Problems with RTF import/export

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Billy57

Problems with RTF import/export

Postby Billy57 » May 01, 2011 2:16 am

I am a script translator and a new user of Screenwriter.

I am generally very pleased with the program, but for technical reasons I need to be able to export the scripts to RTF and reimport them into Screenwriter.

Here I have run into a problem. The RTF export layout looks OK, but the elements are not exported to their correct styles in RTF. This means that when the script is reimported, the text elements are incorrectly assigned, with "shots" being interpreted as scene headings or character names, etc. This happens even if I try to change the elements to their correct styles in RTF.

The result is chaos in the format of the re-imported text, which for an average length script can take a whole day to sort out - for an import process that ought to take a few minutes at most.

I have tried just about every possible import option, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I have also tried with an XP machine with Word 2000, and with a Win7 machine with Word 2010, including from a clean install.

Screenwriter support say they cannot reproduce the problem, so I'd like to hear if anyone else here has run into similar problems, and if so, whether they have found any way around it.

Many thanks in advance,
Billy

KenTech
Technical Support
Posts: 73
Joined: Jan 25, 2008 5:23 pm

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby KenTech » May 02, 2011 10:15 am

I am the tech that you emailed with. This morning, I've tried exporting to RTF, saving the RTF in Word and re-importing. The only element that I seem to have an issue with is the SHOT element. What happens if you uncheck "Use most aggressive interpretation..." on the import window?
Ken H.
Write Brothers, Inc.
Technical Support

Billy57

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby Billy57 » May 02, 2011 12:23 pm

Thanks Ken. Unchecking "most aggressive interpretation" gives slightly better results, but still a mess I'm afraid.

Some elements won't export as styles at all (Shot, Title, Note), and the text associated with them gets assigned to other styles, apparently at random. Then there are further errors on re-import, which compounds the problem.

If this process would just work properly Screenwriter would be the perfect software for my work, so it's rather frustrating.

KenTech
Technical Support
Posts: 73
Joined: Jan 25, 2008 5:23 pm

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby KenTech » May 02, 2011 12:44 pm

Billy57 wrote:Thanks Ken. Unchecking "most aggressive interpretation" gives slightly better results, but still a mess I'm afraid.

Some elements won't export as styles at all (Shot, Title, Note), and the text associated with them gets assigned to other styles, apparently at random. Then there are further errors on re-import, which compounds the problem.

If this process would just work properly Screenwriter would be the perfect software for my work, so it's rather frustrating.


Yes, those three elements do get exported incorrectly but not randomly, i.e., it doesn't change. For me, Shot always exports as Scene Heading, Title as Character Name and Note as Action+Italics. It's probably assigning an element that is closest to that type. Still, incorrect. I'm creating a bug record for that now.

Other than those elements, everything else imports back into Screenwriter cleanly. After translating, have the style names changes in Word?
Ken H.
Write Brothers, Inc.
Technical Support

Billy57

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby Billy57 » May 02, 2011 8:45 pm

Thanks for the bug record Ken, much appreciated. It would be really great if this could be sorted out.

No, translation doesn't affect the style names. They should remain the same.

The problem shows up even if I just export and re-import the same script without changing anything.

KenTech
Technical Support
Posts: 73
Joined: Jan 25, 2008 5:23 pm

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby KenTech » May 03, 2011 7:38 am

Putting aside the title, note and shot elements, do action, character name/dialogue and scene heading elements get messed up upon re-importng?
Ken H.
Write Brothers, Inc.
Technical Support

Billy57

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby Billy57 » May 03, 2011 8:53 am

Putting aside the title, note and shot elements, do action, character name/dialogue and scene heading elements get messed up upon re-importng?


I created some special files with only action, character name/dialog and scene heading elements to try this out. Export went fine, with the elements being assigned their correct styles in the RTF file.

But when I tried to re-import the same file, 'Scene heading' and 'Dialog' became 'Shot', 'Action' and 'Dialog' became 'Character name', and 'Character name' became 'Dialog'.

Thomas
Published Writer
Posts: 56
Joined: Dec 19, 2009 5:56 pm

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby Thomas » Jul 01, 2011 3:29 pm

Billy57 wrote:I am a script translator and a new user of Screenwriter.

I am generally very pleased with the program, but for technical reasons I need to be able to export the scripts to RTF and reimport them into Screenwriter.


I've never had luck with the IMPORT feature myself, though unlike yew, it is not something necessary for my work. (Not yet, anyway.)

I am thinking one could make quite a bit of money if one wrote a conversion program. One that would convert (accurately) between FD and MMSW, maybe adding DOC, TXT, RTF, and a few others into the mix. Set it up as shareware with an XX number of days trial, and a lot of people would pay serious bucks for something like that.

Of course there may be legal issues, which is prolly why no one has done it yet. Surely I cannot be the first to think of it...
The Honorable Thomas A. McKean
http://www.thomasamckean.com
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Rumourd
Writer
Posts: 10
Joined: Aug 04, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby Rumourd » Sep 26, 2012 9:44 am

Yes, this is a major failing of the program, I've found. I like to sometimes find a script online that I admire, copy/paste it into Word and make an .RTF, and import it into MMS to create a properly formatted script. But no matter how aggressive or unagressive you choose the import to be, MMS can't seem to read a lot of the formatting properly.

It's too bad Automatic Duck went out of business because this feature is mostly worthless as I've spent days reformatting a favorite script in this fashion.

rosenbergrandy

Re: Problems with RTF import/export

Postby rosenbergrandy » Aug 21, 2015 1:37 am

When I cant do something my self I just search for some online programs to do my task. here is some site I've just found http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/editor/examples/import-export/markdown-import-export/defaultcs.aspx.It's as easy as using some essay writing service no plagiarism http://britishessaywriter.net/the-best-essay-writing-service-in-the-uk/. Don't waste your time on something that can be done in few minutes.


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