Montage | Jul 30 2008 |
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) | |
| [ 2 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
Montage | Jul 30 2008 |
ZENZENPUP How about i reviewed in 3 places with 3 accounts that I've had for years. What, am I supposed to create the same screen name in 3 places to keep you placated? More like I wonder just how careless you are and what other little tidbits you have running under Mac OS X... I can almost hear Forest Gump now...
(Version 1.5.1) | |
Montage | Sep 15 2008 |
MARINERMTG While I'm not quite sure of your intentions, this would be the third negative post you have made about Montage. I'm certainly one for free speech and you have every right to post as many negative comments as MacUpdate allows you to post, but here is the obvious question, if you hate Montage so much why do you continue to use and slam it? Also, for what it's worth, MacUser UK just gave Montage a 5 out of 5 star rating in their latest issue. If our product is as buggy as you claim it is, would a national, well-respected publication give it the best possible rating? We are open to working with you through your issues but we are not interested in trying to help someone who doesn't want the help. Mariner Software
(Version 1.5.1) | |
Montage | May 22 2008 |
TRENINO I was actually referring to the opposite... A file made under a previous version of Montage could NOT be opened with 1.5.
(Version 1.5) | |
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Montage | May 21 2008 |
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) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
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Montage | May 21 2008 |
MACUPDATE ADMIN To be fair, the developer clearly states in the release notes: "Important Note About Version 1.5 File Compatibility: Montage version 1.5 introduces a change to the Montage file format. You will be able to open your existing Montage files with version 1.5, but once you make modifications to a file with version 1.5, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OPEN THAT FILE IN A PREVIOUS VERSION OF MONTAGE. Please make a backup copy of your files prior to testing with version 1.5."
(Version 1.5) | |
Montage | May 22 2008 |
TRENINO I was actually referring to the opposite... A file made under a previous version of Montage could NOT be opened with 1.5.
(Version 1.5) | |
Montage | May 22 2008 |
DAWN MESSERLY Hey, TRENINO. We're sorry to hear about the problems you've been having with Montage. Your report of missing data both concerns and surprises me. We went into beta on Montage 1.5 on April 4, and made a late beta available to the general public before we released. During that time, Montage releases were in the hands of many users, and we received no reports of this behavior you decribe (all bug reports come directly into my In Box). I've done a quick review of all of our tech support inquiries and our on-line forum, as well, and haven't been able to find any other similar reports of data loss either. It seems that your problem is an uncommon one (although that probably doesn't feel like much consolation to you). I'd be happy to troubleshoot this issue and help find a resolution to the problem, but the MacUpdate forum is probably not the best place for troubleshooting support issues. Could you email me directly so we can start a dialog on this? You should have my email address as I was the one who replied directly to you based on your original comments. Mariner Software Quality Assurance
(Version 1.5) | |
Montage | May 17 2008 |
You are probably right, one single application could prove overcomplicated. I am looking forward to the additions to Montage. Joining the Beta team sounds like a good idea. | |
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Montage | May 9 2008 |
TRENINO Montage - A review and comparison to Storymill I have been using the demo of Storymill for about a week writing my new project. Because it is a script I am working on there are things I am missing in it, although there are many nice features. I also downloaded the last version of Montage (1.4) to see if any developments have been made to it, since the last version I used, I did not like. Although Storymill is for novels and Montage for scripts, they both target creative writers. As one of them I am making this comparison. Surprisingly although Montage has been longer in the line-up of Mariner Software it is much less refined than Storymill. Here is a comparison: 1) The Progress meter feature lacks from Montage. Screenwriters need to keep track of their productivity as well. 2)User interface under Montage: The content in Research window and Task window cannot be moved around. It is automatically sorted. Besides that, when sorting by name, a very annoying thing happens. number 10 does not follow number 9, in order, but goes after number 1... Storymill on the other hand lets you move things around. 3)The double-clicking of content in Storymill makes it pop up on a separate window. It would really be useful for Montage too, which does not have that feature either. 4) Smart view is a great feature in both programs. 5)This is personal, but aesthetically the icons in Montage are not so nice as the ones in Storymill. Actually they look like OS9 icons.. 6)Timeline which is only in Storymill, would be tremendously helpful for screenwriter using Montage as well. 7) Tagging in Storymill is like the “Add keyword” option in Montage, only in storymill it works better. 8) The beginners’ Tutorial in Storymill is a very nice extra that comes with the program. Again Montage lacks is it. 9) Full screen only works on script and scenes mode in Montage. Not in synopsis mode or any other. In storymill all windows can be viewed in full screen. And it is really nice to work on synopses or character profiles in full screen. This is a real shame. 10) Button for making annotations in storymill. In montage you have to go through the menu each time you want to make a note. 11)No option for deselecting the auto Backup. If you deselect it you cannot save your work at all. 12) Annotations can ONLY be made in script mode, not in synopsis, character, scene or other mode in Montage. Again in Storymill things are much better. ANnotations can be made on every mode. 13) Exporting is so unintuitive in Montage. In Storymill you have a preview of exactly what is going to be exported and you can change it accordingly. In Montage you export first and then you check if you exported the right thing. I am still finding more handicaps in montage the more I use it. It is really sad as it could have been developed to a very nice application. As I said earlier Storymill is definitely much more refined than Montage. If you are a novelist you are lucky and good to go with Storymill. If on the other hand you are a script writer like me, then you you have to look elsewhere and definitely not spend the money for purchasing this version. I would purchase anytime Storymill if it only had standard script formating and outline. On the other hand Montage compared to the Storymill features are very thin. For the moment and my current project (which is a Feature Film) I will be using Storymill for Synopses, Characters, Research, Scene Ideas, and ONLY then I will go to Montage to write the script, but I might still prefer Final Draft until a better version of either Storymill or Montage comes out or even better if they would merge it in one application as it seems that Storymill and Montage are in fact one application cut in half and therefore crippled. You can download the Demos and see for yourselves.
