EVERYBODY LOVES BETA

Martin from San Fransisco writes:

Just thought you’d be interested: we’re in the process of beta-testing our combined screenwriting / pre-production app (Sophocles 2007). I hope you can spare some time to have a look at it. I’d love to hear any thoughts or ideas you might have for future versions, etc.

You can pick up the beta at www.sophocles.net/beta. Or have a look at our Wikipedia article: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophocles_(software).

If you have any filmmaking friends you think might be interested, I hope you’ll let them know as well. The more feedback the better!

Thanks, Martin. I’m a Mac writer, so I won’t be trying it out. But windows writers, please let us know what you think.

56 thoughts on “EVERYBODY LOVES BETA”

  5. I’ve been testing this for a year. It’s the most stunning screenwriter’s tool, story aid, beat-sheeter and sheer inspiration ever, all in one small package. I’ve tried them all, and this smacks Final Draft, MM’s Screenwriter 2000, Dramatica, StoryLines, and everything else by several thousand country miles.

    Take a tip – keep the mac for your usual stuff, but get a PC for this proggy alone – you’ll never regret it!

    NB: It’s not perfect – still requires you to write the actual words yourself.

  6. It’s good, but I prefer to write with a black background while viewing the page as it will appear when printed. I can’t apply a dark background to that setting. I assume this would be a simple adjustment.
    I’m not mad about Final Draft, but it’s the only software I can set in this way.

  7. I’ve discovered that when you save a script in the 2007 edition that you can no longer open it in the 2003 edition. The file size increases by a factor of 2 after I save it without mods in 2007 and the 2003 edition displays a “file corrupted” error when I try to reopen the file. Just an FYI.

  8. My HP laptop is dust, and I’m looking at MAC, -old love from years ago just kept tugging at me. I see several of you say you are MAC users, and I’m looking to download a screenwriting software program. Final Draft and Dramatica was all the rage a while back, but limited with MAC. However, I’m considering getting the MAC dual OS. Does anyone know if this is worth my while, or should I just stay PC, and go with a worthy screenwriting program?

    Decisions, decisions!

  9. Deborah,

    I’ve been a PC user for years and recently switched to a mac a couple of years ago. I just replaced my powerbook with a Mac Book Pro. Dramatica, Final Draft both work beautifully on a Mac and now that Mac is gaining a foothold, pretty much everything works on a mac. If you absolutely MUST run something in Windows, you can do that too on a Mac. In fact, there are some great writing aids, like SCRIVENER, that are ONLY formatted to work on a mac. ANd, everything else on a mac just works beautifully and the support is fantastic. With Apple Care, you get free support for three years and apple stores have support classes on pretty much every subject. It’s the way to go!

  10. So, big question… WHY isn’t there a Mac-compatible version of Sophocles in the works? I use both PC and Mac, and it just astonishes me that such a brilliant piece of software as Sophocles requires me to either abandon my MacBook Pro (which is my primary computer) or run XP via Parallels in order to use it. The Sophocles dev team did everything else so much better than Final Draft — why not open up a whole new segment of users better, too?

  11. I took the trial version for a test run on my PC at work, and it is sweet. However, I’m a Mac user, so…

    The developers of this program have just got to make this available to the rest of us. I’d be willing to pay twice as much for it. Would it cost them so much more to make this happen that it is prohibitive? I’ve just got to believe that what they would make in sales would compel them to make this happen. Who knows, maybe it’s being worked on.

  12. Hi everyone, I use Sophocles, but my hard drive gave out on me. I wanted to download Sophocles onto another computer, but the website no longer exists. I am freaking out since all my scripts have been written with Sophocles. Anyone know what happened?

  13. I just heard about the Sophocles Beta, supposed to be fully functional including printing. I tried the site and don’t know whether it’s gone or just down for service.

    I did a bunch of reading on Sophocles before checking into it. Lots of positive things and not much negative. I hope the site is just down and the Beta is still available.

