CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

It really seems like Adobe is offering an amazing deal with this Cloud service. For starters, to get immediate access to the entire Master Collection for $49 a month is amazing! Adobe has always had a huge problem with piracy and it's simply because so many people want these tools but just can't afford the 2K+ it would cost to get them. However, I wonder if making the software more accessible with a monthly subscription would cut down on some of that piracy?

20GB isn't a lot starting out but if they make upgrading affordable then it could really do wonders for post workflow. I wonder if they would be able to design a Premier Pro touch? Something basic to do rough edits?

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

And, they've managed to get more money, and a continual revenue stream rather than having peaks and valleys. They're mimicking what cell phone companies have known for decades: consumers will pay for more expensive devices and services as long as they can pay for them in smaller (less scary) amounts over time.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Brad, there is a monthly option as well. I think it is $79.

See also this existing thread about Creative Cloud:
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/adobe-cr...obe-cloud.html

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

I have spent a great deal of time working the cs5.5 master suite through my work but I have never owned it myself. I do own FCP 7 though. I am doing the subscription option and it tells me that i will be billed $49.00 a month plus tax. Its not even a single yearly payment at $49/month but a recurring monthly fee. So the higher pricepoint for the monthly must have been dropped. Unless I am misreading something. I have downloaded the trial in the meantime and have been playing with AE and PPro. Having spent a great deal of time with fcp7 and ppro 5.5 I think Adobe has nailed it with cs6. PPro is by far my favorite nle. It is so intuitive and ae's 3d tracking is incredible! You can pull a clip into premier move it to after effects, track it, create 3d text from the tracking data, and click over to premier to watch the clip w/effect in just a few minutes. Love it!

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

The cheaper subscription is available if you sign up to an annual contract, the higher rate is if you dip in and out for a month at a time (I imagine that could be the case where people are using Adobe tools for one-off, short projects and are effectively hiring them for that period only).

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Oh I get it. It threw me off because I heard about the higher price point but I don't remember it giving me the option when I was purchasing it. I thought maybe they did away with it and was keeping it simple. Still that's not a bad idea. Someone could get the master collection for a limited time depending on their needs. I have no problem with a yearly contract since I will be using these apps everyday.

I have really been impressed with CS6. Too bad Adobe's voodoo blurry photo fix they revealed last fall isn't in Photoshop. I have a couple of blurry I phone pics that I would love to get fixed. Maybe in CS6.5?

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

The cloud really makes sense for freelance artists or even companies who want to hire freelance artists.

As a freelance artists one could only have to rent the software when there is a specific project to work on. This is really no different then people renting gear. In most cases with gear however you can pay hundreds of dollars for example to rent a camera and you only get it for a few days.

With the cloud as you get a project you can just go ahead and bill your client a software rental fee of $79.00 and you get it for the whole month.

For companies this really makes sense as well. The company I work for sometimes hires a couple of interns in the summer. A intern is only useful if you have tools for them to use. Having to buy full seats of Adobe software to have sitting on a machine for an intern to use for two months is a waste. Now we can just rent the full Adobe suite for $160.00 for each intern for those two months.

Even indy film makers can really benefit form this new system. A lot of time spent making a movie is pre production and production. A typical short or documentary could have months involved before the NLE is even touched. Why have that software sitting there doing nothing when you only really need to edit your project in a month or two.

The cloud is also a great way for Adobe to pull in new users. While the cloud may be somewhat debatable for us long time Adobe users who have the option of upgrading for new users it is a bit of a no brainer. Even at the 1 year subscription price you are paying a fraction of the price for a point of entry into Adobe software compared to what new users had a month ago. Each year you may have to pay for the 1 year subscription again but if you want to upgrade that price would be about the same anyway.

The cloud only really has one negative and that is people being able to pay for software once and milk it for 5+ years to maximise their investment. Some people are fine with using 5 year old tools if they get the job done. If you are one of those people then Adobe still sells that version as well.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

There is an introductory special of $30/month for existing CS5+ users. Don't know what the deadline for it is, though.

I for one will be sticking with the usual upgrade process.

Andrew

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Actually, the offer is good for CS3 or later and is currently advertised thru the end of August.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

It is an awesome deal. Everyone sign up now. Goodbye FCP X and Motion.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Adobe is somewhat less generous to it's customers who happen to live outside the USA - somethongs never change!

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

I'm quite happy with the new £17/month price for Premiere Pro CS6 on subscription (it's all I need, I don't need the whole suite). CS5.5 was £38/month on subscription.

So I now have the joy of my own copy, rather than using my work PC!