(Version 1.5b3) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
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Montage | May 17 2008 |
My name is Todd Ransom and I am the lead developer on both Montage and StoryMill. The fact is that the screenplay and novel writing markets are very different. Mariner's goal with these products is not to make a single "jack of all trades, master of none" application. Our goal is to have two separate best of breed applications. We have no desire to add the complexities of screenplay writing into our novel writing application or vice versa. Not only is structure and terminology of the two formats very different, there are also things like production support in the screenplay industry which would only be confusing to novel writers. We often use one of the applications as a test bed for a new feature before bringing that new feature into the other application. This is why you see some features in StoryMill that are not yet present in Montage. Now that they are implemented in StoryMill and we have received a nice amount of user feedback we can consider adapting these features to Montage. Indeed, we do have plans to add some of the things you mention to Montage. If you would like to help us in determining which features would be most valuable to you in each product I encourage you to join our beta team, which you can do here: http://marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=120 Montage/StoryMill development Mariner Software
(Version 1.5) | |
Montage | May 17 2008 |
You are probably right, one single application could prove overcomplicated. I am looking forward to the additions to Montage. Joining the Beta team sounds like a good idea. | |
StoryMill | May 9 2008 |
TRENINO Montage - A review and comparison to Storymill I have been using the demo of Storymill for about a week writing my new project. Because it is a script I am working on there are things I am missing in it, although there are many nice features. I also downloaded the last version of Montage (1.4) to see if any developments have been made to it, since the last version I used, I did not like. Although Storymill is for novels and Montage for scripts, they both target creative writers. As one of them I am making this comparison. Surprisingly although Montage has been longer in the line-up of Mariner Software it is much less refined than Storymill. Here is a comparison: 1) The Progress meter feature lacks from Montage. Screenwriters need to keep track of their productivity as well. 2)User interface under Montage: The content in Research window and Task window cannot be moved around. It is automatically sorted. Besides that, when sorting by name, a very annoying thing happens. number 10 does not follow number 9, in order, but goes after number 1... Storymill on the other hand lets you move things around. 3)The double-clicking of content in Storymill makes it pop up on a separate window. It would really be useful for Montage too, which does not have that feature either. 4) Smart view is a great feature in both programs. 5)This is personal, but aesthetically the icons in Montage are not so nice as the ones in Storymill. Actually they look like OS9 icons.. 6)Timeline which is only in Storymill, would be tremendously helpful for screenwriter using Montage as well. 7) Tagging in Storymill is like the “Add keyword” option in Montage, only in storymill it works better. 8) The beginners’ Tutorial in Storymill is a very nice extra that comes with the program. Again Montage lacks is it. 9) Full screen only works on script and scenes mode in Montage. Not in synopsis mode or any other. In storymill all windows can be viewed in full screen. And it is really nice to work on synopses or character profiles in full screen. This is a real shame. 10) Button for making annotations in storymill. In montage you have to go through the menu each time you want to make a note. 11)No option for deselecting the auto Backup. If you deselect it you cannot save your work at all. 12) Annotations can ONLY be made in script mode, not in synopsis, character, scene or other mode in Montage. Again in Storymill things are much better. ANnotations can be made on every mode. 13) Exporting is so unintuitive in Montage. In Storymill you have a preview of exactly what is going to be exported and you can change it accordingly. In Montage you export first and then you check if you exported the right thing. I am still finding more handicaps in montage the more I use it. It is really sad as it could have been developed to a very nice application. As I said earlier Storymill is definitely much more refined than Montage. If you are a novelist you are lucky and good to go with Storymill. If on the other hand you are a script writer like me, then you you have to look elsewhere and definitely not spend the money for purchasing this version. I would purchase anytime Storymill if it only had standard script formating and outline. On the other hand Montage compared to the Storymill features are very thin. For the moment and my current project (which is a Feature Film) I will be using Storymill for Synopses, Characters, Research, Scene Ideas, and ONLY then I will go to Montage to write the script, but I might still prefer Final Draft until a better version of either Storymill or Montage comes out or even better if they would merge it in one application as it seems that Storymill and Montage are in fact one application cut in half and therefore crippled. You can download the Demos and see for yourselves.
(Version 3.0.2) | |
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