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Every now and then a product comes along that works well and eliminates some annoyance or extra work from your daily routine. That's how I would describe Final Draft AV 2.5, the script formatting software from the same people who develop Final Draft, the top-selling script formatter for motion picture and television scripts.
Audiovisual scripts used for commercials, documentaries, corporate communications, and broadcast production follow a vertical two-column format. One column is for video description, and the other is for audio description (dialogue, narration, and sound effects). What could be simpler? Lots of things, actually, because as it turns out, this type of format is all but impossible in a word processing program - especially Microsoft Word.
The big gotcha
In a standard word processor, lining up the video column with the audio column is relatively easy, at least until you begin to edit the script. As you add or delete descriptions, shots, or words, the two columns quickly go out of synch. Adding page breaks only makes it worse, and you find it's impossible to make a script presentable quickly after significant changes are added. With a five-page script, you may find you're spending an inordinate amount of time re-arranging everything every time a few lines are added or deleted. If you like to rewrite your scripts or have clients that do, prepare for the worst.
Fortunately, Final Draft AV has Rearrange Guide Line, a simple tool to correct this problem that's basically foolproof. Rearrange Guide Line is a line that crosses both columns and lets you select where to enter new text in either column. The tool ensures that your shots and their corresponding audio descriptions remain in synch....