Final Draft 8.0

Final Draft is an application designed to provide users with a professional platform for writing scripts, stage plays, screenplays.

It offers a wide range of tools for the job (outlining and formatting) integrated into an elegant and intuitive interface. The utility allows you to focus more on the creative part of writing by employing automated features for repetitive tasks.

Final Draft includes a Name Database; you can quickly find character names for your script out of 90000 entries. The Speech Control allows users to have all the text read out to them; you can even setup each character and narrator genres and associate them with specific voice types and text sections (in the Voice Assign panel).

By dividing your script into multiple scenes, you can effectively manage large text sections. The Scene View offers a simple visual solution for displaying multiple scenes with the help of different color effects.

SmartType is an integrated tool that allows users to manage characters, locations, time, transitions, scene intros and extensions. SmartType entries may then be used within the Reports section for generating statistics (for example how many appearances a certain character has made in the whole script).

All in all, this is a powerful tool that should serve any user looking for a solid and flexible writing environment. However, the lack of a wizard that would quickly go through all the writing settings does make SmartType more suitable for professional writers.