please explain the new business model to me

[Jim Wiseman]

The answer is to find a niche and be the best. Who thought it would be easy? As more people have tools it gets more difficult. Sorry, you just have to be good with talent, smelling out opportunities, and getting the tools. People will always want to watch something good, and you have GOT to be flexible enough to see the opportunities. That may matter most after you get some chops down. And don’t be afraid of things you haven’t had complete experience with. FCPX comes to mind. iPhones, Apps. It is always a new world out there, every day, if you want to stay in the game. At some point you will have to invent your own semi self-contained game without as much commercial potential. Aging is inevitable.

May I make the observation that the older we get, the more threatening the rental model is? If you are working on the projects you consider your legacy, can you really afford to be paying monthly for your software to keep your projects alive? I have been lucky, I have gotten to this point in my life and career (yes, I still have one,fortunately) where future cost REALLY matters. If I have to pay constantly to keep my projects alive, then it will all not be finished, as my ability to keep projects going will exceed my income. I have made a very good living being on the cutting edge since the early’70’s. First broadcast video on PortaPaks by Sony and on from there. Being on the cutting edge with talent is the only way to make a decent living or even a VERY GOOD one, but you need to own your business.

But now it is time for me to catch up with the editing of a LOT of important video footage I’ve shot and photos I’ve taken that need fine art printing (paper is still the best storage format for photos, HDs go poof without curation, same with video). We’re talking a gallery in London that wants my Jimi Hendrix, Dead, Stones photos, and that is just the R&R. Historic video footage of Pacific island cultures, video synthesizer work, etc.

Just don’t take away the tools I thought I already had to squeeze a few more bucks out of me. That is what makes me angry. Guess I should have been in something more mature, like wood working.

Jim Wiseman
Sony PMW-EX1, Pana AJ-D810 DVCPro, DVX-100, Nikon D7000, Final Cut Pro X 10.2.1, Final Cut Studio 2 and 3, Media 100 Suite 2.1.6, Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and 6.0, AJA ioHD, AJA Kona LHi, Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K, Blackmagic Teranex, Avid MC, 2013 Mac Pro Hexacore, 1TB SSD, 64GB RAM, 2-D500, Helios 2 w 2-960GB SSDs: 2012 Hexacore MacPro 3.33 Ghz, 24Gb RAM, GTX-680, 960GB SSD: Macbook Pro 17″ 2011 2.2 Ghz Quadcore i7 16GB RAM 250GB SSD, Multiple OWC Thunderbay 4 TB2 and eSATA QX2 RAID 5 HD systems

[Steve Connor]

[Jim Wiseman] “May I make the observation that the older we get, the more threatening the rental model is? If you are working on the projects you consider your legacy, can you really afford to be paying monthly for your software to keep your projects alive? I have been lucky, I have gotten to this point in my life and career (yes, I still have one,fortunately) where future cost REALLY matters. If I have to pay constantly to keep my projects alive, then it will all not be finished, as my ability to keep projects going will exceed my income. I have made a very good living being on the cutting edge since the early’70’s. First broadcast video on PortaPaks by Sony and on from there. Being on the cutting edge with talent is the only way to make a decent living or even a VERY GOOD one, but you need to own your business.

But now it is time for me to catch up with the editing of a LOT of important video footage I’ve shot and photos I’ve taken that need fine art printing (paper is still the best storage format for photos, HDs go poof without curation, same with video). We’re talking a gallery in London that wants my Jimi Hendrix, Dead, Stones photos, and that is just the R&R. Historic video footage of Pacific island cultures, video synthesizer work, etc.

Just don’t take away the tools I thought I already had to squeeze a few more bucks out of me. That is what makes me angry. Guess I should have been in something more mature, like wood working.”

Where’s the “Move to Adobe Creative Cloud or Not” Button? 🙂

[Jim Wiseman]

Glad you are young enough for this not to make any difference to you. I think it goes straight to Bob’s point. Thanks for the reiteration, but you left out the first paragraph.

Jim Wiseman
Sony PMW-EX1, Pana AJ-D810 DVCPro, DVX-100, Nikon D7000, Final Cut Pro X 10.2.1, Final Cut Studio 2 and 3, Media 100 Suite 2.1.6, Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and 6.0, AJA ioHD, AJA Kona LHi, Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K, Blackmagic Teranex, Avid MC, 2013 Mac Pro Hexacore, 1TB SSD, 64GB RAM, 2-D500, Helios 2 w 2-960GB SSDs: 2012 Hexacore MacPro 3.33 Ghz, 24Gb RAM, GTX-680, 960GB SSD: Macbook Pro 17″ 2011 2.2 Ghz Quadcore i7 16GB RAM 250GB SSD, Multiple OWC Thunderbay 4 TB2 and eSATA QX2 RAID 5 HD systems

[Steve Connor]

[Jim Wiseman] “Glad you are young enough for this not to make any difference to you. I think it goes straight to Bob’s point. Thanks for the reiteration, but you left out the first paragraph.”

I think Adobe adopting a subscription model has nothing to do with his point at all

[Jim Wiseman]

Read the first paragraph again. Self explanatory. Competition from new usually younger people is going to limit our income. Rental is bad for those whose cash flow is limited or sporadic. New people coming in creates pressure on older users whose earning power is going down because of changes in the marketplace, forced layoff, and eventual retirement from commercial work. With competition willing to work for little or nothing, we are not as likely to be in a position to keep renting for access. Because the new arrivals are not as likely to be able to afford the initial capital investment required by Perpetual License software, a $50 a month rental seems cheap. These are the legions of new users being discussed in this thread. I have already made that initial investment and could continue to use my perpetually licensed software as long as necessary, upgrading when necessary for a reasonable amount. I was then in a better position to compete with these new arrivals in the market. Definitely on topic.

