Show HN: Arc Studio Pro – Collaborative Editing/Version Control for Screenplays

https://arcstudiopro.com

by michihuber • 8 years ago

75 33 8 years ago

arcstudiopro.com

smoofles• 8 years ago

Looks neat!

con• 8 years ago

I just tried the editor. Really smart how Characters, Scenes, Dialogs etc. are handled.

Re Cookie policy: I think that is only for the EU? You could probably remove the modal for others (like me, in TH).

MartinMond• 8 years ago

It seems this fits much closer to GitHub's original vision than what GitHub is now. Remember when they put the US laws online? A tool like this adopts a proven process from software engineering to other fields. I wonder if it's an acquisition target for GitHub?

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Hey, Michi here, from Arc Studio Pro.

As MartinMond said, this is indeed an attempt to bring a GitHub style workflow to a field outside of software development.

The app is written in Clojure(Script), implementing OT for collaboration.

Happy to answer any questions!

tosh• 8 years ago

Were there any surprising features/ux/workflow aha-moments you encountered in the screenwriting space?

michihuber11• 8 years ago

I thought it was great that screenwriters already had a notion of version control – once a screenplay goes into production, later revisions receive a color and are referred to as such, e.g. blue draft, pink draft. Pages that contained changes used to be printed on appropriately colored paper.

The idea of our app is to build on that notion and offer automatic versioning.

msvan• 8 years ago

OT = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_transformation, for those not in the know

joshkaufman2• 8 years ago

Hi, Michi - congrats!

Not sure about your future plans, but there's a huge need for good collaborative writing/editing programs for traditional book publishing. Collaboration with developmental editors, copyeditors, agents, publishing staff, etc is both essential and extremely painful.

From the looks of it, the structure and output needs for book projects are less demanding than what you've already implemented, so it might be a worthwhile adjacency to explore.

Hope this helps.

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Thanks Josh!

Yes, we're definitely going to support formats other than Hollywood-style screenplays in the near future. Would be great to learn more about the needs for collaboration in book publishing.

btown• 8 years ago

First off, amazing job - the UX design is outstanding. I've been wishing for something like this for music composition for the longest time, something that would combine the ease of use and live-collaboration aspects of Google Docs with custom workflows and object types as you have here. (Unfortunately, the presentation layer for the music domain requires implementing an entire DAW or notation interface on top, both of which are herculean efforts that I haven't tried to tackle yet!)

That said, I'll probably end up using this for lyrics! (When I used to write for musical theater in college, our writing workshop would basically use Google Docs, using screenplay formatting and typesetting in all caps for singing. This would have revolutionized the workflow there, even without music-specific features. Individual songs have "beats" and evolving themes just like anything else!)

On the tech side, did you use something like https://github.com/jahfer/othello for OT, or roll your own? And do you think in hindsight that CLJS was the right language/toolset for the job? I've always been interested in its ability to treat immutable data as a first-class citizen, but I haven't had a chance to do it yet.

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Thanks for the kind words! Would be great to learn what kind of format you'd use for writing lyrics. m@arcstudiopro.com

The OT is custom and clj/s was the perfect tool for the job. Highly recommended.

malloryerik• 8 years ago

Hi Michi, you say the app is written in Clojure(Script), does that mean the desktop Windows and Mac versions are in Electron, or are you using something else?

Not an Electron hater here, I use VS Code (along with Emacs).

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Yes, the desktop versions are in Electron.

filipm• 8 years ago

I haven't tried it, but it looks very promising.

eganist• 8 years ago

Nice. I was soliciting feedback from screenwriters in prep for a similar service; I would've taken a fundamentally different approach to it, but you've covered a lot of the bases I had in mind.

If you're looking for people to give it a whirl, I'll pass it to anyone I know to solicit feedback, though the hard part might be in breaking their workflows for the better.

Is there any specific industry feedback you're seeking?

michihuber11• 8 years ago

I've often had the same experience, people's workflows are pretty ingrained (in general, not just screenwriters). But I've done some pitches where a writer had a lightbulb moment, and realized that collab and versioning really would make things easier.

I put great emphasis on the app behaving similar to current screenwriting tools, and the collaboration/versioning features just being there when they are needed, so the change in somebody's workflow can happen gradually.

I'm curious which approach you had considered. And would love to get feedback from writers/filmmakers of all backgrounds: m@arcstudiopro.com

bstchn• 8 years ago

I work for a movie production company and have been thinking of creating something similar - especially the collaborative and versioning feature as in github for screenwriting. If you like I could ping you via E-Mail as well, since there are some features crucial for (at least our) workflow. Revision aka colored (replacement)pages, excerpts for set dressers etc. But so far it looks really great and I hope it'll be able to replace Final Draft at our company someday.

protomyth• 8 years ago

Any fountain.io support?

