Contour Development Software

kylekmd

kylekmd

Well-known member
A screenwriter friend asked me if I had any experience with a new product called Contour (screenplay development software) by Mariner.

My answer: "No, but I'll ask around."

Apparently, the author/developer has sold several scripts to the studios and has numerous television credits--too many to list here--all accomplished using his Contour paradigm, which is "based on the top 50 highest grossing movies of all time."


Just wondering if any of you guys have ever used it.


www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=138
 
Last edited:
I never heard of it before, but it's interesting, seems like it takes out the 'guess work' of the structure.
 
Just ordered it. $50 off amazon, free shipping (sigh, i am about ready to sell my blood plasma to pay for my amazon bills, LOL). Been playing with the free 30 day trial demo. Seems like a good learning tool with the dozen or so sample movies it has to analyze using the software paradigm. I have my next feature script sequenced and such, but I might run it through this software's fill-in-the blanks as a good check to see that I am on track. ~randall
 
There is a bug in Contour 1.0, at least on my computer. This applied to the trial demo version, although I have ordered the fully functional boxed version of Contour 1.0 through Amazon which should arrive in a matter of days; although now I am wondering if I should return the software before opening the box?

If I highlight text with the mouse/cursor, then press Ctrl+x to "cut" the text, that instantly causes Contour to close and disappear. Not exactly a good thing when writing. I contacted Contour tech support at Mariner Software, hoping they will fix this bug as it should be very easy to fix as a 1.1 fix. If I choose to "cut" selected text from the Edit:Cut menubar it works fine; the issue seems to be with using the shortcut key combination ctrl+x This happens on both of my Toshiba Satellite laptops running MS Windows Vista, 64 bit, 4GB RAM.

Curious if anybody else has this bug, or if it is perhaps unique to my Toshibas running Vista?

EDIT: I found a temp solution to the bug. And I let Contour/Mariner know about it, they assure me it will be fixed in the next update. My fix: Although Ctrl+x suddenly closes (crashes) Contour (at least on my Vista 64 bit system) when instead it should simply cut selected text, Ctrl+Shift+x actually does cut selected text without crashing Contour. It seems whoever programmed Countour 1.0 literally created the shortcut for an uppercase x, not the more standard lowercase x key; that, or it is a quirk of Vista 64 bit.
 
Last edited:
I just finished filling out all the boxes in Contour, answering the questions. I already had my story sequenced, but I thought I would give it a run through Contour. I have to say I like it, and I will probably use it as a tool for structuring my stories. Just watch out for the major bug in it if using it! (Ctrl-x for cut crashes the program, and anything you typed in the last 9 minutes or since the most recent save; use the menu for cutting text, or use Ctrl+Shift+x which oddly works).

One thing I like about Contour, purely aesthetics, is that it is skinnable and comes with about a dozen or more skins to choose.

kylekmd said:
A screenwriter friend asked me if I had any experience with a new product called Contour (screenplay development software) by Mariner. ...Just wondering if any of you guys have ever used it.
Click to expand...
 
I bought Contour the same day I originally posted this. Overall, I like it. Has some good ideas, particularly the idea of character transformation using Pearson's life archetypes. But, like all that came before, it won't do the work for you. Still waiting for that program.
 
Last edited:
I also discovered another bug in Contour-- printing. When I actually try to print a report, the text along the right margin is cut off. Not such a big deal as one can export to rtf and then print in a word processor, but the company (Mariner Software) really should fix that bug and the ctrl-x shortcut fast, like for a 3.1 free upgrade (they assured me the minor bug fix upgrades will be free).
 
I would hold off on buying Contour until they fix the Ctrl-x bug that currently crashes the program, and any of one's writing not saved.
 
kylekmd said:
... But, like all that came before, it won't do the work for you. Still waiting for that program.
Click to expand...


... i wish someone would get on the ball and finally fix this problem! -- really now, when are we going to get our monies worth?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top