

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• If you MUST use it, save your work REGULARLY !!

  trenino--2008July 30, 2008

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Unforunatelly people do not seem to learn from their mistakes and I am one of them. I must say I am sold to the idea of an all around program that does everything... and I really love the full screen mode. but Alas! if I have to sacrifice the stability and integrity of my work. NO! NO! No! I was not planning to write any more reviews as I really think that non-beginners can easily sea the shortcomings of montage. One think I will just mention and I really wonder who puts all these stars in the ratings. It is full of bugs, bugs, bugs. I just lost hours of work because there is no auto save option... There is a backup option but this does not help when the software crashes.. and believe me it WILL crash. It crashed on me while I was performing the undo command, which surprise-surprise, is buggy as well. Try to use it and you have your "action" change to "character" and all the elements swinging around. I am very angry with them but mostly with my self that trusted my working hours to montage and traded security with an inferior product. By the way, synopses, outlines, treatments can so much easier and hassle free be created with apple's "pages" which are as smooth as silk. when it comes to the script itself, perhaps the template pictures are fun to play with in the preferences, but in the end it is what you write that counts

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• Get The Whole Picture With Montage

  July 29, 2008

  Pros

  There are two main ways of breaking down Montage 1.5.1; first as a native Macintosh application, and second as a screenwriting application.<p>Under the first category, Montage is an excellent program. There are small areas where "fit and finish" need work, but these are small considerations compared to the overall stability and usefulness provided by the program. Unlike Final Draft 7, which STILL looks like an OS 9 application that has been left in the backyard to rust, Montage has all of the look and feel of what an OS X application should be.<p>Application menus are clear and concise, and the commands work like you would expect them to. Borrowing concepts like the "Snowflake Method" of building a story, the user is given a wide variety of informational inputs to collect and write his or her story with.<p>What gives Montage its most modern feel, is not the programming interface, a but a new paradigm in document and information collection; Conceptualization.<p>Conceptualization is where Montage's second great strength comes into play. Programs like Final Draft are the end stop for the writing process. There is no information collection, versioning or data input until the writer sets down to pen the script. With Montage, the entire process of collecting, sorting, prioritizing and enabling ideas is included into the writing process. While still outputting scripts that make the grade, the writer has so much more control and choice.<p>Among the best features:<p>Full screen editing with customizable viewing options<p>A wide variety of document input and viewing options; <p>Script,Scene,Outline,Characters,Locations,Research,Tasks,Contacts,Queries,Synopsis,Title Page<p>Tab-access to all script elements<p>Several screenplay, teleplay and stage play template options for compatibility (Final Draft native and 17 other choices - even for the BBC!)<p>Export to 8 file formats<p>Import to all 18 templates<p>Complete element configuration<p>Scene navigation, keywording, annotations, A & B scripts, script lockoffs - scene numbering during production, Smart Views<p>Does not run on Windows!<p>One more thing...<p>The people at Mariner Software are exceeding helpful, kind and knowledgeable. You will not find that level of service from Final Draft in any way. In fact, try going through the activation process for Final Draft... not a fun experience

  Cons

  Icons, ruler, tab stop indicators, View Bar, icons need updating.<p>Fit and finish needs reworking.<p>More focus on Script View being like a modern, Cocoa word processor. Other apps, like Buzzword, show a much higher degree of sophistication.<p>Screenplay templates need embedded explanations.

  Summary

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• Montage On The Way: Final Draft Quakes

  harmmacJuly 29, 2008

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />There are two main ways of breaking down Montage 1.5.1; first as a native Macintosh application, and second as a screenwriting application. Under the first category, Montage is an excellent program. There are small areas where "fit and finish" need work, but these are small considerations compared to the overall stability and usefulness provided by the program. Unlike Final Draft 7, which STILL looks like an OS 9 application that has been left in the backyard to rust, Montage has all of the look and feel of what an OS X application should be. Application menus are clear and concise, and the commands work like you would expect them to. Borrowing concepts like the "Snowflake Method" of building a story, the user is given a wide variety of informational inputs to collect and write his or her story with. What gives Montage its most modern feel, is not the programming interface, a but a new paradigm in document and information collection; Conceptualization. Conceptualization is where Montage's second great strength comes into play. Programs like Final Draft are the end stop for the writing process. There is no information collection, versioning or data input until the writer sets down to pen the script. With Montage, the entire process of collecting, sorting, prioritizing and enabling ideas is included into the writing process. While still outputting scripts that make the grade, the writer has so much more control and choice. Among the best features: Full screen editing with customizable viewing options A wide variety of document input and viewing options; Script,Scene,Outline,Characters,Locations,Research,Tasks,Contacts,Queries,Synopsis,Title Page Tab-access to all script elements Several screenplay, teleplay and stage play template options for compatibility (Final Draft native and 17 other choices - even for the BBC!) Export to 8 file formats Import to all 18 templates Complete element configuration Scene navigation, keywording, annotations, A & B scripts, script lockoffs - scene numbering during production, Smart Views Does not run on Windows! One more thing... The people at Mariner Software are <b>exceedingly</b> helpful, kind and knowledgeable. You will not find that level of service from Final Draft in any way. In fact, try going through the activation process for Final Draft... not a fun experience

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• Welcome competitor for Final Draft finally ready to take center stage

