Fazz Powell:Exactly, I don't get why all these folks belly ache about the cost of Avid in the big scheme of things in running a business.
It's not a 'belly ache 'at the cost of things in the grand scheme. It doesn't matter how successful your turnover is, good business is not to give money away. There was no added value whatsoever for the 25% price hike, only unresolved problems. Development of SRT took the brunt of of their needed cash injection, to my mind - that most of us won't get and don't need as there are existing solutions and then on top of that we, perpetual users, were told the cost was about us holding on to the past when we use the identical software of everyone else.
Imagine how all of our clients would react to a sudden 25% price increase, when every other editor/facility has no such increase? I've never had a problem with Avid raising it's prices, that is fair and I want them to prosper and survive but I am worried they are in trouble more than anything else. This looks like almost an Indiego fund raiser.
I see it as Avid have been under charging for too long.
And the increase sets that straight.
But it still comes down to a simple choice.
Is it worth it for your business.
If there are other NLEs that are cheaper or free that can do what you need then time to switch.
If the cost of your Avid subscription is a few days work (or if your really successful a few hours work) and you think it's the best tool then it's a no brainer.
Broadcast & Post Production Consultant / Trainer Avid Certified Instructor VET (Retired Early 2022)
Still offering training and support for: QC/QAR Training - Understanding Digital Media - Advanced Files * Compression - Avid Ingest - PSE fixing courses and more.
Mainly delivered remotely via zoom but onsite possible.
T 07581 201248 | E pat@vet-training.co.uk
Not gonna happen, this has been discussed to exhaustion.
Not with Windows 11, Windows 12, or 36.
Remembering my friend Larry Rubin
"Art can't exist without Craft"
Sorry for the delay - many other issues with MS spyware (WaasMedicAgent etc) requiring action as they interfered with simple operations like booting up, getting email, web browsing etc. let alone resource intensive actions like AV editing.
Here is the issue: it appears MS has determined that they have reached the monopolistic tipping point where they really don't care about the security or usability of their products for their users. The calculation is that current users (especially corporate, government and large institutions) are so invested in the Winodws platform, apps and services that they CAN NOT move to other platforms - it would be both financially and operationally prohibitive to the very survival of the company / agency / institution. (Ref: Steve Gibson's {GRC.COM} outing of MS refusal to close a well documented security loophole in Windows that cost corporations, municipalities, hospital systems BILLIONS in ransomware payments in 2020 - 2021.) They really would actually be pleased if the SMB (i.e. <10 seats) and indifidual users left the "Microsloth Family" because they are PITA that don't sign up for subscription services at the rate of the larger users and therefore are more of a drain on the monopoly than a source of income with no need to return value for invested buck. (Us "small fry" are more likely to enlist support or make a stink when we get rapidly diminishing ROI for rapidly escalating costs.)
So MS has already invalidated your argument. By willingly, with fore-knowledge and pre-meditation, leaving "industrial and commercial users" exposed to billions in ransoware attacks that could have been prevented by an investment of a a fw software engineerng hours FOR OVER 8 MONTHS MS has showed their hand. They believe (and it is likely true) that they have such mnopolistice power that neither users individually or by class action or governments or corporations have the power to resist their abuse or to negatively impact their transition to full-time ransom-ware (subscription-ware) income stream all while spouting the lie, "user prefer subscription-ware".
TVJohn: I doubt MS will alienate the half a billion industrial and commercial users. Do not be overly concerned by some of the click bait articles you may run across.
I doubt MS will alienate the half a billion industrial and commercial users. Do not be overly concerned by some of the click bait articles you may run across.
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wmc
Fazz Powell: nigelgourley: Also whether it's twice the price or half the price per year doesn't make a huge difference to my business model.. It's one of the smaller costs of running a facility in my experience. Nige Exactly, I don't get why all these folks belly ache about the cost of Avid in the big scheme of things in running a business.
nigelgourley: Also whether it's twice the price or half the price per year doesn't make a huge difference to my business model.. It's one of the smaller costs of running a facility in my experience. Nige
Also whether it's twice the price or half the price per year doesn't make a huge difference to my business model.. It's one of the smaller costs of running a facility in my experience.
Nige
Exactly, I don't get why all these folks belly ache about the cost of Avid in the big scheme of things in running a business.
It's not the cost itself, it's the cost compared to the competitor's cost. Resolve and the Lightworks have both a free version which is usable in a professional environment, which is not the case of MC First. Premiere comes with Photoshop, AfterEffects, Audition, AME, Bridge, everything but the kitchen sink. Once it's clear that it's a matter of cost compared to the competition, and that the competition is more affordable, or better value for money, saying that the Avid business model is somehow wrong sounds pretty honest. I'm a one man band, if I can afford or want to shell out the cash for Avid it's my own decision, I'll do whatever I find to be more sensible, but if I was a big facility I would be concerned with the extra cost of Avid compared to other NLEs, when You have tens of seats the figures may easily skyrocket, my point is that Avid is not only dropping the small fishes, but also the big ones either.
Back on topic, it's about time for a linux version IMHO, but I do not believe that the Avid management is driven by such smart and wise minds who can understand this and achieve it.
peace luca
luca.mg: if I was a big facility I would be concerned with the extra cost of Avid compared to other NLEs, when You have tens of seats the figures may easily skyrocket, my point is that Avid is not only dropping the small fishes, but also the big ones either.
First, a disclaimer: I can't speak for the entire broadcast world, and I'm sure there are big facilities that have switched away from Avid.
I don't think many big facilities are going to lose a lot of sleep over an extra $100/seat (I get that there are floating license options that would make it cheaper; I'm just trying to make the math easy and the scenario less complicated). Let's say a facility has 100 Media Composer seats, and in response to increasing prices of Media Composer licenses, they're going to switch to Resolve, because it's free.