  14. The site’s been down for over a week now. I’m not sure what’s going on. I really hope it’s just being updated.

  15. I am relieved to see that others can not get onto the Sophocles site as well. I was getting a little paranoid that maybe my Windows ME computer was giving out or something. I LOVE this program and have been anxiously awaiting the official release of Sophocles 2007 in….May, I think I was reading. The Beta version downloads but then I get an error message saying that part of the download is missing or wont work, and I have to toss it in the trash. Are there any others out there that can’t use the Beta 2007? Again, I wonder if it’s the PC’s fault.

  16. I’m panicing also as I have slightly different versions on my new laptop (day job) and home PC’s – so I can’t move scripts from my work laptop to my home PC!

    I went to download the latest and saw the site was down.

    I’ve sent email to Tim and to the ASP company hosting the web site, but I don’t have any updates from either.

    Tim was normally pretty responsive, I’m not sure what’s up.

    == John ==

  17. Here is a funny story.

    I used Sophocles for three years. A few months ago, my PC died. I bit the bullet and invested in a Mac thinking it would be worth it not to have another PC melt down.

    First thing when I got home, I went to install Sophocles– and woops– can’t put Sophocles on a Mac. So, I feel like a dumbass, right?

    Anyway… I decide done is done– it’ll be fun trying out new software. I tried Final Draft. Well, that sucked. I tried Movie Magic, Montage, Celtx, checked into Scriptware, used Outliner 3 – or whatever it is– and finally Scrivener. None were even close to Sophocles. I bought Final Draft 7– the least evil of the lot– and figured I’d get used to it.

    NOT EVEN.

    I got so tired of having my writing interrupted by F.D. B.S. that I got up this morning and bought PARALLELS and WINDOWS and Virus protection and installed them on my MacBook just so I could load Sophocles that I already own– But wait, I need a new code and download — and hahahahahahaha…. Sophocles isn’t there.

    Laughing. A lot.

    I’ll save the tears for morning when I have to get up and deal with Final Draft and an empty checking account and the fact that I’ll probably have to do phone sex so I can go see IRON MAN this weekend.

    M.

  18. I have been using Sophocles for years and I’m a beta for 2007. I just upgraded my puter and now I cant run it on my main machine… still have it on my laptop though, thank God. I hope they didn’t go out of business.. that would just suck. But sophocles.net is down for the count and it doesn’t look good. I can’t get a hold of anyone.

    Please God don’t doom us to Final Draft!!!

    I’ll settle for a crack at this point…

    -CB

  19. So Colin,

    We’re kind of in the same sinking ship. I’ve been trying to figure out if there’s a way to move Soph. 2007 from my old laptop to my new one. Don’t know much about computers– I still have the download thingie on my desktop– the thing that installs the program. I’m wondering is there a way to get it to a disk– and if I do get it to a disk, will I need a new unlock code to open the program? I’m guessing yes. I got a new code a few months back– went to my msn mail and it had been deleted. Suck.

    Anyone know if there is a way to take the program as it is– and move it?

    Can you uninstall something to a file or a disk and then move it and reinstall?

    Oh, and one more thing–

    Saw IRON MAN last night! Great show. Great cast. Robert Downey Jr. outdid himself. HINT for anyone who goes– stay ’til after the end credits. There is one more scene. 🙂

  20. I really just need the .exe file for 2007 if anyone knows where I can get it I would love them long time.

  21. I to am like each and everyone else here. Waiting. Trying to figure this whole things out. But in the meantime if anyone, like Troy, needs the “soph2007.exe” I have it uploaded to my own site. It’s something I do for software that I know I’m always going to use and need again at some time! If anyone would like me to send them a link to it please email me at drewATdrewhester.com and I will get the link to you ASAP. And yes, just replace AT with @ to email me. LOL!

    Thanks!

    -Drew H.

  22. I have all the files, standard Sophocles and beta 2006/2007 versions, but these are pretty well useless if the site is down and you can’t get codes.

    Sure, 90% of the beta works without activation, but I’d rather not trust anything to unactivated beta software from a seemingly-dead company – talk about rolling the dice.

    I personally recommend people contact Write Bros. and ask for a $99 “Competitive Upgrade” to Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 – before they stop offering it for DOA software like Sophocles.

  23. I am one of the administrators of the Done Deal Pro screenwriting board.

    A month ago I sent a snail-mail letter to Tim Sheehan about all of this. I included a simple checklist of things which he or an executor or a friend could have answered in one minute. I included a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

    I received no reply.

