THUNDERCLAP82  I was very eager to try Montage and adopt it for my main screenwriting software. While the GUI design is nice and very Mac-like, there is one big problem with the software: page breaks. By that I mean when you are writing dialog in just runs onto the next page. Proper formatting would include the characters name as it re-organizes the page. Montage doesn't do this forcing you to do it manually. But then, if you make revisions, then there are extra page breaks and have to go through and clean it up all over again. It's very time consuming and not professional enough yet to justify making it your main screenwriting program.  
(Version 1.5.3)

CARLOS85  The speed of importing .txt files is much improved over previous versions, but does not retain formatting as nearly as well as Movie Magic Screenwriter 6. When importing a .txt file using the Screenwriter 6 template, extra lines are interspersed, ACTION text in ALL CAPS and SCENE HEADERS without INT./EXT. are converted to CHARACTER CUES, Centered text is moved to the left, ACTION lines between dialogue are formatted as dialogue. Using the Screenplay template for this same importing reduced the page count of a 116 page script to 97 pages. Action between dialogue was included in the above character cue's dialogue.

Importing .rtf yielded similar results. At this point it would be faster for me to retype a script from scratch than to import it from a text file into Montage.

Another thing:

Why does Montage treat FADE IN: as a scene header?  
(Version 1.5.2)

DAVID MUTNICK  After receiving numerous emails from Mariner Software urging me to act quickly to get their best price, I bought the program. 2 days later, it was already offered cheaper on MacUpdate. I emailed the company about this, feeling they were dishonest with their marketing. They couldn't care less. We're talking $10 here. You would think they would just refund the $10 to keep a customer happy. Instead, they were rude and didn't even offer an apology. Hey Logan Ryan..way to lose a customer and get some negative feedback over $10, you loser. All I wanted was to be treated like a valued customer.

So to sum up: Don't fall for their marketing BS. Don't expect this company to give a damn about you. Oh, the software? Spotty at best. Good for a beginner, crap for a pro.  
(Version 1.5.1)

TRENINO  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...

Also,I wonder why the praising review - below, has been posted on versiontracker with another alias?  
(Version 1.5.1)

ANTHONY HARMON  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 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.  
(Version 1.5.1)

DASEIN888  Sorry, forgot to rate...  
(Version 1.5.1)

DASEIN888  I have to agree with Trenino. I work as both a published novelist and produced screenwriter, and I've long looked for an alternative to Final Draft. I've tried both StoryMill and Montage, and constantly I am wishing features of StoryMill were integrated with Montage--and that they were a combined product.

StoryMill, of course, is an acquisition once called Avenir and so its development has a different legacy and comes from outside of Mariner's mindset.

The overall problem with both is that they constrain a very creative process and don't let a writer wiggle around within the software to find the 'sweet' spot. If StoryMill and Montage were combined, and if Montage were production-grade (as is Final Draft), then it would be a brilliant product. Nearly any writer would feel comfortable working within the product and not feel boxed in by predefined process.  
(Version 1.5.1)

POWERMACDADDY  Trenino: Not sure why, if Montage is so bad, you keep using it. And why you're comparing a screenwriting program with a novel-writing program puzzles me. Two different audiences.

Personally, I haven't had the issues you're describing, and think the 2-star rating you gave it is totally unfair.

I took a 1.2 document and went to 1.5.... no problems. Oh, and after I upgraded to 1.5 it opened a "Tutorial Monkey" tutorial file automatically. Have you even used 1.5?

Some other things that makes me wonder if you've even used Montage for longer than 5 minutes:

1) Annotations: apple-shift-A allows you to make a new annotation. no need for a button, no need to go to the menu. Nice for keeping your hands on the keyboard and writing rather than reaching for the mouse.

2) Keyword/tagging: Works well for me... apple-shift-T makes a new keyword/tag and it's displayed in the left-hand column. Again, it allows me to keep my hands on the keyboard and keep typing. I can sit back and enter 10 keywords rapid-fire as fast as I can type.

3) You claim that "Exporting is so unintuitive in Montage." Montage exports 1 thing and 1 thing only: THE SCRIPT. What's to check? What's unintuitive about that? You select Export, pick your file format and destination, and you're done. Oh, and it can read and write Final Draft format, which is a HUGE plus.

It seems to me that you are missing the fact that StoryMill is written for the workflow of a novelist, where Montage is written for the workflow of a screenwriter. Screenplays are typically much more rigid in their outline/structure than novels/stories tend to be. (Which is why most movie adaptations of books wind up changing parts of the book to make the movie version "screenplay friendly.") It seems to me that most of your gripes revolve around the fact that you think like a novelist, not a screenwriter, which is why StoryMill appeals to you more than Montage. Don't give a good product with a bright future a bad review because your workflow/method of thinking is different. Comparing Montage with StoryMill is like comparing TextEdit with TextWrangler... while both are full-featured, they each have a different target audience: one is a word processor, the other a text editor. Why don't you compare Montage with Final Draft?

Does Montage need some interface tweaks? Certainly. All programs do. But needing mere "tweaks" makes it worthy of 4 stars, not 2.  
(Version 1.5)

TRENINO  Indeed at this price one can only be harsh version 1.5 has not given any essential changes.

ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING FOR USERS:

Regardless of the various bugs and glitches of Montage(all versions), 1.5 brings with it a serious one:

Be sure to back up everything in an external word processor until this product becomes stable.

The file I was working on under version 1.4 when imported to 1.5 could not be opened. In fact it would open and the titles of things would be in place but ALL THE CONTENT WAS MISSING.

I was glad that I had not thrown away version 1.4. I had to open it in 1.4 and MANUALLY copy everything to a new project in 1.5.

---In a few words backwards compatibility has SERIOUS ISSUES.---

Do not get me wrong, I am spending my time here because I believe that Montage can become a great tool. In the level of the current development though it is a shame for Mariner to ask for money. This should be named public beta and be available free...

Still the same problems: Fullscreen not everywhere, windows do not open separately, glitchy etc.

In outline mode one can move things around but unknown why you can not move anything around in synopses, task, research location...

---In a few words... what is said in my previous review is still accurate---

I really do not know much from programming but it seems that if they start from scratch and put the screenplay+formatting algorithms to the Storymill user interface they might come up with something better.  
(Version 1.5)

LORD LIGHTNING  Perhaps comparisons of Montage should be made against the FREE celtx - which is still not at version 1.0 - rather than with FD (v7) or Screenwriter Pro (v6) - which are both very mature products.

http://pc.celtx.com/

What is pleasing about Montage is that its development trajectory points to some real value for money enhancements around version 2.  
(Version 1.5)