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

so the question is...is it worth renting or buying? also why you guys get whole creative suite, why not just production premium?

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Considering that I can cover the cost of the creative cloud in a couple hours a month I say it's worth it to subscribe, the only cloud suite option is to get the master suite, there isn't a creative cloud option for just production premium.

I myself use premiere, after effects, photoshop, illustrator, audition, media encoder, bridge, and occasionally indesign. At $600/yr you would have to subscribe for over 4 years before you reached the price of buying the master collection outright(if the price remains at $50 after the first year). Also when cs7 comes out cloud subscribers will get access right away, already paying a monthly fee there is no point for upgrade costs to get the latest edition.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

I get the whole creative suite (currently Master Collection but soon Creative Cloud) for all the reasons that Nevin mentioned, plus I use the additional products including Acrobat X and Dreamweaver. Adobe is also promising Lightroom 4.x will join Creative Cloud later this year; I currently have Lightroom 3.5 and look forward to the no-additional charge upgrade. For those of us who use multiple programs, the Creative Cloud offer is an excellent deal.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative here, but I'm just not a fan of 'the cloud' concept. Never have been, never will be. It's like renting a house vs. owning, or maybe a better analogy would be leasing a car instead of buying one outright. Leasing a car means, you are never going to actually own it, and you will ALWAYS have a monthly payment.

I guess, if you know ahead of time that you just HAVE to have a new car every two years, you might as well lease, because you will always have a monthly car payment. I prefer to buy a good, used car outright with cash, and use it like crazy for as long as it will last. Guess I'm cheap. I also don't like the idea of being forced to connect to the internet to keep my NLE working. But, that may be because I live in Alaska, and there are places I go, which have no internet access.
I use FCP Studio 3, Adobe CS 6, and even a little FCP X (trial) just to learn it. The day Adobe ever goes to a total 'cloud' based service (meaning you have to 'rent' the software) is the day they will totally and entirely lose me as a customer. I know they have not done that, they have both 'cloud' based options as well as the traditional 'buy the software' option. But the rumors I have been hearing, is that they want to 'nudge' people toward the 'cloud' based system for the eventual 'phase out' of the traditional outright purchase. If they do that, I will either use old school FCP 7 or go to FXP X if I have to (which is why I'm trying to learn it).

I'm just not down with the whole monthly payment scheme.....which is because I do NOT upgrade every time there is a new upgrade. I went from FCP 2, to FCP 4, to FCP 7, so only upgraded 3 times over the life of FCP. Now starting to learn CS6, because it seems more like FCP 7 than FCP X does, I start hearing the rumors about the eventual 'total move to the cloud' of Adobe. Made me think maybe I should have went a different direction. But rumors are just that, and hopefully Adobe will keep doing business in a way to satisfy both types of customers.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

I understand your point, Gabe. I don't necessarily disagree with you.

But I just want to point out that once Creative Cloud is installed on a computer, it doesn't need to be connected to the Internet in order to use the software locally. You have to connect it to the Internet every 30 days to revalidate your subscription, but that's all. So you can use it on, say, a laptop that is nowhere near the Internet as long as you're returning home once a month.

Richard

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Yeah, that was the way I understood it as well. So, for 99.9% of the population, no big deal. For me, could be a VERY big deal. Because it is very possible that I could end up somewhere with no internet access for longer than 30 days. My parents home is 'off the grid' they do have power (solar and diesel generator) so I am able to use my computer and charge batteries for my FS100 when I am there, but it could mean I would not be able to edit. Lots of places in my state with no internet access, where I have shot (Iditarod Trail, out on my brother's fishing boat, lots of small villages here don't have internet.) My guess is that yes, part of the 'cloud' based subscription is for 'recurring' and more predictable revenue, but another part is to combat piracy (which is one reason you need to connect to the internet every so often.)

Can't blame them if so, Adobe needs to make business decisions that are best for their company....just like I have to do for mine, just so happens that the 'cloud' doesn't fit well with my business. But for a whole lot of people, I bet it will work great, and probably help Adobe make the money to keep the
products getting better, so that's a good thing.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Adobe has always offered the boxed version, and they're still offering it. As long as they're not removing that, then I don't see the problem. Creative Cloud is a bloody good deal, especially for people who need multiple components of it. Or for people like me who'd like to install it at home and work from home, but can't personally afford the boxed version. It's worth $50 a month to me to be able to do my work at home in my sweatpants without distraction.

When you buy the software, you're buying the right to use it for the rest of your life. Although no doubt one day there will be better software available, it's never going to get any worse. It will still function normally 20 years from now.

