Re: Fade In Pro -- tips, feedback, requested features
Dr. V,
If that feature works well, then I would agree with you that Fade In Pro has raised the bar.
This is a feature that other major players should have been developing also.
My approach to the "PDF to screenwriting program" problem has been to:
(1) Use a utility to convert PDF to text with formatting retained.
(2) Import into the screenwriting program and hope for the best.
The biggest problems have been that the screenwriting programs may fail on several points:
(1) Inability to recognize that multiple-word character names are, in fact, CHARACTER names (especially when the name is more than two words).
(2) Inability to handle ALL CAPS lines properly. Is it a SHOT? Is it a CHARACTER name?
(3) Inability to handle certain misleading typographic characters. The use of any kind of dash at the end of a line can trick the program into thinking that the line is a SCENE HEADING. (This may be primarily or even exclusively a Movie Magic Screenwriter problem.)
(4) Inability to sort out "idiosyncratic" formatting. This usually overlaps with #2 and #3 above.
Dr. V ...
Try an experiment.
Create a short PDF in something like Word or anything except Fade In Pro.
Include something "idiosyncratic" like:
and
and
Besides the problem of parsing out the CAPS in idiosyncratic formatting, the other issue in the last example is appearance of the numeral '2' at the end of the line. Sometimes a numeral at the end of a line (and maybe at the start of a line) will get deleted, because the conversion program thinks that the number is a scene or page number.
Dr. V,
If that feature works well, then I would agree with you that Fade In Pro has raised the bar.
This is a feature that other major players should have been developing also.
My approach to the "PDF to screenwriting program" problem has been to:
(1) Use a utility to convert PDF to text with formatting retained.
(2) Import into the screenwriting program and hope for the best.
The biggest problems have been that the screenwriting programs may fail on several points:
(1) Inability to recognize that multiple-word character names are, in fact, CHARACTER names (especially when the name is more than two words).
(2) Inability to handle ALL CAPS lines properly. Is it a SHOT? Is it a CHARACTER name?
(3) Inability to handle certain misleading typographic characters. The use of any kind of dash at the end of a line can trick the program into thinking that the line is a SCENE HEADING. (This may be primarily or even exclusively a Movie Magic Screenwriter problem.)
(4) Inability to sort out "idiosyncratic" formatting. This usually overlaps with #2 and #3 above.
Dr. V ...
Try an experiment.
Create a short PDF in something like Word or anything except Fade In Pro.
Include something "idiosyncratic" like:
Code:
The policeman takes out his gun and points it at BRYAN who already has his hands on his head.
Code:
The policeman takes out his gun and points it at -- BRYAN who already has his hands on his head.
Code:
The policeman takes out his gun. He points it at: BRYAN who already has his hands on his head.
Code:
The UPS delivery man walks up the steps to Apartment 2. He almost drops his package as he KNOCKS ON THE DOOR while he desperately CLUTCHES his signature device.
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