Apparently it's a known issue that Final Draft is prone to file corruption. I had no idea, and want to share my harrowing experience.
I was working to a crazy deadline, writing a feature-length script in three weeks. I set a goal to finish the first draft in two weeks and take a week for the rewrite and polish.
Ten days in, I was right on schedule with 78 pages. I wrote 7 pages and moved a couple of scenes around based on what I'd written. I had to stop for a while and closed Final Draft so my daughter wouldn't add her own contributions (she's 2).
I was back in ten minutes and opened Final Draft--and got an error. "Unexpected File Format". I tried again, but no luck. Heart racing, I tried to open another script. No problem. Back to my current one, got the error.
Desperate, I searched online for solutions to this nerve-wracking problem and discovered how unreliable Final Draft's saved files are, a problem which persists in version 8. All I could do was wonder why it's the industry standard when it's prone to corrupt files.
Thankfully, I also came across Final Draft's automatic backup feature. It seems the makers of FD are aware of the issue and built in an automatic backup every 15 minutes. All I had to do was find the folder where the backups are saved and open the last one.
I found the files and tried the last backup, but it was corrupt. The second-to-last file, also corrupt. The third-to-last file loaded just fine.
I'd lost everything I'd done so far that day, but the rest of the script was intact. Needless to say, I was done writing for the day. I managed to churn out the last pages, rewrite and polish, and deliver the script on time, but I made additional backups every hour just to be sure.
If you encounter this error, don't panic. Restore a backup file. Best to have multiple backups, preferably in multiple places. Even hard copies or PDF files are better than losing your script.
I was working to a crazy deadline, writing a feature-length script in three weeks. I set a goal to finish the first draft in two weeks and take a week for the rewrite and polish.
Ten days in, I was right on schedule with 78 pages. I wrote 7 pages and moved a couple of scenes around based on what I'd written. I had to stop for a while and closed Final Draft so my daughter wouldn't add her own contributions (she's 2).
I was back in ten minutes and opened Final Draft--and got an error. "Unexpected File Format". I tried again, but no luck. Heart racing, I tried to open another script. No problem. Back to my current one, got the error.
Desperate, I searched online for solutions to this nerve-wracking problem and discovered how unreliable Final Draft's saved files are, a problem which persists in version 8. All I could do was wonder why it's the industry standard when it's prone to corrupt files.
Thankfully, I also came across Final Draft's automatic backup feature. It seems the makers of FD are aware of the issue and built in an automatic backup every 15 minutes. All I had to do was find the folder where the backups are saved and open the last one.
I found the files and tried the last backup, but it was corrupt. The second-to-last file, also corrupt. The third-to-last file loaded just fine.
I'd lost everything I'd done so far that day, but the rest of the script was intact. Needless to say, I was done writing for the day. I managed to churn out the last pages, rewrite and polish, and deliver the script on time, but I made additional backups every hour just to be sure.
If you encounter this error, don't panic. Restore a backup file. Best to have multiple backups, preferably in multiple places. Even hard copies or PDF files are better than losing your script.
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