Outline 4D

Waste of time and money.Stick with Scrivener. Same capability and multi-functional.One of the few purchases on Amazon which didn't meet the hype.I'd rather work with one app (Scrivener) in depth that works rather than the steep learning curve of a one trick pony.

Though the product has many advanced features and uses, the applications for which they can be used are very limited and the audience is very narrow. The cost is also a consideration because a lot of these features can be done as part of similar priced writing bundles.When I first installed the program I was hoping for something to do mind mapping or idea mapping, what I found, however, was a program aimed at creative writers; writers of books, screenplays, and stories, with limited functionality for business or educational writing.The learning curve is also very steep, requiring knowing numerous keyboard shortcuts for the features. Once you learn them, however, you find that this does a good job of not only organizing your ideas, but cataloging them and tracking their changes across time.The included templates are adequate and are a good start for most creative writing applications.The overall interface seems dates and looks like something from Windows 2000 or earlier, and doesn't fit with the elegance of new operating systems like Vista, 7, or even XP.It also has limited import and export functionality. Copying and pasting from MS Word, for example is not allowed, unless the document is first saved into rich text format. Something I do not do in my business applications.Lastly, the cost is a negative factor. For $99 you can have this product and load it onto three of your own computers, but you are not allowed to share copies. Perhaps for $99 they could allow you to load it onto 2 different computers with different users?

I am not an author or screenwriter, but I thought I'd give this product a try because I work with a lot of unstructured information that I like to organize in outlines or other ad-hoc forms, much like what one would do with a pencil and paper notebook, but am trying to improve upon that. I have tried some other applications for this purpose, and thought that Outline 4D might have some promise.Microsoft Word and other text editors are far too rigid, slow and cumbersome, so no good. For example, they generally don't let you type or draw at random points on a page, as you could do in a real notebook.The best application I have found for this so far is Microsoft OneNote 2007, which truly does allow you to type or draw at any point on any page, so I have been using it for that purpose with good results.Still seeking a better alternative for what is obviously not yet a standard application, I gave Outline 4D a try, but it didn't work for my purpose for a variety of reasons, mainly because of the specific and structured way that it requires you to enter information so that it can be organized on a time line, and that inhibits the more free-form method I was seeking.What I quickly learned is that this product is meant for a very specific purpose, which is collecting and structuring information whose key organizing factor is the time-line. If you are collecting and assembling information that is intended to fit into a sequence such as a book, play or screenplay, Outline 4D provides interesting capabilities. Not having tried any competing products, if there are any, I can't say how it compares, but I will make the following observations:* If you have any grasp of the concept, i.e. organizing information along a time line, the product is fairly intuitive and easy to get started with. Without reading any instructions, I was able to lay out information and organize it in sequences.* One really nice feature is a slider that allows you to expand or contract the displayed time line very easily.* The user interface has a rather old-fashioned look to it. While this does not detract from the functionality of the product, it does make you aware that not much thought or investment has gone into maintaining a modern appearance. This is increasingly acute as we become more accustomed to the quality of graphics and user interfaces that we see in iPhones, etc.Bottom line: If you are organizing information mainly on the basis of a time line, this software might work for you, but it really doesn't work for other types of ad-hoc organization. Maybe everyone else knew this, but if you didn't, now you do.

This is a very powerful outlining program, with a lot of customization options. It includes extensive tutorials, both text and video, so if you take an hour or two to run through them, you can get a handle on all of its features. For the most part, however, one of the included templates should work for most writing projects with only minor tweaking. If you have an unusual personal system for outlining, you'll likely be able to set up Outline 4D to work that way without too much effort. Note that it's mainly geared toward creative writing projects like screenplays and novels -- if that's not your area, you may have your work cut out for you to set up an outlining system for your project. That said, with this program's features, it's probably not impossible.The tutorials are included in the online help system, as well as in a 300+ page PDF that simply contains all the text from the help system. Bizarrely, none of this is mentioned anywhere -- you have to dig it up on your own. If you just fire up the program and try to start using it, you won't have an easy time.You can view your projects in two ways: a standard outline view, and a "Timeline" view that displays each element in a width relative to its running time (user-entered or automatically calculated). The Timeline view is clearly aimed at projects like screenplays or A/V scripts, for which timing is important. Both views can be customized and tweaked in various ways.I like the licensing system -- you can have the program installed on up to 3 different machines simultaneously, and to move it to a different machine, you simply re-register the new installation over the old one on the publisher's website. On the down side, you have to be online to do this. But it's easy and reasonable and won't mess with your system.In the end, is this better than a cork board and a pack of index cards? Perhaps. Some people are more comfortable working on the computer, and some aren't. If you're not sure, try messing around with outlines in a word processor before deciding whether to drop a Benjamin on this program.