  JaneyPixJune 7, 2008

  Pros

  There's many reasons not to like Final Draft, their lousy authentication scheme, the naff icons, the sense that you're being treated like dirt because... they can. They're the big gorilla in the business of scriptwriting and when you're an industry standard, you tend to get complacent about things like customer satisfaction.<p>Enter Montage. Written from the ground up in Cocoa, the software is rock solid on the Mac. It uses a standard Leopard style interface and a normal approach to registration. Ah good.<p>The one thing I think which separates Montage from FD is it's strength on the writing side of things. FD might have more guns to offer the production end, but for the working writer, Montage offers many benefits,<p> I particularly value the full-screen mode where the only thing on screen are our words... <p>I also like the scene view. I also love the fact that scenes can have titles, and your outline view can indicate sequences as a result. Very nice. <p>The introduction of smart views holds real promise and introduces a lot of flexibility. <p>Finally, you can import and export RTF and Final Draft files... so no problems dealing with other people.<p>Mariner's Storymill has features, including a timeline which would be welcome additions to Montage. So there's a promising future.<p>All of the above are all strengths from the writing side of things, which is as it should be really...

  Cons

  Summary

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• Montage - A review and comparison to Storymill

  trenino--2008May 9, 2008

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Montage - A review and comparison to Storymill I have been using the demo of Storymill for about a week writing my new project. Because it is a script I am working on there are things I am missing in it, although there are many nice features. I also downloaded the last version of Montage (1.4) to see if any developments have been made to it, since the last version I used, I did not like. Although Storymill is for novels and Montage for scripts, they both target creative writers. As one of them I am making this comparison. Surprisingly although Montage has been longer in the line-up of Mariner Software it is much less refined than Storymill. Here is a comparison: 1) The Progress meter feature lacks from Montage. Screenwriters need to keep track of their productivity as well. 2)User interface under Montage: The content in Research window and Task window cannot be moved around. It is automatically sorted. Besides that, when sorting by name, a very annoying thing happens. number 10 does not follow number 9, in order, but goes after number 1... Storymill on the other hand lets you move things around. 3)The double-clicking of content in Storymill makes it pop up on a separate window. It would really be useful for Montage too, which does not have that feature either. 4) Smart view is a great feature in both programs. 5)This is personal, but aesthetically the icons in Montage are not so nice as the ones in Storymill. Actually they look like OS9 icons.. 6)Timeline which is only in Storymill, would be tremendously helpful for screenwriter using Montage as well. 7) Tagging in Storymill is like the â??Add keywordâ?? option in Montage, only in storymill it works better. 8) The beginnersâ?? Tutorial in Storymill is a very nice extra that comes with the program. Again Montage lacks is it. 9) Full screen only works on script and scenes mode in Montage. Not in synopsis mode or any other. In storymill all windows can be viewed in full screen. And it is really nice to work on synopses or character profiles in full screen. This is a real shame. 10) Button for making annotations in storymill. In montage you have to go through the menu each time you want to make a note. 11)No option for deselecting the auto Backup. If you deselect it you cannot save your work at all. 12) Annotations can ONLY be made in script mode, not in synopsis, character, scene or other mode in Montage. Again in Storymill things are much better. ANnotations can be made on every mode. The list goes on... 13) Exporting is so unintuitive in Montage. In Storymill you have a preview of exactly what is going to be exported and you can change it accordingly. In Montage you export first and then you check if you exported the right thing. I am still finding more handicaps in montage the more I use it. It is really sad as it could have been developed to a very nice application. As I said earlier Storymill is definitely much more refined than Montage. If you are a novelist you are lucky and good to go with Storymill. If on the other hand you are a script writer like me, then you you have to look elsewhere and definitely not spend the money for purchasing this version. I would purchase anytime Storymill if it only had standard script formating and outline. On the other hand Montage compared to the Storymill features are very thin. For the moment and my current project (which is a Feature Film) I will be using Storymill for Synopses, Characters, Research, Scene Ideas, and ONLY then I will go to Montage to write the script, but I might still prefer Final Draft until a better version of either Storymill or Montage comes out or even better if they would merge it in one application as it seems that Storymill and Montage are in fact one application cut in half and therefore crippled. You can download the Demos and see for yourselves.

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• An improvement

  hkimAugust 17, 2007

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I went through the demo and this is much better in some ways than Final Draft, which has been spotty in performance in OSX. Considering a superior and very nice GUI, if this software is improved (in performance), it will make the perfect replacement for what I was using beforehand.

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• Montage 1.2

  tsmbonesMarch 6, 2007

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Even though I am an unpublished writer, I've been using Montage since the beta stage &amp; I think it has made significant improvements. I love the Mac &amp; Final Draft has never felt like a Mac app--Montage, on the other hand, IS a Mac app. It's not perfect, but judging by the improvements that have been made in such a short time well, my expectation is that in the very near future, Montage will be moving ahead of FD--something that I will look forward to.

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• Do not download Montage 1.2

  griffin4February 28, 2007

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I was extremely disappointed when I downloaded the 1.2 update and found that a lot of the functionality that the program had has been changed and/or ruined, and that several long-standing bugs remain. At present, I've got a long list of bugs that I'm going to submit to Mariner, and my suggestion is this -- for anyone who hasn't tried Montage yet, wait until the next version. For anyone who is presently using Montage, stick with the version you have, you don't want the headaches that this version brings.

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