Celtx will be familiar to screen writers everywhere as it’s a fantastically versatile script writing software package, with all the functionality of ‘premium’ programs but without the prohibitive costs.  It’s a project that remains very accessible to casual writers, but is still powerful enough to be used by professionals.

The development team embraces mobile technology too, and has already released Celtx Scripts for the iPhone and iPad, allowing you to continue working while out and about.  Last week they added Celtx Shots to their line-up and this time it’s a storyboarding app designed to work alongside Celtx on the desktop and Celtx Scripts.

I’ve used Celtx to write several scripts, but I’ve never bothered to storyboard them out.  It has either been left to someone else, or stayed inside my head – neither of which are satisfactory.  The reason is, I’m rubbish at art, and the thought of being able to storyboard digitally even without my laptop is very attractive.

To make use of Celtx Shots you’ll need Celtx on the desktop with the script inside.  Then you’ll need the Celtx Sync plugin to enable easy export of the script to Shots or Scripts.  Sync takes a few moments to install and you can sign-in using your Google or Facebook credentials.  Once you’ve exported the script on the desktop, you sign-in to Sync inside Shots and import it there.

Here’s where it gets cool.  Each section of your script is broken down into sections – which can be edited and removed if it didn’t get it quite right – and each page has its own storyboard sequences where an image and a ‘hand drawn’ sketch can be added.

To sketch out your scene, a variety of simple drawing tools are provided for rectangles, circles, lines and so on; plus a selection of commonly needed storyboard images such as big arrows, cameras and dolly tracks.  Finally you’ve got some people, viewed from the front, top and side and in male, female and child form.  There’s even crowds!  Everything can then be manipulated on screen using multi-touch, so a pinch to make things bigger or smaller, and a tap to drag them around the screen.

It’s incredibly easy to map out a simple scene, and it really makes your script come alive.  In addition to the sketches you can add photos too, either from your iPad’s Photo Gallery or directly from your iPad 2′s camera.  The chance to take pictures while location scouting and instantly add them into your storyboarded script is very exciting indeed.

When you’ve put everything together, a viewer scrolls through each image and sketch, helping you visualize your movie.  Even if you’ve never storyboarded anything before, Celtx Shots’ learning curve means that within a hour you’ll be ready to go – and that includes sorting out Sync on the desktop.  It really is that easy, and it really is that rewarding.

I’m very impressed with Celtx Shots, perhaps partly because of my limited storyboard experience, but primarily because at first it seemed slightly daunting, but after I’d played about with the tools it became more and more familiar – just like the best pieces of intuitive software should.  The app is priced at $4.99/£2.99, and should be considered essential if you want to take your scripts to the next level.

Positives:

• Storyboarding for everyone, but still powerful enough to please the pro.
• Intuitive control system.
• Easy syncing between Celtx on the desktop and the Scripts iPhone app.

Negatives:

• In-app purchases could add up if you decide to add more ‘clip-art’ style images.
• In addition to Celtx Sync, it would have been nice to see some other cloud storage options, such as Google Docs or Dropbox.

Overall: 4/5.