Celtx has long been my favorite script-authoring and script-project-management tool of choice. Every Newsbleep episode (that was formally written) was written in Celtx. Actually, pretty much every script I’ve ever written I’ve done so in Celtx. I’ve worked with the product for a while now, and I’ve had the benefit of seeing it grow, most of which I’ve welcomed with open arms. That is, until recently.
The release of Celtx version 2 resulted in one particularly significant change; online project sharing and management would no longer be free. This service, which had previously been called “Project Central”, became “My Studio” and was only available at the price of $5 a month or $50 a year. With a sigh, I said, “No, thank you,” and began looking for alternatives.
Enter Evernote. I was first introduced to this product through its iPhone/iPod touch application. Essentially, it’s a digital notebook. The features that I’ve really come to enjoy about it are its ability to share and publish notebooks, its ability to index text within images, and the host of native applications available. Evernote is perfect as a memory tool. I can capture a thought, idea, or todo item on my work pc, modify it online through the web interface, star it on my iPod touch for the drive home, and finally file it or delete it when I get home.
Like Celtx, Evernote has a subscription-based “Pro” plan. For months, the free version of Evernote’s services was more than enough for me. I honestly didn’t see much of a need to upgrade for the way I was using it. Then we began moving, and I found that I had exceeded my monthly limit and needed to sync some notes. So, I upgraded for the year.
This brings me to why I’m writing this post. One of the features that a pro Evernote account gets you is the ability to drop any type of file into a note. This includes .celtx files. Boom. I now have just as much access to my Celtx projects as before, but I can also use Evernote to add collateral notes, images, pdfs, and more. Anywhere I have Evernote, I’ll have this script. Any changes I make to it will be synced to all my Evernotes. If I want to publish the script, I can just publish the notebook it’s in.
I’m still testing this arrangement out, but so far it works like a charm. If you’re looking for a “My Studio” replacement, Evernote fits perfectly for me.
