Transferring Beats to your Script
Intro
The Beat Sheet is an exciting new tool for your Celtx studio. It allows users to capture ideas and organize them based on color and grouping; keeping themes and thoughts in organized locations.
Adding Beats
After loading the Beat Sheet module, you can add beats in multiple ways;
- Clicking the "+" sign in the upper left corner
- Choosing "Edit -> New Beat" from the Edit menu
- Holding (alt/option)+shift and primary clicking on the sheet itself
We add random names to the beats to help inspire and keep the monotony at bay!
Working with Beats
Once you have Beats on the sheet itself, it's as simple as double clicking on a Beat to open it up for editing!
Editing Beats
Once a Beat is open, it's just a matter of entering your desired Title text and document data. We don't enforce any real length limit here, it will scroll once you reach the window size.
Change the color for the Beat from within the Beat, or from the Beat Sheet itself.
Moving and placing Beats
On the main Beat Sheet, you are also able to multi-select, move, cut, copy and paste the Beats themselves. Once you have a sizeable Beat Sheet established these options really help speed things up.
- To multi-select , shift+click/drag over the Beats you'd like to select
- To delete beats, select the Beats in question and hit the delete button, or choose "Edit, Delete Beat(s)". If attempting to delete multiple items we will warn first!
- Cut/Copy & Paste work like with an editor, allowing users to quickly copy multiple items and paste elsewhere.
Recentering your view
At any time in your editing session, you can also click on 'Recenter' under the 'View' menu to quickly zoom you to a level where you can see all work in your Beat Sheet.
Transferring Beats to your Script
When you're ready, you can turn your Beats directly into scenes within your script. The information entered as the Beat Title will appear as a Scene Heading, while the content of the Beat will become the body of the new scene.
To do so, shift+click a beat or shift+click-drag to highlight a group of Beats, and use the "File" dropdown menu to select "Export Beat(s) to Script":
When this process has completed, you'll see a success message that you can click on to be brought directly to your script if you'd like to review the new scenes.
*Please note: Beats that are exported to your script will appear at the bottom of your script. You can use the Navigation menu on the right-hand tool bar to easily navigate to your new scenes, or even drag and drop scenes into any place within your script.
If you have an episodic project, you'll be able to directly select which episode your selected Beats are exported to:
Other
Much like with the other Celtx Project modules, you're able to share the document with collaborators, create links for a read-only view of your work, and make comments to discuss progress and any questions which arise with the Beat Sheet itself. Go check it out today!