    Sophocles was the best of the screenwriting programs, except for the issue of not providing a Mac version. (Why in God’s name does Hollywood have to be the one place in the world where the Mac is predominant? Sigh.)

    Anyway, I am hoping that we will eventually find out what happened.

    Roland

  24. Ok this is really, really bad – I formatted my PC last week and went to reinstall Sophocles Beta to continue the work on my scripts to discover, like you guys have, that i can’t. This would be bad enough but now I have no access to these scripts at all – anyone know any way to even open them so (worst case scenario) I can at least copy out all my work for the last year or so?

    *sobs*

  25. If you have the Sophocles beta file, you can install it and then copy the text out to another application (works near-perfect with MM6), save it as RTF or PDF, or do something else.

    I believe the beta is limited in terms of printing and some more advanced features, but it should work for your needs.

    If you don’t have it, but have an email box capable of 6+ MB, then post your email here in SPAM-hidden format (joe at xxxx.com) and I’ll send it over.

    The latest beta is 6.778 MB, so be sure of your mailbox capabilities.

  26. I can’t remember, or maybe never knew, what the beta (without the activation code) will let you do. I will trust that Vince is right. By the way, Vince, I think I know you under a different name on the Done Deal board. 🙂

    Anyway, if you cannot do anything else, you can always send your scripts to one of us who still have a working Sophocles program and let us convert it to plain text (with formatting) or RTF. By the way, RTF just formats; it does not seem to produce any paragraph styles that will be recognized by an importing program.

    My hopefully spam-resistant email:

    Just type my name

    rolandraystroud

    followed by the ‘at’ symbol and the domain name (which is gmail dot com).

  27. Thanks for the replies guys.

    I don’t have the beta at all anymore, thanks to my very badly timed hard drive formatting, so can’t even read my scripts back to copy them out with pen and paper.

    If someone can send me a link to/ the beta installer to either johnnynarcissist AT hotmail DOT com or alundpughe AT allstarfriends DOT com then I’ll be extremely grateful!

  28. Again big thanks for the emailed beta test everyone that sent me mail – i’m so relieved to actually see my words back that i can hardly believe it!

    Alun

  29. Oh crap – I shouldn’t have been so optimistic. It worked fine until i tried opening one of my files (which must have been from a later beta than the one i was sent). Now I’m greeted with a good ol’ error sign and can’t get near my work.

    *Back to sobbing again*

  30. If you want me to transfer the files, email them to the address below (hopefully SPAM-proofed). I have Sophocles 2003, Sophocles 2007 Beta (latest), Final Draft 6, and MM6.

    I can save them as all formats including RTF, and mail them back ASAP – and I promise not to read or critique your writing. :>

    vemmef
    at
    (newsguy.com)

  31. One question, and i don’t think this is out of line at this point… Why isn’t anyone trying to create a crack or patch for this program? THat seems the next logical step.

  32. Because Sophocles is now an orphaned, totally unsupported abandonware program that will never be updated to handle any new MS operating system, like the upcoming Windows 7. The Beta is even worse, as there are many reported bugs that will now never been fixed.

    That type of environment is hardly the place I’d trust any serious writing, especially since you can use your Sophocles license to get MM6 for $99 or snag CeltX for free.

    It’s dead folks, time to move on.

  33. Even if Sophocles is out of business, not providing any means for people who rightfully purchased it to generate the code if they need to reinstall it is just plain wrong.

  34. A friend pointed out that Tim could be in the hospital, i.e. a coma from a car accident. However, by now you’d think there would be someone looking after his affairs.

    I’d volunteer to take on the software, if anyone could get it.

    I’m looking at two open source packages (Celtx and Page 2 Staging) to see if I can modify those to do most of what Sophocles did.

    I also can help reformat scripts if needed – I have a Beta 65 (working) and a Beta 64 (working).

    Email is john dot gwinner at cornell.

    Which would be dot edu …

    == John ==

  35. Hi All,

    I am back on tracks and trying to find a valid copy of Sophocles 2003 or 2007 beta, but all I get is trial version of 2003. The developer’s site is down. Can anybody help? I wish to but the software so I can print out and export my work… but I’m stuck!

