What do I have to do to switch from Final Draft to Arc Studio? Not much. How big is the learning curve? Almost 0. What if I don’t like it? Export to Final Draft and continue as if nothing has happened.
You can import your Final Draft script into Arc Studio by just dragging it onto the app. You will find that the formatting is kept 100% consistent.
Shortcuts are the same, so you can get going right away, and learn Arc Studio’s extensive feature set as you go along.
Feature comparison table:
Final Draft | Arc Studio | |
Industry standard formatting | ✅ | ✅ (100% consistent) |
Intuitive Keyboard shortcuts | ✅ | ✅ (100% consistent) |
Export to PDF | ✅ | ✅ (100% consistent) |
Save as .fdx | ✅ | ✅ (100% consistent) |
Distraction-free design | 🚫 | ✅ |
Stash (place for discarded scenes to keep them around) | 🚫 | ✅ |
Auto-saving | ⚠️ Every few minutes, can slow down computer | ✅ Saves on every keystroke |
Automatic backups / cloud sync | 🚫 | ✅ Multiple redundant backups |
⚠️ Session-based and crashes | ✅ Like Google Docs | |
Comments | 🚫 | ✅ Real-time (allows chat) |
Automatic versioning / change tracking | 🚫 Versions are saved manually | ✅ Full history |
Compare versions / recover deleted scenes | 🚫 | ✅ One-click compare and recover |
Multiple drafts | ⚠️ Changes have to be transferred manually | ✅ One-click compare and transfer |
Beat board | ✅ Simple | ✅ Advanced |
🚫 | ✅ | |
* Structure templates | 🚫 | ✅ |
* Act-based drag/drop | 🚫 | ✅ |
* Storyline tagging | ⚠️ Manually through colors, 1 per beat | ✅ Automatic references, multiple per beat |
* Character tagging | 🚫 | ✅ Automatic references, multiple per beat |
Revisions (colored pages) | ✅ | ✅ |
Scene numbers | ✅ | ✅ (100% consistent) |
Page locking | ✅ | ⚠️ in beta |
Project management (assignments, deadlines) | 🚫 | ✅ |
Central access management | 🚫 | ✅ |
Access audit tracking | 🚫 | ✅ |
Arc Studio Showrunner Edition is the best way to run a writers’ room
Reach us at showrunners -at- arcstudiopro.com or use the chat on this page.
Showrunner Edition Guide | Showrunner Edition Home | Arc Studio Home | Help Center