Scripts
Write the script together in the browser, lock its numbers for production, and send the pages for review.
cinethreadTwo people, one script, no lost lines.
Share a script and you write in it at the same time. Saves merge line by line.
- A teammate's lines arrive within a second. The line under your cursor waits until you leave it.
- A line you both changed becomes a choice: Keep both, Keep theirs or Keep mine. The version that loses goes to History.
- A tab left open from before can't write blind. It says “Save failed” instead of saving over newer pages.
- Sharing is per person. The owner adds, changes and removes people one at a time; a reviewer can change notes only.
What you wrote stays, even when the tab doesn't.
Each tab keeps a journal of what it has not saved yet.
- Leaving saves first. A tab that closes with writing still unsaved offers it back the next time you open the script.
- Two tabs' unsaved writing comes back one at a time, so lines that compete become choices.
- A new script whose first save never got through is listed as “Only on this computer”.
- Restoring an older version saves your latest writing first.
One page count, and numbers that hold still.
The editor, its PDF and Print, the stripboard and the call sheet all measure a scene the same way.
- Lock the numbers when you go to production. A scene added after 12 is 12A; between 12 and 12A it is 12aA; before 1 it is A1.
- A scene deleted from a locked script stays as “13 OMITTED”, and a blank heading is never turned into one by a save.
- Scenes keep who they are, so strips, sides and the breakdown follow a scene when the pages move.
- Export to Final Draft or Fountain with the numbers in the margin.
Bring a script in, and see what came across.
Import Final Draft, Fountain or a PDF. You review what was read before anything is saved.
- An import is always a new script, never laid over the one you have.
- The review shows what was found, what was kept as you'd expect, and what was set aside, with why.
- Keep the file's scene numbers if you want them. A PDF's numbers are read only from the margin.
- Dual dialogue in a Final Draft file comes across as dual dialogue.
12 characters
38 pages
The draft date
Send the pages, not your notes.
A packet sends the script for review as a link.
- A packet carries the whole script as it stood when it was made.
- Writer's notes never reach a packet, a strip or a review link: not notes, summaries or outlines.
- The call sheet's script date comes from the script's draft date.
Your first script
- Start or import a script in Scripts. An import opens its review first.
- Share it with the people writing or reviewing with you.
- Lock the numbers when the script goes to production.
- Link it to the production on its Schedule tab so the scenes become strips.
- Send a packet when the pages need eyes.
Worth knowing
History
A line that lost a choice is kept in History, not thrown away.
Final Draft and Fountain
In and out, with dual dialogue and the margin's scene numbers.
Locked numbers
12A, 12aA and A1, the way Final Draft does it.
Laid out for a computer
The editor is built for a keyboard; a packet reads on any phone.
Common questions
Can two people write at the same time?
Yes. Lines merge as they are saved. Only a line you both changed asks you to choose, and the version you don't keep goes to History.
What if my browser closes before it saves?
The tab keeps a journal. Open the script again and the unsaved writing is offered back.
Does importing replace my script?
No. An import always makes a new script, after you have reviewed what was read.
Do my notes go out with a packet?
No. Notes, summaries and outlines never reach a packet, a strip or a review link.
Related guides
The pages everyone
works from.
Request access for your team, or log in if your team already runs on Cinethread.