Re-importing a revised script

Scripts change through a production. When a new revision lands, you can import it against scenes you already have, and Haystack works out what is genuinely new versus what changed on existing scenes, so your continuity keeps up without starting over.

Bringing in a new revision

Upload the revised script as a document the same way you uploaded the first one, then start an import from it. On episodic projects, point it at the same episode the earlier draft belonged to. When you apply the import, you set a revision colour (for example Blue or Pink), which records which version of the script the changes came from. Haystack often reads the colour from the file name for you.

Because the project already has scenes, the import compares the revision against them. Scenes the script doesn't have yet come through as New Scenes; scenes that already exist where something differs come through as Modified Scenes.

The Modified Scenes stage

This stage is where a re-import does most of its work. Each modified scene lists only the fields the revision would change, shown as Current next to New. Fields might include the location, time of day, scene description, story day, month and year, the characters in the scene, or whether the scene is omitted.

Every change has its own switch. Turn a change on to apply it, off to leave that field as it is. So you keep full control of what gets overwritten:

• Fields whose switch is on are updated to the new value.
• Fields whose switch is off keep what you already have.
• Anything the revision doesn't touch, such as your wear notes, photos, changes and looks, stays exactly as it was.

You can edit a new value before accepting it, and read the revised script text on the Script tab to check the change in context. For characters, the scene shows which principals are being added or removed. Turn off a whole scene's include toggle to leave that scene untouched by this revision.

The rest of the flow works the same as a first import. See Reviewing an import.