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  • Final Draft 10

    I'm having a major issue with final draft 10 on windows 10. Every time I open the program within a few minutes my laptop shuts down and restarts. Would appreciate any ideas/help to fix it.
    Edit: Just tried to open a script I'm working on and I'm now getting a message "This file is not compatible with this version of Final Draft"...
    Last edited by Strangerthanfiction; 07-28-2019, 01:32 PM.

  • #2
    Re: Final Draft 10

    Message ComicBent about this problem; he knows Windows well. (Updated to say: I used to receive that same error message as well, but now don’t recall my workaround.)
    Last edited by Clint Hill; 07-30-2019, 07:33 AM.
    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Final Draft 10

      I just happened to see this.


      You are screwed.


      Seriously, I have seen this problem (in others) for several years.


      I have a completely sincere answer, in four parts:


      (1) Try to find a noncorrupted copy of your script. You may have one in the backup folder. Put a copy of it into a folder that Final Draft does not access, like "Downloads".


      (2) Ditch Final Draft forever. I have seen this problem many times in Final Draft users. Sometimes ALL the backup versions have been corrupted.


      (3) Buy "Fade In". It is much cheaper than Final Draft (about $70, I think); you get free upgrades; you can use it on all your computers; it does not corrupt your files; it will open Final Draft files with about 99.9% accuracy, sometimes with 100% accuracy. Be sure to download the free Courier fonts also. Fade In is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.


      (4) Open your last uncorrupted script file. Use Fade In from now on and never, ever let anyone try to bring you back to Final Draft. By the way, you can also export to .fdx format if you want to or have to.


      I have a somewhat outdated "How to" for Fade In on my website at:
      http://www.rolandstroud.com.


      I keep meaning to update it, but I never seem to get around to that task.

      "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Final Draft 10

        Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction View Post
        I'm having a major issue with final draft 10 on windows 10. Every time I open the program within a few minutes my laptop shuts down and restarts. Would appreciate any ideas/help to fix it.
        Edit: Just tried to open a script I'm working on and I'm now getting a message "This file is not compatible with this version of Final Draft"...
        A quick way to test to see if your .fdx files are good (when Final Draft is not working) is to go to either YouMeScript or 'Afterwriting (https://youmescript.com/ or https://afterwriting.com/) and try importing your script to one of these online. If they successfully upload you can export to Fountain or PDF or (on YouMeScript) additionally to Final Draft, Final Draft 11 or Plain (formatted) text. (Neither of these require an account or a login to use them.)

        I've heard a lot of horror stories about Final Draft and these kind of problems. If you continue using it, find a way to additionally backup to Fountain (which can be used just about anywhere). Since Final Draft 10 apparently doesn't have export to Fountain use this guy's method — (Go to "Other Final Draft Export Options" nearer the end of the article. You would be using the Script Report to export the screenplay to text.)

        https://writersterritory.com/2017/06...ain-or-can-it/

        I agree with ComicBent on Fade In Pro (or at least something other than Final Draft). I still like Trelby (and KIT Scenarist is not bad either).

        Good luck.
        STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I'm a wannabe, take whatever I write with a huge grain of salt.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Final Draft 10

          Thank you so much for your very helpful responses. I had emailed myself a copy of the script in Final Draft form, and a PDF a few days prior, as back up. Luckily that file is not corrupted. Have lost several days of editing and polishing, but rather that than the entire script!
          I'm looking into changing to Fade In software right now. I don't think I could ever trust Final Draft again...

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Final Draft 10

            You are doing the right thing in thinking about transitioning over to Fade In. You will not be disappointed. Also, if you have any lingering doubt about using Fade In because it might not be "professional", just look at the Fade In website and see some of the people who are using Fade In.


