JumpCut

JumpCut is a Rust utility designed to convert the Fountain screenwriting markup format into Final Draft FDX files (the industry standard in Hollywood) or into HTML.

JumpCut can be used as a command-line utility, a Rust library, or as a WASM package. Because of this, the project utilizes cargo features so that different parts like the command-line utility can be turned off to save binary size.

Installation

If you want to use JumpCut as a command-line utility, you can install it via Cargo.

cargo install jumpcut

To use JumpCut as a library, you can specify the following in your Cargo.toml so that the command-line features are not added to your project:

jumpcut = { version = "0.7", default-features = false, features = ["lib-only"] }

Usage

Once installed, you can pass JumpCut a text file and it will parse it and output it as either an FDX, HTML, or JSON. The full options from the help text are listed below.

USAGE:
    jumpcut [OPTIONS] <input> [output]

FLAGS:
    -h, --help       Prints help information
    -V, --version    Prints version information

OPTIONS:
    -f, --format <format>    Formats (FDX, HTML, JSON) [default: fdx]
    -m, --metadata <FILE>    Optional Fountain file to prepend as metadata. Defaults to "metadata.fountain" if flag is present without a value.

ARGS:
    <input>     Input file, pass a dash ("-") to receive stdin
    <output>    Output file, stdout if not present

To use JumpCut within a Rust program, you can examine the main.rs file for an example of calling the library, but the basics are depicted below:

let mut screenplay: Screenplay = parse(&content); // content is a String provided by your application
let output_fdx: String = screenplay.to_final_draft();
let output_html: String = screenplay.to_html();

Custom Formatting for Final Draft (FDX) Export

When converting your screenplay to Final Draft (FDX) format, you can specify custom formatting options using the fmt metadata key. This allows you to control various aspects of the FDX output, such as text styles, spacing, and margins.

To use these options, add a fmt key to your screenplay's metadata (optional key: value statements placed at the top of a document), followed by a space-separated list of options.

Example:

Title: My Awesome Screenplay
Author: John Doe
Fmt: bsh ush acat dsd dl-1.5 dr-7.0

Available fmt Options

• bsh: Bold Scene Headings. Makes all scene headings bold.
• ush: Underlined Scene Headings. Underlines all scene headings.
  • Note: bsh and ush can be combined (e.g., bsh ush for bold and underlined scene headings).
• acat: All Caps Action Text. Converts all action text to uppercase.
• ssbsh: Single Space Before Scene Headings. Reduces the space before scene headings from the default (24 points) to 12 points.
• dsd: Double-Spaced Dialogue. Changes dialogue spacing from single to double.
• cfd: Courier Final Draft Font. Uses "Courier Final Draft" as the primary font instead of the default "Courier Prime".
• dl-X.XX: Custom Dialogue Left Indent. Sets the left indent for dialogue blocks. Replace X.XX with a numerical value (e.g., dl-1.25). The default is 2.50 inches.
• dr-X.XX: Custom Dialogue Right Indent. Sets the right indent for dialogue blocks. Replace X.XX with a numerical value (e.g., dr-6.00). The default is 6.00 inches.

Combined Example

To have bold and underlined scene headings, all caps action text, double-spaced dialogue, and custom dialogue margins:

Fmt: bsh ush acat dsd dl-2.0 dr-5.5

Prepending Metadata

JumpCut allows you to prepend content from a separate Fountain file as metadata to your main screenplay. This is useful for managing common metadata (like title, author, copyright, fmt) across multiple screenplay files without duplicating it in each one.

You can use the --metadata (or -m) option to specify a metadata file.

Usage

To use this feature, add the --metadata flag to your command.

jumpcut <screenplay-file> --metadata <metadata-file>
jumpcut <screenplay-file> -m <metadata-file>

If you provide the --metadata flag without a file path, JumpCut will look for a file named metadata.fountain. The location of this default file depends on your input:

• If your input is a file: JumpCut will look for metadata.fountain in the same directory as your input screenplay.
• If your input is from stdin (-): JumpCut will look for metadata.fountain in the current working directory.

Examples

• Using a default metadata file alongside an input file:

  jumpcut -m my_screenplay.fountain -f fdx > my_screenplay.fdx
  # Looks for 'metadata.fountain' in the same directory as 'my_screenplay.fountain'
  

• Using a default metadata file with stdin input:

  cat my_screenplay.fountain | jumpcut -m -f html > my_screenplay.html
  # Looks for 'metadata.fountain' in the current working directory
  

• Specifying a custom metadata file:

  jumpcut -m ~/my_templates/common_header.fountain my_screenplay.fountain -f json > my_screenplay.json
  # Uses 'common_header.fountain' from your templates directory
  

Development Plans

I have no current plans to expand this project. I've used it internally for a few years and it meets my current needs (converting my own screenplays locally and powering my website FountainLoader.com).

I have open-sourced it in case it can be useful to other developers and screenwriters.

Changelog

• 0.7.4: Adding metadata CLI command
• 0.7.3: Adding new metadata fmt support for arbitrary dialogue margins.
• 0.7.2: Fixing parser bug where any word ending in "to:" became a transition.
• 0.7.1: Improving documentation.
• 0.7.0: Initial public release. Supports FDX, HTML, and JSON output.

License

JumpCut is licensed under the terms of the MIT license.