After 3 years, is CC working? Worth it?

[Shaun Roemich]

I'm not at all a fan of being held hostage with a rental license but I'm getting ready to commit to the 12 months at a discount as a CS owner before the offer ends in May and then will likely drop my subscription to Premiere-only after that as I still have fully functional CS5.5 Prod. Premium here.

[Dave O'Melia]

CC works well and if you do the math, you end up spending less and being always current. It isn't a static world.

[Gary Huff]

It's no longer viable to develop the kind of professional software unless you have some other side hardware that is subsidising it. No one is going to buy an Adobe phone/tablet/laptop, so this is the only move that makes sense. And, frankly, I appreciate the architecture improvements that the new model has opened up, without it always having to be something of whiz-bang feature that looks good in a demo in order to sell new versions.

Even Microsoft is having to go this route with Office. I'll be very surprised if you can obtain the new 2014 Mac Office without being on Office 360.

If you like what Adobe is doing then you should support them financially, just like any other business. If not, there are alternatives, and you can ride them until we shake out whether subsidized software via hardware can continue for the long term.

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

I appreciate the architecture improvements that the new model has opened up, without it always having to be something of whiz-bang feature that looks good in a demo in order to sell new versions.

A respectfully dissenting opinion:
Most editors that earn a living from editing I have known over the past 17 years will tell you that they buy a new machine pretty much every time they upgrade (or make significant internal upgrades in the case of a tower) before upgrading/updating their edit software and then strive to find the perfect balance of productivity and reliability and then STOP updating to maintain a "mission critical" edit bay.

My first owned edit bay was FCP1.0.2 under OS8.6 (later updated to FCP1.2.5 under OS9.1) on a Mac 450MHz B&W G3 that I ran for 6 years. After 4 years I installed a client copy of FCP2 and ran that (he transferred the license to me) until I EOL'ed that Mac and bought a white iMac in 2004/5 (FCS2) and ran it until 2011 when I bought FCS(3) and a new iMac which now runs FCP7 and PP CS5.5 side by side.

It's a business decision.

I paid $1600 for FCP1.0.2.
$800 for the upgrade to FCS2
$300 used for FCS(3)
$800 for CS5.5 Production Premium on the crossgrade plan for Apple users.

In other words, I happily paid the up front price to legally own the software I purchased in the version that worked for me. I regularly skip a good number of versions which add features I don't need or that "break" that delicate hardware/software balance that video editing software has due to its need to lever major hardware resources. In fact, I bought the 2011 iMac SOLELY because Lion was expected to break Final Cut Studio (which it did to varying degrees - LiveType and other apps stopped working).

I understand that Adobe has decided that my needs don't align with theirs but I would respectfully suggest that it isn't MY business's responsibility to help financially support Adobe's continued R&D on new products, ESPECIALLY when it is obvious they are moving heavily into online marketing solutions based on the sheer number of emails (unsolicited, by the way) I receive on a nearly daily basis telling me how much they can do for me to market my business...

I may have no choice to jump to CC subscription but I don't like it and it doesn't work for me.

[Andrew Smith]

I'm one of those who was vehemently against the principle of having to rent software instead of owning a perpetual licence. So naturally I refused to upgrade beyond CS6.

If anything, it's been a pleasant relief to be off the Adobe upgrade treadmill.

Apart from the better integration with SpeedGrade and being able to apply colour alteration profiles directly to clips on the timeline, I really don't feel as if I am missing out on anything. I can still get my work done just as well as ever. I've got a pretty dang current camera (Sony PMW-300), I shoot to 50Mbit XDCAM and edit away just nicely. What's not to like about that?

I've obviously saved money during the last two or more years. You could think of this as being what enabled me to purchase a copy of Izotope RX4 which is an insanely magical piece of audio repair software. Bang for buck, it's a better improvement to my post-production abilities than anything Adobe could have delivered.

Because I purchased as part of Adobe's volume licencing programme I've had a number of emails from a rep encouraging me to purchase upgrades whilst some special pricing is on offer. I've always politely replied that the subscription model is actually why we have suspended all expenditure on Adobe software and this will only change when a perpetual licence option becomes available again.

In the meantime, I'm continuing to get my work done.

Andrew

[Charles W. Hull]

An advantage of CC for me is that I edit in multiple locations on multiple machines, both Windows and Mac. I currently keep CC loaded on five machines, but only activate two at a time. The PP and AE features I use have not changed much since CS6, but with CS6 I had to choose either Widows or Mac. I went to CC when it was first available, as I was moving my home office to Mac at the time; I've had essentially no problems with CC on either platform - it's very stable and reliable.

[Noa Put]

This subscription model works for some and doesn't work for others, In my particular case it would not work and cost much more then just to buy one time and keep using for as long as I need.

