BEST STORY BOARD APP?!

[Nick Morrison]

Hey guys, I'm a director/producer in search of a GREAT story-board app. Ideally, something fast and efficient I can use everyday on my laptop. Any suggestions?!

Speed and clarity is more important than incredibly accurate 3D previs. I just need to visually generate a shotlist that's clear to everyone on set.

I don't use an iPad, so ideally something I can use on my Macbook pro.

You guys are on the front-lines seeing the latest sh*t, hook me up!!!

Thank so much.

 

[BRANDON JAMESON]

StoryBoard Artist.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Pen and paper.

If you are like me and can't draw, then have a look at StoryboardQuick 6, Storyboard Artist, and Frameforge 3D. Frameforge is interesting. sometimes i find it maddening and other times it's the best I've used. Recently I have been playing with importing objects from Sketchup which expands the library quite a bit. The director's joystick is pretty cool and helps with being fluid. It's the most accurate of the storyboarding software. you can actually plan real shots with real lens info.

Google Sketchup is interesting too. some do boards in it. I've never used it for that.

 

[Gary Britton]

Watch out for Story Board Quick, Story Board Artist, and that whole company I say!

I bought Story Board Quick originally and installed it on an older computer. I never even got around to using it though. Then a few months later I bought a new computer and they let me install it on that one. You see you have to phone them EVERY TIME you do an install.
Well, a few months later that computer crashed, so I did a full recovery, called them again so I could reinstall the program, --- and they wouldn't let me as they said I had already "had the two installs permitted"!

I had bought it originally through Digital Juice, and the Storyboard Quick people gave me the distinct impression that because I had gotten it at a discounted price somehow I didn't deserve the same attention I would have gotten had I bought it at full price. Digital Juice told me that they couldn't do anything. DJ wasn't to blame anyway in my opinion.

So I continued to try and get them to "let me" reinstall it on my computer but nothing. Then I tried to talk to someone "higher" up but to no avail. So I emailed one of the big shots there about my problem ---but NEVER EVEN RECEIVED A REPLY!
To date I have never been able to USE Storyboard Quick to do any project. Money completely wasted!

As far as I am concerned they are a RIP-OFF of a company. Horrible way of doing business. BEWARE!

 

[Glen Powell]

Watch out for Story Board Quick, Story Board Artist, and that whole company I say!

I bought Story Board Quick originally and installed it on an older computer. I never even got around to using it though. Then a few months later I bought a new computer and they let me install it on that one. You see you have to phone them EVERY TIME you do an install.
Well, a few months later that computer crashed, so I did a full recovery, called them again so I could reinstall the program, --- and they wouldn't let me as they said I had already "had the two installs permitted"!

I had bought it originally through Digital Juice, and the Storyboard Quick people gave me the distinct impression that because I had gotten it at a discounted price somehow I didn't deserve the same attention I would have gotten had I bought it at full price. Digital Juice told me that they couldn't do anything. DJ wasn't to blame anyway in my opinion.

So I continued to try and get them to "let me" reinstall it on my computer but nothing. Then I tried to talk to someone "higher" up but to no avail. So I emailed one of the big shots there about my problem ---but NEVER EVEN RECEIVED A REPLY!
To date I have never been able to USE Storyboard Quick to do any project. Money completely wasted!

As far as I am concerned they are a RIP-OFF of a company. Horrible way of doing business. BEWARE!

Sort of the same thing happened to me - when I upgraded to a new laptop (as we all do every couple of years) I was told that the license was limited to the old laptop and was not transferable to the new laptop. If I wanted to continue using the program I had to repurchase a 'new license' - essentially buy it again. In a way I get that they are trying to protect from pirated copies, but come on...

 

[alexwhitmer]

Hands down it's Microsoft word. But, you need to have even rudimentary drawing skills. If' you're serious about storyboarding, then take one of those sketch classes that teach the 3-minute sketch. It's worth it.