            I have traded files back and forth with people who were die-hard users of Final Draft. I imported their Final Draft files, worked on them in Fade In, and then converted them back to Final Draft. This is almost never a problem. Very rarely a Final Draft user will have some kind of crazy, nonstandard formatting in his script, and Fade In may hiccup over it (or maybe the Final Draft user had tagged a paragraph with the wrong element - who knows?).


            You talked about emailing yourself a copy of your script. That is a clever way to make backups that are out of the reach of Final Draft. (By the way, after years of dealing with people who had suffered the same disaster that you did, I have never heard any explanation for WHY this problem occurs in Final Draft every once in a while.) But you will not have that problem with Fade In.


            Also, since you can trust Fade In, let me make another suggestion, and you may be doing this already. Get a Dropbox account and use it to back up your really important files. You can get 2G of storage space for free. All you have to do is install the program onto your computer. It will create a folder under your user name, called Dropbox, and it functions like any other folder, except that when you are online your computer will communicate with Dropbox "in the cloud" and send a copy of your file to the cloud when you save it to your computer. I apologize if you know all of this already.


            The free 2G of space is plenty if you are only using Dropbox for your important data files that change frequently. You use your Dropbox folder on your computer to save your files, just as you normally do with another folder. The program, when you install it, may offer you the option to store everything ONLY in the cloud and not have redundant copies on your computer. I recommend against using that option. Store on your computer and also in the cloud.


            I think that with Dropbox you can safely stop the practice of sending email copies of files to yourself. I have never known Fade In to wreck anyone's file, and if the current file version got corrupted somehow, Dropbox keeps an older version for 30 days (according to online information).


            My own practice: I used the free 2G account for a few years, and it was really enough for data files that changed a lot. Then I decided to use Dropbox for storage of just about everything, so that I would not have to work with backing up and syncing between various computers. So I subscribed to the cheapest paid account, which gives me 1T (equals 1000G) for a very reasonable yearly fee. In addition, I have Carbonite, which I use (automatically once daily) to back up everything that has changed on my computer. Carbonite only backs up data files and graphics, no program files. It even backs up the graphics and data files in the Dropbox folder. The fee for Carbonite is also very reasonable. A little over a year ago I had to use Dropbox and Carbonite to retrieve files after my older desktop computer went into agonal respirations and was clearly going to die at any moment.


            Anyway, switch to Fade In!

            "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Final Draft 10

              Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction View Post
              I'm having a major issue with final draft 10 on windows 10. Every time I open the program within a few minutes my laptop shuts down and restarts. Would appreciate any ideas/help to fix it.
              Edit: Just tried to open a script I'm working on and I'm now getting a message "This file is not compatible with this version of Final Draft"...
              Similar story: I have Final Draft 9, the highest evolution of the program available for a mid-2009 MacBook Pro. I never use Final Draft anymore thanks to ComicBents’s recommendation (years ago) to switch to Fade In.

              Just yesterday I wanted to dredge up my old version of a script I’d written on Final Draft 9. It opened okay. I could work on it okay. But when it came time to save it, Final Draft wouldn’t save it anywhere.

              The error message I received was “filename is invalid.” No matter what I did, it wouldn’t save the file, even to its original folder with its original name. Same error message.

              Today, as I write this and open and close Final Draft 9 to be accurate in my description here, Final Draft has become unable to open, crashing each time I try to get it to open.

              It’s going to be removed from my laptop, now, but what a coincidence, huh? It’ll be interesting for me to see how it behaves once it’s opened on my Windows 10 desktop computer.

              UPDATE: Fade In had no problem at all when I imported those same Final Draft files, converted them with 100% accuracy, and would save them wherever I liked. So there’s that to further convince you of Fade In’s capabilities if you needed it.

              I’ve returned to the typewriter for my “most precious” projects. “My God!” you may exclaim. But actually, it’s invigorating and revitalizing. It truly puts you in touch with your words when the keys strike the page. Plus, let Amazon’s Alexa “listen in” all she wants to! The keystrokes all sound the same and cannot be reverse-engineered to decode what’s being typed! Winning!