I have been using premiere up to cs3, then switched to edius 5 because cs3 didn't support avchd and I didn't want to go to cs4 because I had quite a lot of stability issues with cs3. The reason why such a subscription model would not work for me is that I intend to use a software program as long as it can support my workflow. I"m also such a person that likes to have a "mission critical" edit bay like Shaun described, I don't have the latest edius 7.5 version because I had some stability issues but instead am running a 7.3 version which is rock solid on my pc with windows 7 and can handle any codec, including raw DNG's from my bmpcc and 4k codecs from sony and panasonic camera's.

I don't see any reason right now to upgrade/update anymore as long my current setup can handle my workflow, this could mean I could be using the same set up for at least another 2 to 3 years without having to spend more then the upgradecost from 6.5 to 7 I paid 1,5 year ago and when I buy a new pc in 2 year with the latest version of edius 8 I can still use my old pc with edius 7.

Because I don't plan to update to every new version that comes along this would be much cheaper for me then paying a fixed amount every month again + once I would stop paying I don't own anything.

[Shaun Roemich]

I may have edited a thing or two as well over the last 17 years that my sole source of income was video production... nothing overblown around the "danger" when you hear about each update "breaking" support for things or causing system instability for numerous users. If you don't need the update, why update? "Legacy" support seems to be waning (personally observation here... I can't give you hard facts and figures) with each subsequent update, not just with Adobe but Apple et al as well, as regards OS support and hardware support.

As a percentage of their initial purchase price, my edit bays have been the most lucrative investments I have made. I'm willing to reinvest in the things that make a difference to stability and productivity but not to a company that is requiring me to constantly "go to the well" except under duress. And I'm not there yet.

[Mike Watson]

Once you get the software dialed in where you want it, you don't need bug fixes. In my experience "bug fixes" introduce more bugs than they "fix". I am now a CC editor, only because there is nothing better. In my experience, that leaves a lot of room in the field, and I expect new, better software in the next year or two. Much like when FCP came on the field. I look forward to it.

[Noa Put]

In my experience "bug fixes" introduce more bugs than they "fix"

My experience as well, there is a reason why I won't update past edius 7.3 right now, 7.4 is causing numerous crashes on my pc while 7.3 has been rock solid so far, go figure. 7.4 also has "bug fixes"...

A update would only be interesting to install if it contains new features that would benefit my workflow but if that is not the case I rather have older version installed that has a proven reliability.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

If you've never had an update serious break something I can see why you might think it's archaic not keep everything up to date. A few years back Apple sent out a security update to their operating system that changed Quicktime which unbeknownst to me made any video recorded with a Firestore incompatible. At the time I had no idea why all my videos no longer worked and what was the cause. It took me over a week of countless hours of nightmarish stress troubleshooting and the fixing the problem.

[Noa Put]

There is always a possibility that a update will affect the stability of the program and it's always specifically related to each and every single pc configuration, if you follow any NLE forum every new update results in users complaining something weird is going on while other users never have a problem. To find out why you have a problem is often like finding a needle in a haystack, it can be a driver issue or another program causing a conflict or maybe it's hardware related.

But if you have a working updated system without any issues and if you then decide to disconnect it from the internet and don't update the OS and programs anymore as long as it supports your workflow you will have a much higher possibility of having a very stable system, something I have experienced over the past 10 years. For internetstuff I have a separate pc and my editing system only gets connected to the net if I really have to (for instance if I want to continue to use tmpgenc software which does require a internet connection once in a while to function.)

[Alan Craven]

I was a regular updater of Premiere (5, 6, 6.5, CS1.5, 2, 4, 5, 5.5, 6), Audition (CS1, 1.5, 2, 3, 5, 5.5, 6), and Photoshop (CS2, 5, 5,5, 6). So I put plenty of ££££ in Adobe's coffers over the years, and did my bit to support development.

Their forced move to renting, with no prospect of ever being able to obtain a permanent licence at any point, cut off my subsidy of their software development.

I am able to use my Canon XA20 (AVCHD 1080p50) and EX3 without problem, as well as my Olympus Pen E. So I feel no pain.

Indeed my forgoing the extra, unwanted by me, gizmos enabled me to upgrade my tripod system from mid-market Manfrotto to upmarket Sachtler, and my ancient Sony V1E to a rather less ancient EX3.

Adobe's loss is other manufacturers' (and my) gain!

Since I ditched my Matrox MXO2 my system has been rock-solid.

[Andrew Smith]

Interestingn angle that has arisen on the upgrade decision making.

With perpetual licence upgrades we could essentially vote with out feet when it came to the next version of your CS software and the features / benefits being offered.

With CC rental (typically in yearly purchases for the best pricing) you're already committed to paying for whatever they produce.

Andrew

[Alan Craven]

I'm with you there Andrew, except that you are not actually paying "FOR" it - you are paying merely for the "USE" of it during that particular twelve month period. In my view there is a major, insurmountable, difference between those two concepts.