
Plotagon – Make a movie by just writing a story - DouweM
https://plotagon.com/
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networked
No Linux version?

Edit: Got it installed on Windows. Note that your installer window doesn't
display quite right under Windows 8 at higher DPI settings
([http://i.imgur.com/GXQA3uz.png](http://i.imgur.com/GXQA3uz.png)). I like
that the application does automatic camera work; last time I tried Xtranormal
(admittedly, a while ago) they didn't offer that. Is there a way to use a
custom speech synthesis engine for a character in Windows? Ellen's voice is
disappointingly synthetic and I would rather use a nicer third-party voice I
have installed. Edit 2: At least Ellen's voice is like that when saying "Joe"
\-- you can hear her show a bit of SHODAN heritage at
[http://vocaroo.com/i/s00J7Zud8UnB](http://vocaroo.com/i/s00J7Zud8UnB) \-- but
not when she says other things, apparently.

Nice as it is, I don't see this program gaining mind share without a video
made in it going viral. I would recommend allowing some form of movie sharing
in the free version (perhaps watermarked or limited to a direct upload to your
own website) to make that happen.

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uberlancer
We're still adjusting and the sharing feature in the free trial might be a
really good idea.

~~~
tbirdz
Watermarked would probably be a good idea. Though it is annoying for free
users, it does serve the purpose of letting everyone who watches the video
know what software was used to create it, and where to get it to try it out
for themselves.

If you do add a watermark, I would suggest putting in in one of the corners,
and making it slightly transparent, in order to reduce annoyance to the
viewer.

You might put it in the corner, and stylize it so it looks like a TV Station
logo (of course you would have your own branding and url). That might prove
less annoying, then just a normal watermark.

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snoonan
I was excited to use this to enhance language learning dialogs, but their
licensing is very strict and the software doesn't give you access to the final
video files to redistribute them.

Apart from their specific use case, I it seems it would be hard to do anything
else with this. They should think a bit harder about unshackling it a bit.
It's a powerful idea.

~~~
networked
Thanks for the warning. As per Plotagon's current terms of use [1] they get
the right of first refusal [2] to the user's content. Can someone with a
knowledge of copyright law explain whether this would mean they have the right
of first refusal to any screenplay you've imported into their software? If so,
that's _not_ reasonable. Also, video embedding through non-standard means is
prohibited and there is no official mechanism for video embedding. Will one be
provided?

The license clauses in question:

 _> 24\. Plotagon License to User Intellectual Property_

 _> You agree that Plotagon shall be given the infinite, worldwide and
exclusive publishing rights to your User Content created with the Service.
Plotagon may also use your User Content and User Texts for marketing purposes
and feature them in its services, for example as educational material, in
tutorials etc. Plotagon also has the first right of refusal and right of last
refusal and matching rights to acquire any additional rights to the User
Content._

 _> 25\. User License to Plotagon Intellectual Property_

 _> You are hereby given a license to use the Service and the Plotagon Content
to create User Content provided however that you abide by all Terms stipulated
in these Terms of Use. You are entitled to post your User Content on the
Website, and other permitted channels that Plotagon may announce in the
future. You are not entitled to post your User Content on other, non-permitted
websites, media, social networks or show the works embedded on other websites,
except through functionality specifically provided by Plotagon to do so._

[1] [https://plotagon.com/terms](https://plotagon.com/terms) (last updated:
August 8, 2013)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_first_refusal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_first_refusal)

~~~
captaincrowbar
Crap. I thought this looked promising and started downloading it before I saw
these terms. I won't waste time trying it now, with those ridiculous
restrictions there's no point in bothering.

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oh_teh_meows
A while back Microsoft demonstrated a translation technology which can
translate your words into a different language in your own voice. I suppose
technically we can analyze voice recordings of actual actors to obtain a voice
profile with which we can use to do text to speech (not suggesting plotagon
should do that, just saying technically we can do it since the technology's
feasibility has been demonstrated)?

[http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2012/11/08/microsoft...](http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2012/11/08/microsoft-
research-shows-a-promising-new-breakthrough-in-speech-translation-
technology.aspx#.UiL8GzYqh8G)

edit: also, there are already vision-based behavioral/gait analysis software
in existence (how well they work is another question)...so conceivably we can
also recreate an actor's performances?

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ada1981
About 10 years ago or more I read about a "vocal font" project. Where singers
voices were samples and a vocal font of sorts was created which would be used
to compose music digitally in the sound of any artist. From what I recall it
was in development and they were far along. About once a year I try a google
search but I have never been able to track it down again.

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gojomo
The progress of computation means that eventually – maybe in 50 years? – a
tool like this will be able to output results that look as good as today's
big-budget blockbusters, including recognizable actors in convincing
performances.

