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Upstart Screenwriting Application Movie Draft SE Looks Promising

09.29.11 @ 10:30AM Tags : app, apple, application, finaldraft, mac, moviedraft, moviedraftse, screenwriting, software, writing

First of all, industry standard screenwriting software Final Draft is $70 off until Sept 30. But thanks to @navesink on Twitter, I found out about a new screenwriting program that brings some appealing changes to the table. Movie Draft SE is available through the Mac App Store for just $30 (“for a limited time,” though I don’t know how limited of a time we’re talking) with some very promising features. Chiefly I’m interested in the modularity of the scenes and the navigation sidebar, as demonstrated in this video: More »

20

Adapter is a Free Everything-to-Everything Transcoding App for Mac and Windows

07.6.11 @ 12:57PM Tags : adapter, app, conversion, mac, media, transcoding, windows

Ever since VisualHub was discontinued, there’s been a dearth of freeware transcoding apps on the Mac. I’ve since recommended MPEG Streamclip, but a true “everything to everything” program hasn’t been available in the free arena. As of a week ago you can grab the new version of Apple Compressor for $50, but they didn’t update the program to 64-bit or even change the interface from the last version (which I was never a fan of). Thus newcomer Adapter, while still in beta, looks promising: More »

1

Helpful app: Paparazzi!

04.1.10 @ 12:00PM Tags : app, apple, filmmakermag, mac, paparazzi

I’m doing some basic design/planning for a new section of the Filmmaker Magazine web site, and I needed a screenshot of the current home page. If you’re on a Mac, you can hit just command-shift-4 — if all you want is the a shot of the top of the page. But what if you want an image of the whole site, top to bottom? Paparazzi to the rescue. Enter the URL of the site, hit Capture, and you’re done. Perfect for redesigns and mockups, and it’s free.

Link: Paparazzi

Enjoy this extra white space due to the long image. Think deep thoughts.

0

Helpful app: PdaNet

03.18.10 @ 12:00PM Tags : app, mobile, pdanet, phone

File this under “too good to be true, therefore it probably won’t last.” PdaNet is an application that allows you to use your phone’s data connection on your laptop. It connects iPhone, Palm, Android, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile phones to Macs or PCs (in my case, it’s an Android phone connected to a Mac). This means you essentially have internet everywhere; if you’re on a decent 3G connection it’s surprisingly fast. I ran a speed test and got 2.5 megabits/second (Time Warner cable internet in NYC typically peaks out at 5 megabits). Considering many carriers are soon going to charge you for tethering, the $30 one-time fee for PdaNet is more than worth it if you find yourself working on the road a lot (or in coffee shops and airports, where free Wi-Fi is still rare). While the connection is sometimes finicky, PdaNet has more than paid for itself; I’m writing this from an internet-free house in Queens, yet I’ve been able to FTP large video files to clients.

Link: PdaNet

3

MacHeist nanoBundle2 Review

03.5.10 @ 2:20PM Tags : app, mac, macheist, review, software

MacHeist is a website that sells a lot of Mac applications in a bundle for less than the normal price of one of the individual apps. In the case of the currently running “nanoBundle2″ promotion, it’s seven applications that would retail for $266, on sale together for a total of $19.95. These aren’t trial versions or crippled licenses; they are the full monty.

How can MacHeist do this? Well, the involved app developers get a lot less money for their app, but they’re getting less money from a lot more people. Plus they gain a larger userbase and get broad exposure from the promotion. The current bundle contains a number of handy-looking creative applications and is live until March 9th, so I thought I’d review the software contained therein from the perspective of a writer/designer/filmmaker/blogger. To get your money’s worth you’ve really only gotta find one of the seven applications useful; is the nanoBundle2 worth a Jackson? More »

0

Helpful app: Carbon Copy Cloner

02.26.10 @ 12:00PM Tags : app

I’m editing some behind-the-scenes footage from the upcoming Focus Features… uh, feature, Greenberg (dir. Noah Baumbach, stars Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Mark Duplass). I’m handed a 500GB drive, from which I’m to grab interviews and other press kit-type assets. In total there’s about 400GB of footage to transfer. There are a few of ways to copy this footage over:

1. Just copy the files over, dummy
2. Use Apple’s built-in Disk Utility to “restore” their drive to my own
3. Use a free app like Carbon Copy Cloner
4. Use a paid app like… well, I forget

For testing purposes, I tried the first two methods; neither worked. Copying 400GB of footage is a bit more error-prone than your typical drag-and-drop operation, and given I’m copying it from a 2.5″ USB drive, the process will take 4-5 hours (during which anything can go wrong). As for option four, the reason I can’t remember which purchasable applications you can use for this kind of transfer is because Carbon Copy Cloner works perfectly… and it’s free.

While I tend to use Time Machine for regular backups, CCC also offers nice selective backup options (meaning, it just updates files that have changed since your last transfer), which makes it handy for making multiple off-site backups to avoid catastrophic data loss.

Link: Carbon Copy Cloner