Microsoft Word samples...

 

[Nick Morrison]

Thanks guys. It was late last night, and on impulse I bought Storyboard Quick. So far, so good. It's very intuitive and fast. Even though the software itself "runs" a little sluggish on my laptop. But for now...my best solution yet!!!

PS - thank God I use time machine, I'll be able to "clone" this "version" of my computer to any future laptop I get, and...in theory...keep using this same licence. (Time Machine lets you port over all your purchased software when you imprint to a new computer right?)

 

[Glen Powell]

Thanks guys. It was late last night, and on impulse I bought Storyboard Quick. So far, so good. It's very intuitive and fast. Even though the software itself "runs" a little sluggish on my laptop. But for now...my best solution yet!!!

PS - thank God I use time machine, I'll be able to "clone" this "version" of my computer to any future laptop I get, and...in theory...keep using this same licence. (Time Machine lets you port over all your purchased software when you imprint to a new computer right?)

Not necessarily - that's what I thought too and maybe this has changed, but they used some sort of 'code' that tied the program to a specific machine serial number.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

I haven't had any issues porting over Storyboard Quick to new machines. I always follow procedures outlined by the company. Some require you to deactivate before moving to new machine and then reactivating once you are ported over. If for some reason, you find this not to be the case and you can't get access to software you have purchased, after following all of the outlined procedures, certainly take this to the next level and get their attention. As endusers, we need to respect software licensing. But also, the companies need to do their part to make sure we can move licensed software over when we have need to move to a different machine. I tend to do clean installs quite often to keep machines running efficiently, so any hangups with this type of thing would really slow me down.

 

[Jim Hoffman]

On a side note. I think the iPhone/iPad app Cinemec storyboard is a very handy app for getting something down quickly. It's no replacement for a comprehensive app or sketch pad but nice. You can use existing photos or take new ones then assign people and camera direction. Great to convey ideas. You can even email PDFs in storyboard format of your work. Check it out.

I have nothin to do with that company.

 

[Curt Pair]

Hey guys, I'm a director/producer in search of a GREAT story-board app. Ideally, something fast and efficient I can use everyday on my laptop. Any suggestions?!

Speed and clarity is more important than incredibly accurate 3D previs. I just need to visually generate a shotlist that's clear to everyone on set.

I don't use an iPad, so ideally something I can use on my Macbook pro.

You guys are on the front-lines seeing the latest sh*t, hook me up!!!

Thank so much.

Storyboard Aritist is INCREDIBLE! I use it all the time... clients love it. Looks VERY professional.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Curt, have you compared to Frameforge3D? Curious about your opinion of the two apps. I never bought Storyboard Artist because I already had Storyboard Quick and Frameforge3D and also Cinemek for iphone. If I have a knock on Frameforge3D, you have so much control that you occasionally go too far in detailing things. But in terms of building real rooms that reflect the actual dimensions of your locations, real lens FOV, lighting effects, etc it's really good. But I know SB Artist is popular too, so real world feedback would be great to hear, even some examples.

Thanks!

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

I'll be able to "clone" this "version" of my computer to any future laptop I get, and...in theory...keep using this same licence. (Time Machine lets you port over all your purchased software when you imprint to a new computer right?)

Not necessarily. Lots of licenses will create a unique ID from the specific hardware in a computer. So if you change too many components it'll realize it's a new computer. Also many license systems will write bits to a hard drive that aren't actually part of the file system. Areas of the HDD that are marked as unusable. If the HDD doesn't have those bits written it'll know it's just a copy and not the original install. And that's all just the tip of the iceberg for node lock techniques.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Storyboard Aritist is INCREDIBLE! I use it all the time... clients love it. Looks VERY professional.

Totally agree. I bought Storyboard "Quick" for now, and already made boards for the line producer and DP that looked great...all in about 20mins. PERFECT!

Thanks guys for the feedback. Big help already.