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Apple and Adobe Software: Together
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I’m with you John. Not a fan of the ‘subscription’ only approach. I have found the same
alternatives as you, although I’d add Resolve 12 to the mix, as well as my old
versions of CS6 if needed. If it works for someone, knock yourself out,
I sure am not going to support the ‘software as a subscription’ thing….Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
To be honest I don’t care about the cost, it’s no more of an issue than paying my mobile phone bill, however Adobe aren’t doing themselves any favours by adopting the subscription only approach, but for the me the cost is low and I’m getting value back from my subscription.
However if the price goes up substantially, or the development pace slows considerably then I would reconsider.
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I also made my computers Adobe-free.
At the job where I freelance, we have CC subscriptions, mainly for Photoshop because for the rest we also work with FCPX-Motion-Compressor, and it works well.
CS5.5 didn’t work very fast on newer operating systems, which was the last version I had personally. And all my editing has been in FCPX anyway. So the only things I really miss was Photoshop, but I now use Pixelmator and don’t really miss Photoshop. Maybe looking an eye out for Affinity Photo. I never used After Effects, so I didn’t miss any of that.
Audition is a great program for which Apple doesn’t have a substitute anymore, and I would like it if they made another Soundtrack Pro X, or made more stuff in Logic geared towards filmmakers as well.But I *really* don’t like the subscription model. For moderate businesses it’s okay to have a subscription but for my personal work, I don’t want it. I like it as an option, not as the only choice. If Apple falls to far behind with FCPX one day, and Adobe is making a killing, I will switch, but it will be relunctantly. And I still love FCPX and it’s model, but sometimes I would like to have the higher pace of developing that Adobe has. Their development team seems to be doing a good job.
https://mathieughekiere.wordpress.com
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[Jason Jenkins] “That’s not a risk; it’s a fact. If you stop paying, you don’t have access to the software. You pay again and you get it back. It’s your call if you don’t think it’s worth the money, but I don’t think it’s any riskier than using any other software.”
Actually as Bill pointed out, it is different. it is very different. It’s not my choice to pay again. If I don’t pay, I don’t get to work with old projects. I don’t get a choice. I stopped using Vegas Pro and switched to FCP X. I can go back and re-edit any of my old Vegas Pro projects that a client might want changed without having to re-pay Sony. Adobe would have you pay $75 for that privilege for a month. I’d rather spend hat $75 of new plug-ins for FCP X. That’s how Adobe’s model got the name “ransom-ware”. It’s not about the subscription model as much as it is about not being able to ever opt-out of paying and continuing to work.
The subscription model itself is a very slippery slope. First it’s Adobe for the NLE. Then it’s GenArts Saphire (a plug-in company). What if every application and plug-in on your Mac demanded a monthly fee. How expensive would it be to use a computer? How selective would you get about what you can afford to rent? I predict the software industry will implode if it goes down that path. Like the computer giants of the 1960’s and 70’s where only very large companies could afford the monthly rental fee of a computer.
Were would we be then? I’ll tell you where we will be… we’ll have to go back to editing video with stone knifes and bearskins and nobody wants to go back there (you can quote me on that) lol 😉
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
[John Rofrano] “What if every application and plug-in on your Mac demanded a monthly fee. How expensive would it be to use a computer?”
Of course a bit of irony is people loving Apple and Blackmagic’s business model while condemning Adobe’s even though the inexpensive-software-that-requires-our-hardware approach is helping to drive down software prices, which makes it harder for software companies to make money, which is part of the reason we are seeing more software companies explore other business models such as subscriptions, freemium and ad supported.
And it’s not just in post. The devaluation of software (and IP in general) is happening across the board (from video games to business apps to software for post/production).
The doom-and-gloom of all software being subscription would be bad, but so would all software being tied to specific hardware. I, for one, don’t want to go back to the days of needing this card for Product X, that card for Product Y and of course the cards conflict with each other so you can’t have both products installed on the same machine at the same time. I’m already running into a bit of this with Resolve. The BM products I’ve used have been flakey with Avid and PPro but Resolve won’t work with AJA.
