
Show HN: Arc Studio Pro – Collaborative Editing/Version Control for Screenplays - michihuber
https://arcstudiopro.com
======
michihuber
Hey, Michi here, from Arc Studio Pro.

As MartinMond said, this is indeed an attempt to bring a GitHub style workflow
to a field outside of software development.

The app is written in Clojure(Script), implementing OT for collaboration.

Happy to answer any questions!

~~~
btown
First off, amazing job - the UX design is outstanding. I've been wishing for
something like this for music composition for the longest time, something that
would combine the ease of use and live-collaboration aspects of Google Docs
with custom workflows and object types as you have here. (Unfortunately, the
presentation layer for the music domain requires implementing an entire DAW or
notation interface on top, both of which are herculean efforts that I haven't
tried to tackle yet!)

That said, I'll probably end up using this for lyrics! (When I used to write
for musical theater in college, our writing workshop would basically use
Google Docs, using screenplay formatting and typesetting in all caps for
singing. This would have revolutionized the workflow there, even without
music-specific features. Individual songs have "beats" and evolving themes
just like anything else!)

On the tech side, did you use something like
[https://github.com/jahfer/othello](https://github.com/jahfer/othello) for OT,
or roll your own? And do you think in hindsight that CLJS was the right
language/toolset for the job? I've always been interested in its ability to
treat immutable data as a first-class citizen, but I haven't had a chance to
do it yet.

~~~
michihuber
Thanks for the kind words! Would be great to learn what kind of format you'd
use for writing lyrics. m@arcstudiopro.com

The OT is custom and clj/s was the perfect tool for the job. Highly
recommended.

------
eganist
Nice. I was soliciting feedback from screenwriters in prep for a similar
service; I would've taken a fundamentally different approach to it, but you've
covered a lot of the bases I had in mind.

If you're looking for people to give it a whirl, I'll pass it to anyone I know
to solicit feedback, though the hard part might be in breaking their workflows
for the better.

Is there any specific industry feedback you're seeking?

~~~
michihuber
I've often had the same experience, people's workflows are pretty ingrained
(in general, not just screenwriters). But I've done some pitches where a
writer had a lightbulb moment, and realized that collab and versioning really
would make things easier.

I put great emphasis on the app behaving similar to current screenwriting
tools, and the collaboration/versioning features just being there when they
are needed, so the change in somebody's workflow can happen gradually.

I'm curious which approach you had considered. And would love to get feedback
from writers/filmmakers of all backgrounds: m@arcstudiopro.com

~~~
bstchn
I work for a movie production company and have been thinking of creating
something similar - especially the collaborative and versioning feature as in
github for screenwriting. If you like I could ping you via E-Mail as well,
since there are some features crucial for (at least our) workflow. Revision
aka colored (replacement)pages, excerpts for set dressers etc. But so far it
looks really great and I hope it'll be able to replace Final Draft at our
company someday.

~~~
gamblor956
CelTx has most of those features already. Last time I checked them out they
were working on collaborative features; I don't know if they've released those
yet.

WriterDuet already has collaborative features--indeed, that was the original
goal of the app. It also includes support for replacement pages and everything
else you've suggested that you need.

------
projectramo
Congrats on launching your tool.

It seems polished and thought out. There is clearly a lot of work and thought
behind it.

Can you share a little on how it compares with the competition?

\- writerduet

\- amazon storywriter

\- rawscripts

\- Celtx

\- Scrivener + Dropbox

\- Google Docs + fountain support

and of course who knows how many more I am missing. Such a crowded field.

~~~
michihuber
It's true that the space is really crowded, but we also felt that all the
other tools focused on formatting and not much else.

We wanted to consider the whole screenwriting process: collecting first ideas,
outlining, distraction-free writing and formatting, collaborating, requesting
and managing feedback, versioning...