    Please email me with valid information on how to contact the developers.
    x2010z@gmail.com
    Thanks a million 🙂

  36. Hi All,

    The Sophocles site is dead. Its a good software by the way. I used it some 4 years ago. I wanted to use it again. But I only had the trial version. Back then I had found a way to trick the software. I discovered a small trick to print out the scripts in the trial version of SOPHOCLES 2003.

    Ok herez what you do…

    * Open Sophocles 2003
    * Open any of the samples scripts that come with the software (eg. Sample.scp). They should be in the folder where Sophocles is installed.
    * Click anywhere on the script writing area (on the right)
    * From the top menu click on “Edit -> Select All”
    * Press Delete.
    * Click “File -> Save As”
    * Name & save the file somewhere else.
    * Type your script. (You can close & start as many times as you want)
    * To print it to PDF/RTF/TXT, click Print Preview
    * Click on export.
    * YOUR SCRIPT NOW GETS EXPORTED!!!

    * For a new script do the same.

    (TIP: Dont save on Sample.scp)

    Happy Screenwriting,
    Andy
    (India)

  37. Excellent solution Andy,
    I love the Beta. Using the 2006 beta. I have the exe still and I have found a crack for the ver 1.1 that ya can justify using now the support has dried up. Might work with 2006. Haven’t tried this yet … I’ll can Email it any one wants to try in desperation.

    2006 has been awesome. Using the whole PM version on my second short right now. Budget section – beautiful. PLEASE RETURN TO US TIM.

    TREV

  38. I just returned from vacation to find that my computer had crashed. I reinstalled everything except…you know what…Sophocles. I had the 2003 version and now can’t open them or work on them.

    I love the software but am ready to make a change if I have to. What is the best alternative?

    AND- Can I send Sophocles files to or receive a 2003 beta version from anybody so that I can retrieve this work of several years?

    Thanks in advance for any help.

    Paul

  39. I don’t know if this (finding Sophocles program) is still an issue with anyone, but I thought I’d drop a line just to make sure. Especially with it now bein’ the Holiday Season – rich in the spirit of Goodwill and all.

    Thanks to a colleague in Tennessee who had connections in the right places, I was fortunate enough to obtain the proper installation and registration files needed to install both Sophocles 2007 PM Beta and the previous Sophocles 2003.

    They came from the original program designer and it’s a snap to install either.

    Because I had gone through the hell all of you have experienced when support for the program vanished into thin air, I promptly made SEVEN backups in various forms of the installation files.

    I was a little paranoid at that point.

    Anyhow, should any of you still need this information, please feel free to e-mail me at:
    newmanstyle@live.com

    I will be happy to provide you with a link where you can download what you need from my online storage area.

    Just let me know.

    And Merry Christmas.

  40. I purchased Sophocles back in 2006… I had a registration number, but after me PC crashed, I reinstalled it and their website is not up anymore – help!!! I only have the trial version again.

  41. Somebody care to email the beta to craighubleyca at yahoo dot com?

    I have Sophocles 2003, would appreciate a permanent fix for this too.

  42. Also worth mentioning:

    – Sophocles 2003 trial version running on Windows 98 let the user copy the text out using cut-and-paste – but not save it or export it

    – There’s really nothing Sophocles does or did that openoffice.org could not do as a plug-in – perhaps some open source hackers should take an interest in this

    Supporting proprietary file formats with importers or even basing code on reverse engineered versions of the original do not usually lead to “patent” problems, copyright may be involved. Dead companies won’t be pursuing any patent cases and if they do they won’t get much out of open source coders.

    What’s really needed is an XML format for screenplays to eradicate these proprietary formats that put you at the mercy of flaky companies.

  44. I read you may mail the sophocles beta software. It would help me a lot in writing with that tool.
    Thank you in advance.

    Mauro

  45. Hey guys!
    If all of you want the software (not important 2003 or 2007) find torrents (for 2007 called ) and go on.
    IMPORTANT thing is:
    Run crack (based on reg files) BEFORE intstalling prog. ENJOY!

    After sequence progs working w full features, I checked it on my own.

  48. There is a dynamic structure of your Web site. Fine has been the website, thank you. Design and content is really great…

    Thank you very much…
    :=))))

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