Script Writing On iPad Using Voice Dictation?

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
I am interested in doing screenplay writing on the iPad, and I need some recommendations.

I understand that Final Draft has no *writing* app for iOS (only a reader), and I use FD on my iMac. But, since there's none for the iPad, I guess it's out of the running.

I know that f.ex. Celtx has an app for the iPad, but I have no idea how good it is. And there are other apps, but again, no experience with them.

So, what app have you used, and what are your thoughts about it?

The other thing is that writing on the iPad for any length of time is not very comfortable. I hate to have an external keyboard. So my idea was to use some kind of dictation app, like Dragon Naturally to simply dictate to the screenplay-writing app. Any idea if that would work? Have you tried it?

Thanks in advance!
 
Re the use of dictation software, the technology has greatly advanced in the past few years but is still not ready for doing what you ask. You will end up spending more time than you would typing it. If you decide to try it anyway be sure to use a good microphone.
 
CallaghanFilms said:
Dictation? For screenplays??
poo poo that jazz.
Click to expand...

Aha! A quote, if you will:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy

Written by that minor writer of the Western world, William Shakespeare, in a minor play of his Hamlet, Act I, scene 5.

To apply it to this case, there are many more reasons in this world, than your mind can imagine, which might make what you think absurd, actually entirely rational. Which is why it generally is a good idea to refrain from judging how others choose their tools and means.

In my case, for medical reasons, I cannot really type for very long. I also am trying not to sit for too long periods of time, which makes the use of a desktop very inconvenient. I now pace and generally try to move rather than sit - whether I'm on the phone, or just thinking. So now imagine what designers call a 'use scenario'. Even a laptop is not convenient here - but an iPad is much more portable, I can actually walk (around in my apartment) and hold an iPad and read it... beats holding an open laptop while walking. But how to write? Typing is out of the question in this use scenario. But guess what... dictation might just be the ticket - if it were technologically possible. So while you right off the bat go:

Dictation? For screenplays??
poo poo that jazz.

for me, an iPad and dictation is just the ticket. And now re-read what the greatest playwright of the English world wrote in his greatest play, and learn - learn my friend, for it is never too late.

Anyhow, thank you everybody - hopefully solutions are just around the corner... if anybody else has any further suggestions, I'm all ears.
 
I have Dragon naturally Speaking on my PC.

There is a Dragon Dictation front end for my iPhone that will allow me to use the phobe as a remote microphone for my computer.

Not 100% in the ballpark, but I would recommend any implementation of Dragon that you can find. You can "teach" it by reading documents, having it import your emails, other writings, etc.

I am also limited in my ability to type - hand pain - or sit, etc.

Good luck!
Michael
 
There is apparently a free Dragon Dictation app for iPad from the same company that puts out DNS, but I have no idea about the functionality. The key here is how it would interface with whatever script writing app I put on the iPad - and who knows how long we'll have to wait for Final Draft... they've been very slow so far, which is why I'm looking for alternatives, that would also work with some kind of dictation app...
 
CallaghanFilms said:
Exactly.
Click to expand...

And we know that... how? Or have we not heard of plays being dictated to scribes?

Or

indeed

you

know

SCREENPLAYS

Historically, many writers, including screenplay writers, would dictate to a secretary or scribe or stenographer. As a matter of fact, this is such a well known concept that there is even a methodology behind it, because it may fit some writers better. Every writer has his or her own style, and must use tools which suit that style. There are those whose thought processes work best with collaboration - and there are different styles of collaboration; other writers find collaboration abhorrent and must work in a solitary manner. TO EACH THEIR OWN. Some writers like to dictate, because of the flow, because of hearing their own voice, because of playing things out and wanting it immediately transcribed.