Richard

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Yeah, that's one of the pluses of buying outright in my opinion, I still use FCP 7 more than any other NLE at this time, and if I had to, could fire up my old powerbook and cut something on FCP 4. Something better can come out, but just like with cars, just because there is a newer, flashier version doesn't mean what you have doesn't work. The article I read was talking about the possibility that Adobe will transition to a 'total cloud' based model. Of course no one knows what will happen, there's just a lot of speculation out there. I remember when FCP X was coming out, there, was a lot of speculation about 'Apple abandoning pro users.' Did they?

It's a matter of opinion I guess, but the speculation made a lot of editors nervous. And so this speculation about Adobe moving to total cloud based service makes me nervous. Might never happen, as you say they offer both services now, which is a win win in my book. Just some random thoughts. By the way, if you haven't read it yet, here is one of many articles I've read just today on the new cloud based model. Despite the title, it seems to be a pretty balanced
look at the pluses and minuses of 'The Cloud'.

(LINK REMOVED)

And here's another:

(LINK REMOVED)

Some good things to think about in there including this.....
with people 'locked into' paying for the service on a month to month basis, there is less incentive for Adobe to make good upgrades. For the users to have
any software at all, they will need to continue to pay. On the other hand, when users have already bought the software, Adobe has a very strong incentive
to improve the software and give the users a reason to upgrade.....this pressure would seem to be somewhat reduced with a cloud based subscription model.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

But upgrading to new versions is no different then renewing your one year contract. Adobe will still want to update their software because if they do not people will decide to not renew their subscription for the next year until they do again.

Sure you don't get to use anything then but this will matter to Adobe. Companies also grow by gaining new users not so much by just keeping the current ones. This is how they increase their market share. Every year or so Adobe will still want to try to gain new customers and will have to stay on the competitive edge in order to do so. Just staying at the same profit level doesn't exactly help a company.

There are also those who think Adobe may innovate more because they will have a steady flow of income and will constantly be aiming for new customers instead of having to wait every year to pull in new users. Typically the largest burst of sales is when a new product comes out and new features will be held back to wait for that burst cycle. Since the cash flow will be constant Adobe could just release a new feature as soon as it is ready.

Remember Adobe wants to stay in business and that means keeping people subscribed.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Well to my mind there is a difference. If you buy CS6, you can just continue to use it, and for you to be willing to pay the upgrade price, Adobe has to come out with something new, significant, or better, or you will just continue to use CS6. But if you have a 'cloud' based subscription, you don't have the option to just continue to use the old version. You have to continue to pay to continue to use the software, you never actually 'own' it. This is a very significant difference in my mind.

In one case, you can continue to edit with the older version until they make significant improvements. In the other case, your choice is continue to pay, or lose everything. That is going to keep at least a decent percentage of people paying for the continued privilege of 'renting' the software. Do you see significant improvements in your cell phone service or your cable service when your contract is up? I certainly don't. It's just a service that is provided and I'm not seeing a lot of innovation, and in fact am seeing cell phone carriers try to limit data use and my cable company limit my internet use, even though I paid a premium price 8 years ago for an 'unlimited' use package and have been paying them that high monthly price for the past 8 years. The service has actually gotten worse. An iPhone on the other hand, continues to improve, because once someone has bought one, there have to be decent improvements for them to spend the money to 'upgrade'.

I understand this is not a direct 'apples to apples' comparison, but I think there is some similarities there.....at least in my mind.

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

Suck people in cheap at the start, get them hooked and then slowly increase the price.

Can't think where I've heard of that business model before. :-)

Re: CS6 Cloud subscription = Brilliance?
 

IMO this worried discussion about licensing is much ado about nothing.

If on some far off day not enough people are purchasing perpetual licenses anymore to make it worth the company's bother, how could one blame them for discontinuing that type of licensing? However, nowhere have I heard or read anything to indicate that Adobe intends to discontinue perpetual licensing any time in the foreseeable future. To the contrary, since there is demand for the traditional perpetual licensing model, there is incentive to continue offering it.

Each of us has our choice of a perpetual license or a Creative Cloud license -- so pick whichever works best for you and enjoy. Some people buy their cars; some people lease them. Now you can do the same with Creative Suite. Choice is good.

Note: I'm also removing the off-site links in Gabe's post from yesterday for two reasons:
- Policy: All the factual info is already here on DV Info Net and Adobe's web site and we don't need to be sending our membership away to some third party site for the same info.
- Moderator's prerogrative: I disagree with Gabe about the first link being balanced; IMO it leans more toward speculative hyperbole, part of which is already known to be a bit off the mark. Don't need to bring that here to DV Info Net. Thanks for understanding.