They can't just up and switch from one to another and expect everything to keep going as it was before. For one thing, there are all the other parts of the process that have to play together nicely and can't be switched out like pieces of Lego. So they have to dump their Isis/Nexus, their Interplay/Production Management, Airspeed, and whatever else they've got, find all new solutions for all that stuff, buy it, install it, and train everyone on it. Even if they keep all the ancillary pieces, they've still got to make them all work with Resolve, so unless they're Resolve experts, they're going to have to hire somebody to figure the workflow out.
Plus, editors are not all interchangeable, either. I'm sure there are talented Resolve editors who can cut a news package under extreme deadlines, but a facility would still need to find those people, get them away from whoever they're working for now, and get them up to speed.
Sure, all of that is not insurmountable, but if you have 100 seats that all went up by $100, how much money are you going to have to spend changing your whole workflow and all your personnel from Media Composer to Resolve in order to save $10,000?
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who only consider the price are this man's lawful prey." - John Ruskin (1819-1900)
Carl Amoscato | Freelance Film & Video Editor | London, UK
>>Ransomeware is without consent i.e. extortion.
Subscription is an agreement between 2 parties.<<
The "perma-license" is also "an agreement between 2 parties." But one party (the one with excess power granted by paid-off politicians) gets to change the agreement without the consent of the other (lesser) party anytime they want. I.e. the lesser party is bound by the contract, the greater party (corporation) is not - they have the 'right' to change it at will, you do not.
EXAMPLE: Rosetta Stone sold "perma-license desktop computer (CD/DVD packaged ~$500) language learning applications that were based on Flash technology right up to the End-Of-Life of Flash by Adobe. Two years before the EOL of Flash, Adobe started distributing malware versions of Flash with a date-time kill switch, a “feature” that was nowhere identified in its license that I could find. Despite the two-year advanced notice, Rosetta Stone only offered an “online” subscription based “upgrade” as a paid “alternative” to allow perma-license holder to “maintain” their licensed language training AT ADDITIONAL COST AFTER FLASH WAS DISABLED BY ADOBE AND MICROSOFT MALWARE. (While Flash libraries were part of the Windows OS, and worked just fine, Adobe paid MS to join them in distributing pushed malware that first posted alerts to get users to voluntarily uninstall Flash, then to surreptitiously remove Flash if the user did not do so voluntarily.) Rosetta Stone NEVER informed users that they were TOTALLY DEPENDENT on Adobe for their software’s functionality and that it would EXPIRE anytime Adobe chose to EOL an underlying technology. There was NO WARNING to Rosetta Stone users that they were ‘beholden’ to Adobe for their language training software.
How is this not ‘extortion’?
As for AVID and the “Subscription is an agreement between 2 parties” it is similar to saying a boss forcing an employee into an unwanted morally unacceptable act “is an agreement between 2 parties”. It clearly is not. It one party that perceives itself in a position of unchallengeable power forcing its will on the party that it perceives as having no or little choice. AVID’s policy of punishment toward the perma-license / support contract users to force them to subscription-based users is the brain child of ignorant management focused on near-term bonuses rather than the actual health and longevity of the company. Overwhelmingly individual users prefer perma-licenses and willingly accept ‘annual support contracts’ that include bug fixes at a reasonable cost. Yet AVID has chosen to punish such users with unreasonable price increases showing complete ignorance of their minor (almost miniscule) influence / position in their chosen marketplace. These ‘managers’ and strategies will only accelerate the ongoing death of AVID as a company. (Don’t bother challenging this factual trend – I’ve been an AVID product user and SHAREHOLDER since the late ‘80’s –I have the facts and numbers.)
cls105: Ransomeware is without consent ie. extortion. Subscription is an agreement between 2 parties. The problem is that programmers are expensive to hire. They need that continuous revenue to pay them, and everyone else's salary. Compare it to editing. There's a reason editors usually don't like a flat rate. They prefer getting paid per day/week/etc.
Ransomeware is without consent ie. extortion.
Subscription is an agreement between 2 parties.
The problem is that programmers are expensive to hire. They need that continuous revenue to pay them, and everyone else's salary.
Compare it to editing. There's a reason editors usually don't like a flat rate. They prefer getting paid per day/week/etc.
camoscato:if you have 100 seats that all went up by $100, how much money are you going to have to spend changing your whole workflow and all your personnel from Media Composer to Resolve in order to save $10,000?
Interesting point Carl, and if You were right we all are hostages of our software suppliers, not only Avid, and You may very well be right. The thing is that the same may apply to the switch to MC for linux, is it implied in Your reply that You agree with me that MC for linux will not happen? And I'm even more interested to know what You think of this never happening piece of software, would it be a wise choice, if we weren't held hostages by Win/OSX/MC?
Hi Luca,
luca.mg:Interesting point Carl, and if You were right we all are hostages of our software suppliers, not only Avid, and You may very well be right.
I don't know that I'd say 'hostages'. More like you make a choice about what software you're going to use, and decisions the manufacturer makes might leave you with limited options to make changes in the future. A big facility can't just 'switch to Resolve' without making a lot of other changes, too.
luca.mg:The thing is that the same may apply to the switch to MC for linux, is it implied in Your reply that You agree with me that MC for linux will not happen?
Yes, I agree. I don't think MC on Linux will happen.
luca.mg:I'm even more interested to know what You think of this never happening piece of software, would it be a wise choice, if we weren't held hostages by Win/OSX/MC?
I honestly don't know. I don't have any experience with Linux. :)
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