              Post Script — check out the documentary The Great Hack on Netflix now. It’s also posted down in the “Films” section.

              (and why are there extra spaces between paragraphs when I post? I have to go back to delete them after my initial post. This didn’t happen here until fairly recently. I’ve seen this for a few other people here, too, such as ComicBent’s posts above)


              California Typewriter Repair Shop

              California Typewriter (documentary)
              Last edited by Clint Hill; 07-30-2019, 07:38 AM.
              “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Final Draft 10

                Thank you so much, ComicBent for taking the time to write such a detailed response, very much appreciated. Looking into getting a Dropbox account. Have purchased Fade In software.
                TigerFang, I feel your pain, so many issues. I don't know if anyone else ever experienced this, but I also had a problem with the formatting of the title page on Final Draft, it was literally all over the place, and a pain in the derrière to put right. After six years, I'm done with Final Draft.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Final Draft 10

                  Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction View Post
                  Thank you so much, ComicBent for taking the time to write such a detailed response, very much appreciated. Looking into getting a Dropbox account. Have purchased Fade In software.
                  TigerFang, I feel your pain, so many issues. I don't know if anyone else ever experienced this, but I also had a problem with the formatting of the title page on Final Draft, it was literally all over the place, and a pain in the derrière to put right. After six years, I'm done with Final Draft.
                  Good. Your blood pressure will revert to normal levels, and your head won’t hurt anymore from trying to resolve these issues.

                  Side note: I just trashed Final Draft 9 to remove it from my laptop. Then I went to the website to download the Final Draft 9 installer for my version of Mac. I reinstalled Final Draft 9. The same crash occurred again and again.

                  Otherwise, something is up with Final Draft. How or why would two different versions of it have similar issues? Maybe some angry, under-appreciated would-be screenwriter/hacker.

                  I suppose I could say that I “got my money’s worth” from Final Draft, but that would mean (to me) that it still worked. I paid so much for Final Draft, too, buying into the “All of Hollywood uses this!” marketing ploy. Now my feeling is that “Final Draft” is aptly named—it truly has written its “final draft” for me.
                  “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Final Draft 10

                    I have FD11 and honestly it's been fine. I never had much of an issue with Final Draft and the numerous iterations I've owned. Suffice it to say, I don't get the hate. That said, I've used Fade In and it's fine enough. But the industry by and large uses FD, and if you break in you'll have to switch back.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Final Draft 10

                      Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
                      I have FD11 and honestly it's been fine. I never had much of an issue with Final Draft and the numerous iterations I've owned. Suffice it to say, I don't get the hate. That said, I've used Fade In and it's fine enough. But the industry by and large uses FD, and if you break in you'll have to switch back.
                      You've thrown a spanner in the works now, haven't you...?
                      Brain overload. Blood pressure rising.
                      Last edited by Strangerthanfiction; 07-30-2019, 08:16 AM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Final Draft 10

                        Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
                        I never had much of an issue with Final Draft and the numerous iterations I've owned.
                        Nor did I until this week.

                        Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
                        But the industry by and large uses FD, and if you break in you'll have to switch back.
                        No, thank you.
                        “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Final Draft 10

                          Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction View Post
                          You've thrown a spanner in the works now, haven't you...?
                          Brain overload. Blood pressure rising.
                          First of all, you made me look up spanner. We speak American English here, buddy!

                          Maybe the issue has to do with the version people are using? Maybe they're no longer supporting older products (like FD9) and that's why bugs and other issues are now popping up.

                          I wrote my last two scripts with Fade In, and found myself needing Final Draft because the conversion to fdx wasn't working properly (and that could be due to operator error, but still.) I was lucky to get a good discount for FD11 and went for it.

