What does the professor imply about script adaptation?

Listen to part of a conversation between a student and a professor. (S = Student, P = Professor)
P: Well, there is a general playwriting category, but actually, his award was for script adaptation. He adapted a novel into a play.
S: Script adaptation?
P: Oh, it’s a very specialized skill writing a play based on some other written work, novels, short stories. Now we’ve been studying original plays, which are pretty much based on the writer’s imagination. But think about adapting a script…
S: Yeah, seems like it might be easier. Like, to start with something that’s already written.
P: Well, actually think about it. Transferring that material to a whole different genre, from narration to live dialogue. Imagination is a part of it, sure, but it also requires a lot of technical knowledge about theater production, acting, and so on. So, Professor Altman, for example, he took a novel, and made it into a play, dealing with all the different conventions the plays have. You know, like limitations of scene changes and… Well, it’d be a good thing to ask him about it at the reception tomorrow.