In the parts of the industry I came up in it was normal for the Avid’s to be rented/leased so not owning your NLE wasn’t a foreign concept to me when Adobe when subscription only.
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[Andrew Kimery] “Of course a bit of irony is people loving Apple and Blackmagic’s business model while condemning Adobe’s even though the inexpensive-software-that-requires-our-hardware approach is helping to drive down software prices, which makes it harder for software companies to make money, which is part of the reason we are seeing more software companies explore other business models such as subscriptions, freemium and ad supported.”
Well, but I still think Adobe’s price for the CS6 suite was fair (in the US at least… for us in Europe it would be 50 percent more expensive, even when doing a download from a US server… which was a big rip-off also – and Adobe’s explanation didn’t got much further than “well people pay it in that market” … like they had a choice). I consider FCPX to be dirt cheap, and if Apple or Adobe launches a great suite tomorrow for 1000 euros again, I could buy it like I bought Final Cut Studio in the past. I don’t need a professional suite to be less then 500 euros if I think it’s a good business investment. But only subscription makes the program at least 600 euros a year, as long as you want to use it. That’s different then buying a 1500 euro suite that you can use for 5 years for instance.
I agree, if everyone starts doing subscription, it gets to be very expensive to use a computer. For smaller and bigger businesses it’s doable. For a freelancer, much less so.
https://mathieughekiere.wordpress.com
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[Andrew Kimery] “In the parts of the industry I came up in it was normal for the Avid’s to be rented/leased so not owning your NLE wasn’t a foreign concept to me when Adobe when subscription only.”
Yes Andrew, but you were conditioned that the tools and the seat would be the property of the COMPANY. If anything has changed over the past decade it’s the end of the “only a commercial enterprise can afford the means of production” era.
What happens when the “hot editor” can simply come with his or her workstation in a bag, jack in – and contribute at the same level as the dedicated suite editor of today? Or even drop in via Skype, edit and upload a scene and log off?
Increasingly this industry is about intellectual capital as opposed to brick and mortar capital. What you know rather than what you own.
Everything current I read about “big time” editing now seems to be a management team in LA, the Director in London, the EFX crew in Bangkok and what does it really matter where the editor is sitting? I know corporate cutters in Albuquerque working with scene loggers in Birmingham, England.
Honestly, that’s why I’m shutting down my studio, consolidating “stuff” and moving this week. I’ve been siting in my custom built dedicated editing space that I designed and configured 15 years ago with EIGHTY SEVEN 110 Edison sockets within 10 feet of my edit desk (counted them for fun when I moved my desk yesterday but sitting here writing this I’ve had to revise the number twice as I spy more quad boxes close by!) – and for the past 6 months, I’ve actually needed FOUR plugs with any regularity to get my past 50 programs edited and delivered.
Office space is EXPENSIVE. I know because I paid for it for 20 plus years. Thank you, no thank you. Not any more.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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[Bill Davis] “I can leave X l on my computer and keep all my historic work live and intact forever”
Until your new Mac requires a new OS that does not support FCP legacy.
Forever is a mighty long time.
Though I balk at paying a monthly fee for software. Because that’s not a slow transition but immediate.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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My problem isn’t so much the cost, but the feeling of being trapped. Not being able to open old projects just because you didn’t pay the bill. I have a simple suggestion to Adobe that would alleviate this problem with many. Change only ONE thing. If you haven’t paid your bill, the save and export functions are disabled if you make any change. That’s it. You can open old projects, even adjust them. But if you want to keep it or export it, you’ve got to pay.
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How about if you want out you just can’t edit with it but you can open projects and export them to whatever codec you need or to other software. not being able to open your own intellectual property is anti-democratic, anti-free-enterprise.
Or maybe just allow end users to buy the current version of the software for an additional fee. Kinda of like buying the car you have been leasing.
If the company continues to innovate and make the product better, most of their users will keep paying the monthly.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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