Chapter 1. Obtaining and Installing Celtx
We've all watched a disappointing movie and said, "I could write it better than that." Perhaps you can! The trick is, getting your great idea into a professional format acceptable to producers, agents, managers—those gatekeepers of Hollywood, Bollywood, Euro studio, indie, and elsewhere. It doesn't matter how good your script might be if it doesn't look right. Yes, they are that particular. They won't read it.
The answer (and it's an easy one) to writing screenplays in the rigid format required is software. The two big name "professional" scriptwriting programs—Final Draft and Movie Magic—each retail for over $200. What if you could get software that not only lets you turn out scripts just as professional as the big money programs but does a lot more? What if you get it for free? Well, Celtx (pronounced kel-tiks) costs nothing but a few seconds of downloading time.
Is that worth a shot or what?
Of course, you like that whole concept of a no-cost solution or we wouldn't be here this book. Sell one screenplay and the cost of this book will be a pretty good investment. The purpose of these pages is to gift you with the knowledge and skills to use Celtx to its full advantage.
In this chapter, we shall:
Discuss system requirements needed to run Celtx
Find Celtx's home on the web
Check out the languages available
Decide on and download our new software for our specific operating system
Install Celtx on our computer(s)
Test our installation to make sure that it works and check out some of the neat and useful features
Summarize what we've learned and find out some other sources for additional information
By the end of this chapter, we will have a fully running version of Celtx, ready for action, and we'll know which option to use depending on what we want to accomplish. This is all easy and fun. So hold on to your keyboard, because here we go!
