Has Adobe lost their minds????

[Drizzt_g]

Mike, I already thought about the option of buying Motion 2 and upgrading to Final Cut Studio in the next months, but Apple has already fixed that loophole. Look on their site, you can only buy FC Studio, you cannot buy the apps seperatly. Another sign FCP 6 is coming with upgrades to all the Pro apps.

[Mike James]

This is getting off subject (my fault here), but you can buy either SoundTrack Pro or Motion 2 online from many online vendors (amazon, etc., etc…) just google.

Also CompUSA sells SoundTrack Pro seperately as well.

Apple may not be offering them on their site, but they are out there in droves. You just have to look.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Mike James]

I don’t think this was thought through from all angles. Everyone I know and network with online and off that owns the video collection, owns the standard version (not the pro). Granted this is only 11 guys, but none of them were using the prior version with AE Pro and PhotoshopCS. Mainly because they already had photoshop (like any professional) and there was no need to pay extra for a suite that has an app you already own.

When those 11 wake up in the morning they are going to be fuming and flaming on threads online. $666 is their upgrade path now to all version 2 apps.

I’ve already made them aware of the FCStudio $498 upgrade path and it will be interesting to see who jumps ship. Most of us are dual platform.

The only guy I know who will see this and not upgrade and also not go to FCStudio is Alex Alexzander. He was waiting to see if Adobe was finally going to make Adobe Encore DVD a real authoring app with scripting (like DVD Studio Pro and DVD Lab Pro). I was hoping for that myself as well. I even created video training for Encore DVD which I sell online. I was pretty committed and hot about the Video Collection. But this $666 upgrade versus the last $250 upgrade is insane.

I was so looking forward to seeing what Adobe had been working on for well over a year. I am actually very underwhelmed and very dissappointed. I’ve been talking about how excited I was about this upgrade to so many folks. I think PPro and AE got the best of the upgraded apps.

I can honestly say with no hype and with a clear mind that I will not be paying $666 to upgrade my apps. And like I said… I already own the other non-video collection apps in the Premium version. I was a hard core Macromedia Guy before I bought LiveMotion 2. I even have multiple Studio 8 licenses and multiple Director licenses. But I’ll be migrating to greener pastures after seeing Adobe’s change of direction.

And I’d be shocked if even a third of my buds upgrade using the $666 upgrade path.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Mike James]

Ron,

I see your point. Yes, things have gotten much cheaper. Which is why it is so hard to swallow an upgrade that is a factor of roughly two and one half times what it was the last time around (video collection upgrade path). That’s some outstanding inflation I’ve not seen in any other software company’s policy.

I’ve spent over $20,000 on software in the last two years. I don’t expect stuff to be really cheap, but where is the customer appreciation? Where is the flexibility?

It ain’t in this upgrade path…

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Ron Lindeboom]

Mike,

Kathlyn and I could have bought a house with what we spent on this stuff over the years. So when people are offering TONS of power at a pittance of a price (in our opinion), it is hardly the earth-shattering event it seems to elicit from you.

It’s not that big a deal, really. Your mileage may vary.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

[Mike James]

and you can find deals on STP and Motion also…

MacConnection is selling Motion 2 with a $50 rebate to make it $249 for Motion 2 + the Final Cut Studio updgrade for $199 = $448 (usually $1299 for FCStudio).
https://www.macconnection.com/Rebate/RebateDetail.aspx?Sku=5763832#10740

Even if you pay the $499 to upgrade to the next studio version with FCP6 it should only be the typical $499 upgrade. That comes to $947 to get to Final Cut Studio with all the next generation versions (FCP6, Motion 3, etc…).

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Mike James]

Ron,

I won’t be littering the forums with this anymore. The news came out tonight. I watched the flash demos at adobe and was interested enough to go place my order. Then I couldn’t find an upgrade path for the apps I first bought a few years ago (version 1.0, then upgrade to 1.5).

Then I did the math and realized just to get my applications from 1.5 to 2.0 it’ll be $666 (for a dot release for goodness sake). So I’ll pass on the upgrades and I’ll now shut my trap about Adobe.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Ron Lindeboom]

I am not telling you to shut up. I am merely saying that your’s is not the only point of view. I understand your frustration and from talking with Steve Kilisky tonight, I know that he understands it as well.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

[Mike James]

Steve,
I do think that someone who has not been a loyal video collection customer will be thrilled with the pricing. There is compelling value there for the person that doesn’t already own many of these apps as I do.

And if the upgraded apps had stronger feature sets I’d just pay the $666. But for having well over a year to work on them I am actually underwhelmed. Impressed enough that I was looking for that ORDER button to pay $250 for the upgrades, but not impressed enough to consider $666.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com

[Mike James]

Ron,

LOL… I knew you were not telling me to shut up and I do understand the whole “mileage will vary”. For some who don’t already own the standard video collection, these bundles hold tremendous value. I just had to air it out once I realized they removed the typical standard upgrade path.

It really is more than an opinion. I was looking willing to spend the same $250 I did before to upgrade, but I don’t see enough compelling new features to warrant a $666 upgrade path. To each his/her own.

Mike James
VFXpodcast.com