Also, we want to take collaboration and versioning much much further than any
existing tool and accommodate complex workflows, especially for larger writing
teams. We're just getting started... :)

~~~
gamblor956
_It 's true that the space is really crowded, but we also felt that all the
other tools focused on formatting and not much else._

I think you need to do your homework again. Formatting is by far the smallest
part of what most of your competitors offer. For example, WriterDuet offers
collaborative screenwriting, and has--for at least 2 years. WD and FD have
also offered versioning for at least a few years, and include "revision" pages
for changes made to scripts after production has already began. Both of these
programs have already been used to write Hollywood movies collaboratively.

 _We wanted to consider the whole screenwriting process: collecting first
ideas, outlining, distraction-free writing and formatting, collaborating,
requesting and managing feedback, versioning..._

Almost every single one of your competitors already does this...Celtx and
Final Draft even add production planning capabilities to the mix (though FD
requires paid addons for that functionality). Did you actually use any of them
before you decided to jump into this market? It sort of seems like you didn't
do you homework and decided that just because you were a programmer you could
design things better than the people who actually use these for a living. (FD,
WD, and Celtx were all designed--and in the case of WD and Celtx were also
programmed--by people who earned their living writing screenplays or producing
films.)

------
drivingmenuts
Do you expect that the feature roadmap will justify the monthly rental fee?

I could probably tolerate the monthly rental as long as new features are
coming in and bugs being sorted out. But at some point, there are diminishing
returns and users are paying for ... I'm not sure.

The devs to sit back and sip mat-tai's in Tahiti while they collect rent?

Also, considering that Amazon's screenwriting tool had the lifespan of a gnat
in a campfire, do you have plans to avoid that situation?

~~~
gamblor956
I think it's unfair that you're being downvoted for a very serious question
related to the basic fundamentals of their business plan.

In a nutshell: how does Arc Studio plan on competing in this space, charging a
relatively high monthly fee, when it offers fewer features than most of its
competitors and when its primary feature is already offered by multiple
competitors?

Or specifically: WriterDuet already does everything that Arc Studio Pro wants
to do, but WD _already has those features_ and charges roughly the same
monthly price. WD has also been used to write several screenplays, including
_The Last Jedi._ How does Arc Studio Pro plan to compete with WD?

------
hsienmaneja
Note to the architect: this is irrelevant now to my reality. I let her go and
won’t see her again. She will no longer be rendered in my reality.

------
crazygringo
Hi Michi -- since the cloud and OT model is so similar to Google Drive, have
you considered integration with that, as a Drive app, using Drive revisions?

I love the idea of Arc Studio, but I also keep _everything_ in my Drive...
that might make it harder for Drive and non-Drive users to collaborate, but
I'm not sure.

But besides that, +1000! It's about time there was a cloud-based webapp for
screenwriting.

~~~
michihuber
Thanks for the kind words!

We do plan to offer backups to Google Drive and Dropbox, i.e. you can have
your screenplays placed there automatically and periodically, to avoid data
lock in.

Or are you thinking of a closer integration, e.g. being able to edit from
Google Docs?

~~~
crazygringo
Not edit from Google Docs, but have the original stored in Drive, utilizing
Drive's own built-in revision history. And even have it be an "Arc Studio"
filetype, that when double-clicked would open the webapp directly.

I'm just very Drive-centric, not sure what your userbase is like, but it would
just feel very natural to have my screenplay files next to all my Google Docs
and Sheets files where I write/track everything else for every project of
mine.

------
MartinMond
It seems this fits much closer to GitHub's original vision than what GitHub is
now. Remember when they put the US laws online? A tool like this adopts a
proven process from software engineering to other fields. I wonder if it's an
acquisition target for GitHub?

------
geuis
How does this compare with Highland? [https://johnaugust.com/screenwriting-
software](https://johnaugust.com/screenwriting-software)

~~~
michihuber
Arc Studio Pro and Highland are very different.

Highland is macOS only and more of a minimal editor built around the fountain
format (think markdown for screenplays), and has a very unique formatting UI.

Arc Studio Pro wants to support the full process and offers collaborative
editing, automatic versioning, feedback management, outlining and
visualization tools, etc.

Both apps offer a free version, so give them both a try.

------
con
I just tried the editor. Really smart how Characters, Scenes, Dialogs etc. are
handled.

Re Cookie policy: I think that is only for the EU? You could probably remove
the modal for others (like me, in TH).

------
filipm
I haven't tried it, but it looks very promising.

------
protomyth
Any fountain.io support?

~~~
michihuber
Yes, fountain can be both imported and exported.

------
smoofles
Looks neat!