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Yes, fountain can be both imported and exported.

drivingmenuts• 8 years ago

Do you expect that the feature roadmap will justify the monthly rental fee?

I could probably tolerate the monthly rental as long as new features are coming in and bugs being sorted out. But at some point, there are diminishing returns and users are paying for ... I'm not sure.

The devs to sit back and sip mat-tai's in Tahiti while they collect rent?

Also, considering that Amazon's screenwriting tool had the lifespan of a gnat in a campfire, do you have plans to avoid that situation?

gamblor9563• 8 years ago

I think it's unfair that you're being downvoted for a very serious question related to the basic fundamentals of their business plan.

In a nutshell: how does Arc Studio plan on competing in this space, charging a relatively high monthly fee, when it offers fewer features than most of its competitors and when its primary feature is already offered by multiple competitors?

Or specifically: WriterDuet already does everything that Arc Studio Pro wants to do, but WD already has those features and charges roughly the same monthly price. WD has also been used to write several screenplays, including The Last Jedi. How does Arc Studio Pro plan to compete with WD?

crazygringo2• 8 years ago

Hi Michi -- since the cloud and OT model is so similar to Google Drive, have you considered integration with that, as a Drive app, using Drive revisions?

I love the idea of Arc Studio, but I also keep everything in my Drive... that might make it harder for Drive and non-Drive users to collaborate, but I'm not sure.

But besides that, +1000! It's about time there was a cloud-based webapp for screenwriting.

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Thanks for the kind words!

We do plan to offer backups to Google Drive and Dropbox, i.e. you can have your screenplays placed there automatically and periodically, to avoid data lock in.

Or are you thinking of a closer integration, e.g. being able to edit from Google Docs?

crazygringo2• 8 years ago

Not edit from Google Docs, but have the original stored in Drive, utilizing Drive's own built-in revision history. And even have it be an "Arc Studio" filetype, that when double-clicked would open the webapp directly.

I'm just very Drive-centric, not sure what your userbase is like, but it would just feel very natural to have my screenplay files next to all my Google Docs and Sheets files where I write/track everything else for every project of mine.

projectramo• 8 years ago

Congrats on launching your tool.

It seems polished and thought out. There is clearly a lot of work and thought behind it.

Can you share a little on how it compares with the competition?

- writerduet

- amazon storywriter

- rawscripts

- Celtx

- Scrivener + Dropbox

- Google Docs + fountain support

and of course who knows how many more I am missing. Such a crowded field.

michihuber11• 8 years ago

It's true that the space is really crowded, but we also felt that all the other tools focused on formatting and not much else.

We wanted to consider the whole screenwriting process: collecting first ideas, outlining, distraction-free writing and formatting, collaborating, requesting and managing feedback, versioning...

Also, we want to take collaboration and versioning much much further than any existing tool and accommodate complex workflows, especially for larger writing teams. We're just getting started... :)

gamblor9563• 8 years ago

It's true that the space is really crowded, but we also felt that all the other tools focused on formatting and not much else.

I think you need to do your homework again. Formatting is by far the smallest part of what most of your competitors offer. For example, WriterDuet offers collaborative screenwriting, and has--for at least 2 years. WD and FD have also offered versioning for at least a few years, and include "revision" pages for changes made to scripts after production has already began. Both of these programs have already been used to write Hollywood movies collaboratively.

We wanted to consider the whole screenwriting process: collecting first ideas, outlining, distraction-free writing and formatting, collaborating, requesting and managing feedback, versioning...

Almost every single one of your competitors already does this...Celtx and Final Draft even add production planning capabilities to the mix (though FD requires paid addons for that functionality). Did you actually use any of them before you decided to jump into this market? It sort of seems like you didn't do you homework and decided that just because you were a programmer you could design things better than the people who actually use these for a living. (FD, WD, and Celtx were all designed--and in the case of WD and Celtx were also programmed--by people who earned their living writing screenplays or producing films.)

geuis• 8 years ago

How does this compare with Highland? https://johnaugust.com/screenwriting-software

michihuber11• 8 years ago

Arc Studio Pro and Highland are very different.

Highland is macOS only and more of a minimal editor built around the fountain format (think markdown for screenplays), and has a very unique formatting UI.

Arc Studio Pro wants to support the full process and offers collaborative editing, automatic versioning, feedback management, outlining and visualization tools, etc.

Both apps offer a free version, so give them both a try.

hsienmaneja• 8 years ago

Note to the architect: this is irrelevant now to my reality. I let her go and won’t see her again. She will no longer be rendered in my reality.

Show HN: Arc Studio Pro – Collaborative Editing/Version Control for Screenplays

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