Unable to Import .fdx and .fountain files

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

Hello all,

I wasn’t able to resolve my issue searching the forum, so here goes…

I am unable to import a screenplay into Scrivener. I am using Scrivener on Windows 10. The screenplay was written on a mac using Writer and saved in Fountain format. I transferred the file from the mac to the pc via DropBox. According the forums, Scrivener should be able to import Fountain files. Before importing, I created a new project in Scrivener using the scriptwriting/Screenplay template, and made sure the Format/Scriptwriting/Script Mode is set to ‘Screenplay’.

However, when I attempt to do import the .fountain file, Scrivener creates a document in the Binder that contains only a link to the file.

I also exported from Writer to .FDX format, and examined the file in a text editor, and it looks like clean fdx. I also transferred the FDX file via DropBox. When I attempt to import that into Scrivener, I simply get an error:

"Could Not Convert File ‘C:/…Script.fdx’.

Error: Could not read file."

Any suggestions? As far as I can tell, Scrivener maybe/maybe not supports Fountain, but it is definitely supposed to support FDX.

2

I did a test of a 1 page fountain file created in Writer, and I was able to successfully import an FDX version of it. But not the native .fountain file.

Since I used the same method to transfer the file, it means there’s probably something wonky in the fountain file that messes with the .fdx version. Since it’s a 116 page script, it’ll take me a long time to sift through it to find the problem. Does anybody have any idea what might be messing it up, so I know what to look for?

Thanks in advance.

3

I fixed the issue by using the online Fountain converter Screenplain: [http://www.screenplain.com/]. I was just about to break my original script into chunks to isolate where the bug was, but while searching for a windows-based app that loads Fountain files, I came across Screenplain. Since Writer is no longer supported, I probably won’t bother with the bug hunt. Depending on my experience working on my script with Scrivener, I may or may not use Trelby [https://www.trelby.org/.]