I want to work with software that will work for multiple years, as long as my computer systems will support it. I am invested in such systems. When competition in the marketplace cuts your business income drastically (Bob’s fear) and you may even face retirement or layoff, your cash flow can drop to Social Security plus savings. Even though you have the personal work you really cared about all those years when you had to work commercially, the opportunity to finish it is practically stolen from you by forced rental because your software stops working without a payment which you can no longer afford. Perpetually licensed software would keep working.

And definitely on topic: That is why I am leaning toward FCPX (the debate of which is in the title of this forum) or other software with a perpetual license, say Media 100, which I own, or new software like Resolve. I still like the track metaphor as well.

I’m eliminating Adobe software from my workflow. At least until they come up with a perpetual license once again. The topic Bob started is a large part of my reasoning. I just want my software to keep working without constant financial pressure. Then I can remain competitive with my own current clients and will also be able to finish my own long put off personal projects. Quite simple.

Jim Wiseman
Sony PMW-EX1, Pana AJ-D810 DVCPro, DVX-100, Nikon D7000, Final Cut Pro X 10.2.1, Final Cut Studio 2 and 3, Media 100 Suite 2.1.6, Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and 6.0, AJA ioHD, AJA Kona LHi, Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K, Blackmagic Teranex, Avid MC, 2013 Mac Pro Hexacore, 1TB SSD, 64GB RAM, 2-D500, Helios 2 w 2-960GB SSDs: 2012 Hexacore MacPro 3.33 Ghz, 24Gb RAM, GTX-680, 960GB SSD: Macbook Pro 17″ 2011 2.2 Ghz Quadcore i7 16GB RAM 250GB SSD, Multiple OWC Thunderbay 4 TB2 and eSATA QX2 RAID 5 HD systems

[Gary Huff]

[Jim Wiseman] “. Competition from new usually younger people is going to limit our income. Rental is bad for those whose cash flow is limited or sporadic.”

As opposed to dropping $2500 all at once?

[Jim Wiseman]

I dropped that years ago, Gary. And it was a lot less than $2500. Last time Production Premium was an under $400 upgrade. CS6. Still working what, three years later, though I don’t really use anything other than Photoshop and Audition very occasionally. No future in Premiere for me.

Jim Wiseman
Sony PMW-EX1, Pana AJ-D810 DVCPro, DVX-100, Nikon D7000, Final Cut Pro X 10.2.1, Final Cut Studio 2 and 3, Media 100 Suite 2.1.6, Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and 6.0, AJA ioHD, AJA Kona LHi, Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K, Blackmagic Teranex, Avid MC, 2013 Mac Pro Hexacore, 1TB SSD, 64GB RAM, 2-D500, Helios 2 w 2-960GB SSDs: 2012 Hexacore MacPro 3.33 Ghz, 24Gb RAM, GTX-680, 960GB SSD: Macbook Pro 17″ 2011 2.2 Ghz Quadcore i7 16GB RAM 250GB SSD, Multiple OWC Thunderbay 4 TB2 and eSATA QX2 RAID 5 HD systems

[Aindreas Gallagher]

[Bob Zelin] “And that’s my point. Randy Ubilos article specifically stated the target audience that he wanted. The idea is to get EVERYONE to start doing this. It’s certainly right for Apple – it’s just intimidating for “us”. The reality that ANYONE can do what we do. “

I think Apple are monomaniacal on that stuff. There is some form of a blind zealot built into them, and there is some blind zealotry built into X.
(what is that sound I hear – ah yes, it’s Bill arriving on horses hooves).

surely the thing of it is that people enter the creative area for inherent reasons? Or at least the people who carry on do. It’s self selecting. Everyone with a 240 fps 720p iphone 6 could nearly outstrip all the technologies the BBC employed to create the first Planet Earth. Handily. And they’d be holding something that weighs nothing. Although of course they couldn’t – that took all of the BBC’s best efforts across thousands of staff.

Also, as far as I can tell, say 60% of my current skillset involves responding to sharp left turns from the client without the crockery falling off the table. Or at least the crockery I have marked for protection. The creative industries are highly interpersonal – respecting the spinning plates is quite a lot of the intrinsic skill set. If the plates fall, no one gets to edit anything.

And, to be fair, FCPX is just irritating – try to hard – overworked software. It has miles and miles of tattooed Apple intellectual baggage written all over it. In terms of sitting staring at assets and trying to work them into any kind of shape it’s far too in your face. It shouts about how everything should be done. It’s tedious software with a crap keyframing system, which is a cardinal sin. FCPX is going absolutely nowhere for a variety of good reasons.

https://vimeo.com/user1590967/videos http://www.ogallchoir.net promo producer/editor.grading/motion graphics

[Andrew Kimery]

[Tim Wilson] “His point is exactly the opposite. “I’ve had a great ride, but what the fjjk do I do with the next 15-20 years of my career? Does my business actually have another 15-20 years in the tank? It sure doesn’t look like it from here.””

And that sounds like a great discussion. When can we start having it? So far what I’m mostly hearing is older guys talking about how awesome it was yesterday and how much it sucks today in a thread that I’m being told is not about older guys talking about how awesome it was yesterday and how much it sucks today. 😉

I know there are many experience problem solvers in the crowd so who wants to throw out the first idea?

[Misha Aranyshev]

[Bob Zelin] “With the exception of hi end shows and features, how does the majority of the people on these forums continue to earn a living ?
“

What I really wonder is how those hypothetical kids with iPhone 8 earn theirs.