David;
We're both probably wasting our time at this point but...
First from the standpoint of possible paths forward, I beleive I have the following option for Adobe Software:
- Download and try Premiere Elements. If that works, shell out more money to Adobe to do what I was able to do in earlier versions of the software I own.
- Look to other vendors, and live with having to learn a new interface, deal with another stream of uprades and license compliance managment, etc.
If I've missed something there, please let me know.
Thank you;
John
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Setting that aside, back to the bigger picture, and this is probably more of an editorial comment and falls into the category of "venting", and I really don't expect a response, and really can't think of a response that won't torque me off more than I already am. I'm a small company (as in "me"), working on captive technical documentation that is stricly on a contract basis (no royalties, no opportunites to sell (or even share, due to NDAs). Any dollar I have to spend is a dollar less in wages, profit, or a dollar I can't spend on other tools.
OK, let's not play semantics about "never need to buy other creative software". We both know I'm talking about buying a suite of software labeled as "Master Collection", and then being told that in order to do with the "upgrade" what I was formerly able to do with the Suite I had purchased, I now need to buy another Adobe product. I could MAYBE understand that a feature was no longer availabgle in an Adobe product at all, but to have a feature pulled from the Master Collection, but still (or now) available in an "essentials" product seems inappropriate.
While I can understand development choices, this doesn't cover why, after purchasing the Master Collection, I would need to purchase another Adobe app. (Premiere Elements) to use a feature that was there before an upgrade. Doesn't "Master Collection" imply "all of our features"?
Also, I resent the implication that I didn't do some research before shelling out $2500 bucks.
You also failed to address the back and forth for various applications. One of the reasons to buy a "suite" is that there is a certain amount of stabiltiy implied.
While more subtle than other posts, your net answer is still the same "We're Adobe, we make our own decisions, and if you don't like them, tough luck. That fact that your upgrade removed features you used or counted on being there is of no matter to our grand scheme. While your renewal fees may seem a significant invenstment from your end, if we loose a customer here or there, we frankly don't care. Besides "stop motion" being gone, the lack of instrumentation for adjusting and monitoring live capture that was present in OnLocation is not a "trivial" feature, it is a significant "core requirement" for captureing high qaulity video. When (if) I need some of the features I counted on in OnLocation again, and they are gone, and not replaced I'm REALLY going to be pissed. Adobe appears to have gone down the path of "you don't really want to use our stuff for live capture" and "maybe we'll add some back in once we get done bouncing back and forth between OnLocation and Prelude. This may make sense for large production companies. I'm sure there are better ways to capture raw footage. I'm a small, one man shop. Most of what I do does not involve video. When it does, I like to be in an evnironment I'm comfortable with, or when it changes, the changes "gell" accross the entire suite. Over time Adobe has ranged from poor to very good on this front.
Your problems seem to be less developers choosing features, and more lack of a stable high level strategy.
Conflicting information on upgrade licensing: FAQ, No, you can't use both. License agreement (at least for Premeire Pro) says OK, but only on the same Computers.
From the Adobe Licensing FAQ:
Once I've upgraded, can I use, sell, or transfer the previous versions of the software?
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No. Purchasing an upgrade to your product extends your existing license to cover the new version of Adobe software. It does not provide you with two separate licenses for the old version and the new version. For example, if you upgrade from Adobe Acrobat 6 to Acrobat 7, you cannot sell Acrobat 6 to someone else.
And from the Adobe Premiere Pro License agreement:
5. Updates.
If the Software is an Update to a prior version of Adobe software (the “Prior Version”), then Customer’s use of this Update is conditional upon its retention of the Prior Version. Therefore, if Customer validly transfers this Update pursuant to Section 4.6, the Customer must transfer the Prior Version along with it. If Customer wishes to use this Update in addition to the Prior Version, then Customer may only do so on the same Computer on which it has installed and is using the Prior Version. Any obligations that Adobe may have to support Prior Versions during the License Term may end upon the availability of this Update. No other use of the Update is permitted. Additional Updates may be licensed to Customer by Adobe with additional or different terms.