The physical manner of putting down the text of a screenplay doesn't matter. Only the final product does. You can use whatever method you want - write in pencil, type on a typewriter, computer, dictate to a secretary, transcribe - whatever. THEY ARE ALL EQUALLY ABLE TO PRODUCE QUALITY. As an example - the film that's been for decades called the greatest film every made, Citizen Kane. Well, the first draft was dictated by Mankiewicz:

"According to film critic and author Pauline Kael, Mankiewicz "was already caught up in the idea of a movie about Hearst" when he was still working at the New York Times, in 1925. She learned from his family's babysitter, Marion Fisher, that she once typed as "he dictated a screenplay, organized in flashbacks. She recalls that he had barely started on the dictation, which went on for several weeks, when she remarked that it seemed to be about William Randolph Hearst, and he said, 'You're a smart girl.'"[SUP][16][/SUP][SUP]:35"

But I guess, those who don't know, can't imagine. It's not about the brand of pencil you use or how the text is put down on paper. It's what you do with it. Some work better with a pen, some a computer, some dictate - whatever floats your boat...
only a very unwordly person would ever claim that one of those methods, say dictation, is inferior. This:

Dictation? For screenplays??
poo poo that jazz.

just displays a lack of historical knowledge... not to mention common sense.

Oh, and there is no historical record of how Shakespeare wrote his plays - so we cannot exclude that he dictated to a scribe. So... strike out on all counts. The more you know...

And now, we can get back to the original purpose of this thread - a humble question about some tools. Those who feel those tools are "wrong" for whatever reason, can go embarrass themselves in some other thread, perhaps?[/SUP]
 
'Willie Shakespeare recommends iPad', Apple missed out on that one.

So did the poo flinging code monkeys at Microsoft.

Cheers.
 
I just bought an iPad for teleprompter purposes, but I'm actually quite intrigued by the idea of using one for writing - I think getting away from the desk and computer and the distraction of an internet browser being a click away, is one of the best things I can do for creative output.
 
You could always sell the iPad and get a windows tablet like the Samsung Series 7 Slate, which would give you Dragon itself!
 
atarijedi said:
You could always sell the iPad and get a windows tablet like the Samsung Series 7 Slate, which would give you Dragon itself!
Click to expand...

Hmm. That's a thought - because I could then use a full on Final Draft and Dragon...

Has anyone actually used Dragon with Final Draft on a PC?

The one thing here is a bit of a fly in the ointment, is the cost... Samsung Series 7 Slate goes for over $1500 - a bit steep...

The other thing is at over 2lb, it's getting a bit chunky - not exactly easy to walk around holding up for any length of time...

However, this is an intriguing possibility, and I'm completely open to some sort of slate idea. Maybe there are other slates out there that are lower cost and lighter? Sorry, but I'm not up on all that's happening in the Windows world :(
 
A lot of new product coming soon on the Windows side.

Microsoft is supposed to release a Tablet/PC along with Windows 8. Plus the competitors with small products of their own.


http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/06/what-is-the-microsoft-surface-tablet/

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/08/leaked-lenovo-windows-8-tablet-could-hint-at-whats-inside-surface/


Looks like October? Depends on your price point & time horizon. If nothing else, it should cause a clearance on the older generations.

Microsoft’s home-cooked tablet is a very thin cookie: the non-Pro version is only 9.3mm thick (a little less than the iPad), 676g (a little more than iPad), and packs a 10.6-inch, 16:9 “ClearType” 1920×1080 display, available with either 32GB or 64GB of storage.
​




There are already some pretty decent i5 laptops around for $500. And some "Ultra" notebooks that run above $1K.

I have been very disappointed in the past with the lack of USB, some networking, & significant storage on the pads. I have an iPhone and and a laptop, sold the pad after a few weeks.

Good luck!
Michael
 
Cool! I guess I'll hobble along with my iMac until there's actually technology to enable my use scenario... hey, this is feeling like the camera world - new cameras on the horizon, always a little out of reach, but any day now...
 
Maybe this?
http://www.virtual-laser-devices.com/?an=vlk

Magic-Cube-Brochure4.jpg
 
But I can't use it while walking...

Use scenario: I walk around the apartment with device X (iPad, Slate, whatever), and from time to time dictate - but at any time, I should be able to read it - all while moving around, including sometimes sitting on the couch, then getting up etc. Writing the screenplay while mobile. The device X - iPad, Slate etc. certainly is easy to read while walking... a laptop is not... while you can still sit with device X, or whatever - it's much more mobile and convenient, which is 90% of why the iPad became so popular.
 
Biggest burn ever? If this had ended with: "Oh, and by the way, new research has revealed that Shakespeare 'wrote' all of his works -- including Hamlet -- by dictating to a scribe!"

*micdrop*

My mind would have ess-ploded.

Carry on. Oh, and clearly, I'm looking for a way to dictate into Final Draft, so if you know one…lemme know!
 
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