Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

"It’s been a little over a week since Adobe announced the end of perpetual licenses for its Creative Suite software family. Adobe CS6 will be the last product line to be available as a boxed set or download. There will be no future development."

Even though there is a completely Free version of Lightworks, the 'Pro 64bit' version which includes the ProRes codec license, only costs annual subscription fee of $60 and that includes all the upgrades!

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

I've been using Premiere since the old 6.5 version and for years used Premiere Pro 2.0 with a Matrox system which was incredibly buggy and unstable - even in a purpose built system.

I'm currently on CS5.5 and although the application is stable and it's a joy to edit with - I have always had export/encode problems (featuring really helpful dialogue boxes with 'encoding failed' or 'unexpected error') - again running it on 2 purpose built systems.

So I've been looking for an alternative and have been trying Edius but I just don't like it as much - plus I would need to buy additional hardware to have a full monitor preview which I get with Premiere through my Nvidia graphics card.

I will certainly look at Lightworks as an alternative system for next season!

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

Hi Pete

I have never been an Adobe fan at all so apart from running a few trial versions it never impressed me... neither did Edius!! For me it's all about ease of use and the only NLE I found I could use effortlessly was Sony Vegas 10 ... no crashes no encode errors and it works 7 days a week.

NLE's are a very personal choice so try 'em all until for find one you like. On my i7 2600 Vegas is pretty quick for me.. with weddings I can dump AVCHD files into the timeline and it will render to MPEG2 roughly in 1/3rd of the timeline length (eg: 20 min ceremony clip will render in 6 or 7 minutes) I also liked the fact that it does rely on a fancy and expensive video card either ...I just use a stock standard Nvidia graphics card and it doesn't have any issues.

I wonder if Shuttle Pro has support for the NLE as I use a shuttle all the time?

Chris

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

Well I've downloaded the free version of Lightworks to find out it doesn't support AVCHD!!! Guess I'll have to convert a few files before having a play.

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

I use the Shuttle Pro with Lightworks all the time. In my opinion, Lightworks does not work at optimum performance with a mouse. Lightworks was designed and developed twenty years ago around a dedicated Console resembling an Steenbeck film editor which is why it rapidly became the 'darling of Hollywood' editors. The LW Console has been updated with USB but at nearly $3K, is is a big investment.

Many Lightworks users work with the Shuttle Pro instead and the LW forum includes several links and programme options for button commands.

Lightworks (free) does not accept AVCHD directly mainly because it is not a professional codec and license fees need to be paid (to Sony/Panasonic who developed that codec) but Lightworks Pro will accept native H.264 varients. Lightworks Free imports several matrox I frame codecs (included) and exports uncompressed YUYV AVIs - big files but good news is a free transcoder called EYEFRAME has been developed by Forum members so Lightworks Free users can evaluate and use the software professionally. Because many professional Lightworks editors are working in broadcast TV and on feature films, the Lightworks Forum must be one of the most helpful, polite and informative discussion groups out there.

My personal transcoder choice is the super fast ffmpg based AWPro Suite (also free) for which I was a beta tester. AWPro is optimised for AVCHD conversions and includes a timecode generater and embedder.

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

Hi Pete

I think the Pro version does according to the comparison chart but the free one does not. Is that correct Craig??

The fact that is works with Shuttle Pro is great but not a mouse is a bit of a bummer. I really don't have time to transcode footage as I'm often doing 3 Realty shoots in a day and time is critical so I really don't want to have to start transcoding ...I had to transcode on my old WinXP machine as it was only a DuoCore machine with Vegas but with the i7 the AVCHD files go in and the MPEG2 files come out and go straight to DVD and to the client.

As already said it's a personal choice and on Sony Vegas I can work fast and don't really want to start learning a new workflow. As Murphy's Law states quick clearly "If it works, then don't mess with it" !!
(I think the second bit was "If you do mess with it and it doesn't work any more, blame someone else")

Chris

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

Edius does full screen monitor preview without a card as well but you will get better quality with the card, from what I have read you do edit in YUV color space but most video cards output to RGB color space which can give color discrepancies, that will not be the case with a spark card as it outputs in YUV color space.
Your playback on a tv screen should also be "jitter free" with the card.

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

I get full screen preview on Lightworks Pro with a dual monitor setup on my laptop without any additional card. Lightworks does 'work' with a mouse, thousands of editors use them but the fastest, most intuitive performance will be experienced with a Console or Shuttle device.

Chris, although current stable LW Pro accepts andedits native AVCHD, the latest 'K' beta is vastly improved in this area and is a free upgrade to current subscribers. Lightworks is a 'editor' not a 'one stop shop' like Vegas so for the work you are currenty doing, I'd suggest sticking with your existing workflow but if you ever need to edit a longform programme, spend some time on Lightworks. You will not regret it.

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

The spark card lets you work with 2 pc monitors and a tv screen at the same time which is the best way to do and check your output, this way you can have your nle on a dual monitor and your timeline preview as full screen on a HD tv.

Re: Are we seeing the last of ADOBE CS?
 

This quote is not entirely true. According to Adobe CS FAQ - Adobe will continue to make Creative Suite 6 available as a perpetual software license, and will provide bug fixes and security updates as necessary. All of the CS6 suite editions and individual products continue to be available for purchase by Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) on Adobe.com as well as through select retailers.

As Adobe continues to focus on delivering world-class innovation through Creative Cloud and digital fulfillment, we will be phasing out shrink-wrapped, boxed versions of Creative Suite. Electronic downloads for Creative Suite products will continue to be available from both Adobe.com, as well as reseller and retail partners.

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

You now get a 30 day free trial of the Pro Version. The free version of Lightworks 1.11 transcodes H.264 / AVCHD.

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

Interesting to read a thread that says it's about Adobe to find it's an extended advert for LightWorks. The OP is intentionally misleading. All that's being phased out, as far as I know, is the physical, boxed, shrink wrapped thing. Why would you want that anyway?

But that's as far as I know, and was hoping to read more here... ;-)

Re: Are we seeing the last of Adobe CS?
 

My understanding is that the Adobe's future products are only available on a subscription basis on the Creative Cloud and you can't buy a "perpetual license" for the new versions, so no owning the software as on the current CS. It's the subscription model that causing the fuss, together with the higher cost to people who haven't been upgrading every year.