Here at Casa de Celtx, we get a lot of questions from people considering switching to Celtx and want some assurance that our suite of products won't leave them vulnerable at a time they need it most. We recently received an e-mail from a user who neatly summed up all his hesitations in list form and gave us a chance to respond to each in turn.
I'm reprinting both his questions and my answers below in case others may find themselves wondering the same thing.
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Q: Do I have to rent a studio to use Celtx?
A. Not at all! Celtx Desktop is free to download and use from celtx.com. You can expand upon its functionality through the purchase of additional add-ons or leave it as-is with no penalty.
Q: Can I load a pre-written script into Celtx, or must I re-type it from scratch?
A: You can import a script in .TXT format or sync a script directly from an iPhone or iPad that has the Celtx Script app. Depending upon the software used to export your script as a TXT file, you may have a little formatting clean-up to do once it's been imported.
Q: Can I save my results on my own system, If I don't have a desire to share it with others through a studio?
A: Absolutely! The only time you need to have an online connection is when you run Typeset, the pagination engine included in Celtx Desktop that communicates with our servers to ensure your script is formatted correctly for printing or saving to PDF. Your script is securely parsed by Typeset and sent back to you in industry-standard format. No copy is left on our servers.
Q: The use of Celtx is promoted as a free tool, but the user's manual suggests that I have to use a studio which is not free. Is this a paradox or do I misunderstand how I can use Celtx?
A: Yep, just a misunderstanding. Celtx Studio is of benefit to many writers for the off-site security it provides, especially if the writer (a) frequently works from several computers and/or (b) needs to collaborate with others. You are under no obligation to buy Celtx Studio to use Celtx Desktop for free.
Q: I have been published often as a writer and magazine columnist and have written five books. As I have written only one screen play, can I use Celtx for just that one project? This is why I have these questions about a studio. It seems to me that the studio is for someone with fifty projects and is about to lose control of them and can't remember what he is doing with them. This doesn't describe me.
A: We encourage writers and content creators of all stripes to find the environment that best serves their needs and work hard to modestly propose that Celtx is that solution. You certainly don't need to worry about lock-in. Quite the opposite, in fact -- knowing you and other members of our community have a growing spectrum of options keeps us hungry to earn your loyalty. (Since we live and die on goodwill, we're all big fans of carrots instead of sticks here at Chez Celtx.)
Think of Celtx as an ecosystem for content creators. The free Celtx Desktop lets you commit to an industry-standard format in screenplays, stageplays (US & international), AV two-column, audio play, comic books and novels. If you're a pro, you might find value in augmenting your performance with our Super Bundle, Writer's Pack or the specific add-on that meets your particular needs. If you're frequently on the go and have an iPhone or iPad, you can purchase Celtx Script for writing or Celtx Shots for visually setting up your scenes. Finally, if you want the security of off-site back-up and/or collaboration with a team, then Celtx Studio can be purchased as well.
