Schlaeps
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Alright beta testers, the entire reasoning behind this new patron upgrade is that we feel like brickfilmers do not have sufficient tools to collaborate with other members on this site and create awesome and spectacular brickfilms. Granted, it can be done, but not easily. What we hope to offer is not only a compelling reason to support brickfilms, but also a set of helpful tools to help finish brickfilms projects and make it easy to do at that. Today we’re release the first of these apps to you.
I originally started up this project almost exactly a year ago, so an immense amount of work has been put into this. In fact, this project alone is what made me want to start up a beta tester group. 
Buckle your seat belts, it’s going to be a big one.
The name is “Script” or “Brickfilms Script”, whichever you prefer (the name is not final) and it will allow you to create, edit and write scripts/screenplays online with relative ease. The entire application is web-based, so your script is automatically saved and can be viewed from anywhere you can log into brickfilms from.
Current Feature Set:
-Add/delete scripts
-Share scripts with other users
-Uses professional screenplay formatting (aside from the notes thing).
-Add/edit/delete/rearrange direction, transitions, dialog and notes.
-Edit script settings like ‘author’,'description’
-Edit scene slugline
-Easy to use GUI
The feature set really looks slim when you compare it to the final outcome.. but I’ll let you decide for yourselves.
To start using Script just go to http://www.brickfilms.com/patrons/script.php
Remember, this is still a beta program and there are going to be bugs. I’m in the process of setting up some error handling things as well as fixing a small timeout issue that I’ve experienced (once).
To do list:
-Multiple scenes
-Refined sharing controls (only certain scenes, etc.)
-Add ability to un-share.
Allllright, I think that’s it.
Oh, it doesn’t work in IE. Just to let you know. Anyways, beta test away!
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An Old Ore
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I’m just going to be jotting down notes as they come up:
- The first screen that comes up is a tad sparse. I’m assuming that instructions / help / documentation will come later (probably in a Wiki page, or more likely in the Patrons forum).[/*]
- And that’s as far as I got…[/*]
Either I’m missing something, or there’s something not quite right. I clicked on ‘New’ and it went to the top of the page but nothing else happened (didn’t refresh, just went to the top).
I assumed that it wanted me to enter a name in the box for the name of the new script, and entered a name (The Big Heist).
I then clicked on ‘New’ again, but nothing happened. I tried pressing ‘enter’ whist in the box, but that was an NVR as well.
Am I missing something?
Q: will only the User’s own script be visible, or all scripts?
(ps: NVR is shorthand for “No Visible Reaction”)
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Schlaeps
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Alright, just another little quirk that forgot to remove (it will eventually have compressed versions of the javascript for everyone who is not a developer, but I forgot to remove the code that prevented you guys from using the developer code.
Should work now.
And the users will only be able to see scripts shared with them and the scripts that they make.
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An Old Ore
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Okay.
I clicked ‘New’ and it came up with a little box for a name. Put in ‘The Big Heist’ and it made the new item (showed up as a clickable link).
Clicking on the link takes me to a blank page. All white, nothing to see or click. I tried ctrl-a (select all) to see if there was something there but hiding, and didn’t see anything. Had a look at the code and I can see all sorts of things that should have come up (such as Add Dialog which would translate to a clickable “Add Dialogue”) but for some reason none of it showed up.
Using Firefox on XP, tried turning off fire wall, pop-up blocker and AdBlock Plus plug-in, but none of it seemed to make a difference…
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Schlaeps
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Hmmmm, that’s most peculiar. Have you tried clearing your cache and reloading the page? Or just refreshing a couple times to see what comes up? If none of that works, would it be too much to ask to install the “Firebug” plugin for firefox? It should alert you of any errors in the javascript. I’ve tried this on Firefox and Safari without a hitch (on multiple accounts), so I’m not sure what’s up.
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An Old Ore
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Odd…
Did a ouple of hard refreshes, cleared the cache, yadda yadda – no difference.
Installed Firebug, made no difference.
Enabled FireBug, refreshed and it went through loading things a stage at a time. The top bar (brickfilms log, news / films / community etc) came up and “Int. Brickfilms Day” in typewriter font.
Firebug just displays a html code block consisting of:
edit: Okay, what appears to be empty white space has the hidden “add stuff” links hiding in there and they show up when the mouse hovers over them.
another edit: Okay, had a play with it.
Q: Is it / will it be possible to upload an existing script / a script that has been worked on offline?
Q: Is there / will there be a print facility available?
This seems to be working quite well, but has limited appeal to me personally since I am quite loathe to being on-line longer than I need to.