~~~
bliti
I reason that it will take less than 50 years. Given the advances in object
recognition, and graphical rendering. We can already make fictional worlds a
reality in HD. I'd say less than 10 years. This will have a big impact on the
entertainment industry.

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tomjen3
Mhh a download of payed software. Too bad, with an open model and proper
integration of social media this could have been a billion dollar start-up and
one of the things that could take on Hollywood in a couple of years once their
tech has matured a bit (no this won't compete with Michael Bay and yes most
movies will be crap and/or porn, but it now means that every half decent
writer will be able to gets or her work on the big screen).

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mathgladiator
The great thing is that it enables writers to prototype their work. So now,
people can have screening parties and do crowdfunding for movies. I think this
is great from that perspective.

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chasing
This does a worse job of "prototyping" someone's writing than good old-
fashioned reading does.

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thecooluser
As someone who's about to make my first short film with a friend soon, I'm
going to throw the script into this and see if it's absolutely horrid or not.
Might be useful in spotting really obvious mistakes.

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gaius
See above. If you do they will own your script!

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eli_gottlieb
Someone get me some popcorn, because this is going to be so bad it's awesome.
This will be the new Xtranormal.

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avolcano
Xtranormal was absolutely hilarious, hoping this reaches the same heights of
unintentional comedy.

~~~
uberlancer
We try our best. Here's our take on The Worst Script Line In History (Link to
the original in the movie comments)
[https://plotagon.com/376](https://plotagon.com/376)

~~~
jonnathanson
Worst line in history?

I take it you guys haven't seen The Room:
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/?ref_=sr_2](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/?ref_=sr_2)

...which, by the way, someone should remake entirely in Plotagon. The acting
will actually _improve_. :)

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thinkersilver
It's a great idea but I think it is a long way from being useful. The one
feature I would not expect to see using a tool like this is realistic
rendition of the dialogue. I know that is not technologically feasible. What I
would expect to do in abscence of that, is be able to set the mood of the
scene through lighting and colour, have a wider camera angle and movement
vocabulary, and a wider range of interactions between the actors. This would
make it a powerful previz tool and it would help tell the story closer to the
writers intent in the absence of human reading the script. Just some of my
thoughts. It would also be nice to see a linux version of this too. I can't
see experienced writers using this, but they may not be the target audience.
Who is the target audience by the way?

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EwanG
The problem I have with this, and with similar tools past and present, is that
as you get further into them you realize how much your script starts being
limited by the tool. I'd like to write about a group of handicapped kids of
different races who go to a camp near a lake. Imagine how many of the
characters and scenes I just described are not supported by the tool. Which
shouldn't be surprising given that a script can be in any setting within this
world or another one. Unless the tool has a separate procedural background
tool, and a procedural set tool, and a procedural character tool, you will
always find that the "does anything" tool doesn't.

Is it worth $25 if you are doing sitcoms or the like? Probably. Otherwise,
less likely so...

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mmahemoff
I've often wondered about the reverse. A movie script as the ultimate video
compression.

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gizmo686
I wouldn't call it ultimate compression, plain-text is an easily compressible
format.

Also, it would be a very lossy compression. There are a lot of decisions made
by the actors/directors/designers that influence the final movie.

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hatu
I'm a bit confused about who is this for. Looking at the examples it's
obviously not for making movies, unless you consider a video capture from the
Sims to be a movie.

What is the goal for this project, who will use it? The only one I see is a
couple of "so bad they're good" funny videos.

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maverick2
May be used by startups to make demo videos.

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juzfoo
There was an earlier post on HN few months ago that talked about a tool or
similar that help write formulaic scripts and in fact being used pervasively
(iirc) in Hollywood. Anyone remember it? Might be a good fit to go with this?

~~~
usr
It's a book called Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder.

Here's the HN discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6072524](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6072524)

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nitrogen
We've come a very long way since the days of the story maker I had for my
Atari 130XE as a kid that would manipulate on-screen characters based on
English text.

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devanti
seems really similar to the early days of animoto, which were pretty popular
on youtube