                          To be honest, there really isn't much difference, imo. FadeIn is fine, so is FD. If pressed, I would argue that the layout/UX is better with FD. But that's entirely subjective. To each their own.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Final Draft 10

                            Originally posted by ComicBent View Post

                            You talked about emailing yourself a copy of your script. That is a clever way to make backups that are out of the reach of Final Draft. (By the way, after years of dealing with people who had suffered the same disaster that you did, I have never heard any explanation for WHY this problem occurs in Final Draft every once in a while.) But you will not have that problem with Fade In.
                            Strangerthanfiction, i'm curious, is your version of Final Draft and "upgraded" version? meaning, did you upgrade from, say, FD8 to FD10? sometimes it's best to start with a fresh download as constant updates over time might cause some kind of corruption. i know that happens on computer ios. i just had my imac wiped yesterday and had Apple reload a clean version of Mojave.

                            Also, since you can trust Fade In, let me make another suggestion, and you may be doing this already. Get a Dropbox account and use it to back up your really important files. You can get 2G of storage space for free. All you have to do is install the program onto your computer. It will create a folder under your user name, called Dropbox, and it functions like any other folder, except that when you are online your computer will communicate with Dropbox "in the cloud" and send a copy of your file to the cloud when you save it to your computer. I apologize if you know all of this already.

                            The free 2G of space is plenty if you are only using Dropbox for your important data files that change frequently. You use your Dropbox folder on your computer to save your files, just as you normally do with another folder. The program, when you install it, may offer you the option to store everything ONLY in the cloud and not have redundant copies on your computer. I recommend against using that option. Store on your computer and also in the cloud.

                            I think that with Dropbox you can safely stop the practice of sending email copies of files to yourself. I have never known Fade In to wreck anyone's file, and if the current file version got corrupted somehow, Dropbox keeps an older version for 30 days (according to online information).
                            i used to do what you do, emailing myself copies, but now i just use drop box. it's really amazing, but i will tell you from experience, 2gigs is not always going to be enough.

                            i do keep multiple drafts of my scripts i'm currently working on.

                            i almost exclusively use dropbox for writing. i have a folder of 5 scripts saved in both FDX and PDF (FD PDFs are notoriously large). and i keep all my backup on my research. and i can tell you, i'm always having to archive old files to my hard drive. i do keep some video (classes) research and images.

                            the point is, i love dropbox. it's easy to share files.

                            if anyone uses Scrivener, the files can get huge! just fyi.

                            i would also call final draft and ask them to give you a clean downloadable FD10 file to reinstall. i mean, that **** ain't cheap and they should stand behind their product. i haven't had a problem with my FD10 but i'm on imac and macbook pros.
                            "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Final Draft 10

                              Originally posted by docgonzo View Post
                              I have FD11 and honestly it's been fine. I never had much of an issue with Final Draft and the numerous iterations I've owned. Suffice it to say, I don't get the hate. That said, I've used Fade In and it's fine enough. But the industry by and large uses FD, and if you break in you'll have to switch back.

                              Windows version?


                              Years ago I bought DOS Scriptware and used it on a laptop, I knew had a fading hard drive. I was backing up my script on floppies but got lazy and went from around page forty to page 110 without a backup. Wouldn't you know it the hard drive barfed. I didn't even know Scriptware was making backups (two of them) until I found them. I lost a whole paragraph. Eventually I started using Movie Magic and always had good backups without even telling it to back anything up.


                              Then I tried a trial version of Final Draft -- probably around 2007. I got about sixteen pages into something I wasn't really serious about (fortunately), when the computer locked up hard and had to be rebooted. No sign of life on the sixteen pages. It was like they never existed. And Final Draft has never existed on any computer I've ever owned since then.


                              One barf is one barf too many for me. Meanwhile Movie Magic 2000 keeps chugging along and works on any Windows version I use (including 10). I play around with online formatters, but when I get serious I always use Movie Magic 2000.


                              What's the point of writing with something that's a crap shoot when it comes to keeping what you write?
                              "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

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