However, this seems like an excellent idea for collaborative works (which is the target demographic). The only thing that I would see as being ‘essential’ (and that you’ve mentioned already) is some type of ‘check in / check out’ system so that when two (or more) people are working on the same script, they aren’t working on the same script at the same time.
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Schlaeps
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Ah, okay. I think I know the problem now. It’s a reference to a function that firefox normally wouldn’t handle but can with firebug installed. Should be fixed now for all.
Is it / will it be possible to upload an existing script / a script that has been worked on offline?
I’m definitely considering this. I need to look into how other Script writing software saves the scripts (I’m assuming it’s some sort of XML, in which case I could parse it easily).
Is there / will there be a print facility available?
Yes, as well as an export to PDF function. I haven’t gotten around to implementing these though.
The only thing that I would see as being ‘essential’ (and that you’ve mentioned already) is some type of ‘check in / check out’ system so that when two (or more) people are working on the same script, they aren’t working on the same script at the same time.
I definitely agree. Right now sharing only allows you to share an uneditable copy of your script with others.
It’s definitely a little confusing at first, but I think after this has been documented well/had screencasts done of the functionality, people will get used to it quickly.
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An Old Ore
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Oh yes, I agree. (With the ‘documentation needed’ aspect)
Because the “add something” function is ‘faded out’ it takes a while to realise that it’s there. If people already know that it’s ‘hidden’ and that to find it all they need to do is move the mouse around a bit, then there shouldn’t be any problems.
Where are the other Beta testers? Why aren’t they posting?  < - only a little angry, more like disappointed
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Schlaeps
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Yes, I completely agree.
And I imagine the other Beta testers are doing various things with their weekend and will have more of a chance to post during the weekday to come.
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An Old Ore
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Oh yes, I agree. (With the ‘doing various things with their weekend’ aspect)
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Krick
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Seems pretty nice so far. My only complaint with it is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to get back from the script page to the main script index page without just hitting the back button. This made me wonder if my script would be saved if I did this. (It was.)
Good job Schlaeps. This looks like it will really help community projects.
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Schlaeps
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Update (10/3)
- Added basic printing functionality.
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An Old Ore
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Looking good.
I really like the “existing names” function when entering character dialog. This will come in very handy when you have several characters or have characters with long names. Hopefully this will help dissuade directors from using characters with single-syllable names.
Suggestion: once someone is done with writing, there is no direct link to go anywhere else. You’re just facing the script. Are there any plans to add any script.php-specific links above the script? Or just leave the default blue nav bar?
Q: How does one access the print functionality?
Q: If I ‘select all’, it won’t let me copy (such as if I wanted to copy + paste onto a text file). Is this deliberate or a side-effect from the way that it’s made? If it’s a side-effect, is it worth the effort to try and make it copy-able, or is that something to put on the to-do pile for Version 2.0?
Q: When a script is shared, it is listed at the bottom under “Scripts you are sharing”. Since both link to the same script ID, I assume that this means that if you edit one, they ‘both’ are edited?
Q: What happens if two people are editing the same script at the same time? Will they be able to see each others changes in real time or only once they ‘re-open’ the script? Or does the second user get a “this script is being edited” message?
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Schlaeps
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once someone is done with writing, there is no direct link to go anywhere else. You’re just facing the script. Are there any plans to add any script.php-specific links above the script? Or just leave the default blue nav bar?
I was actually working on that today (yes there will be something to link back to script.php and /patrons/) but I got side tracked when my Macbook Pro arrived.
Q: How does one access the print functionality?
Simply print like you normally would (Control – P on Win/Linux and Command – P on a Mac).
Q: If I ‘select all’, it won’t let me copy (such as if I wanted to copy + paste onto a text file). Is this deliberate or a side-effect from the way that it’s made? If it’s a side-effect, is it worth the effort to try and make it copy-able, or is that something to put on the to-do pile for Version 2.0?
I’m not quite sure what you mean.. do you mean copying the entire page? Yeah, I imagine that wouldn’t copy very well.. not sure why it’s not copying at all though. I’ll look into it.
Q: When a script is shared, it is listed at the bottom under “Scripts you are sharing”. Since both link to the same script ID, I assume that this means that if you edit one, they ‘both’ are edited?
Yes, eventually the bottom link will show preferences for that “share” when clicked though.
Q: What happens if two people are editing the same script at the same time? Will they be able to see each others changes in real time or only once they ‘re-open’ the script? Or does the second user get a “this script is being edited” message?
Currently it’s not possible for two people to be editing a script together (when you share a script with someone they can’t edit it). Eventually though I’ll have to find a way for it to automatically update or just display a message.
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Schlaeps
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Update (11/20)
- Added a navigation bar
- Added scene support for up to 20 scenes
I know it doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, it makes a big difference (IMO) in the completeness of the application.
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