Dale B posted at 10:02AM Wed, 21 October 2015 - #4234547

Getting the bowels in an uproar over something that hasn't even begun to appear to be happening is kind of a waste of energy, you know?

Definitely. But where's the fun in that? ;)

mouser posted at 10:04PM Tue, 20 October 2015 - #4230893

Well at least it isn't Autodesk.

It won't matter if the outcome is the same. :(

Quote - Yup, I signed the petition.  Last I saw they had over 30,000 signatures.  There's been quite an ongoing protest in Adobe's forums but they don't seem to care.

They don't. In fact they expected to lose some customers and expecting losses for 2013 and 2014 with 2015 seeing the first increases. They seriously plan to wait out all of those who want to wait to see what Adobe will do - fully expecting our resolve to lose steam and then join the CC. They really do not care about this portion of their userbase. It is ONLY about the bottom line. It's NOT about creating the tools that hobbyists and professionals want or need - it's ONLY about money.

For me, I will NEVER join the CC and Adobe can take a flying leap. Imagine if this is how they treat their loyal customers now, what is in store for those who support them by joining CC? They may even lower the price to make it more attractive to the holdouts, but that price WILL go up. When they've got what they feel is a large userbase stuck on the cloud, they WILL begin to raise the prices. It's inevitable since they will NEED to make more and more profits - their shareholders will demand it.

Quote - Megalodon, for a small studio such as yours, would you not be better off with one or more copies of Speedtree?

My primary reason for looking into TPF was the animation of the foliage. I don't create models to sell them - so that's not my concern, but I do understand that for others it IS very important. TPF just looked like a great option to export animated plants for use with scenes inside of Lightwave. But with the restrictions on the Studio version, it just seems that e-on is far too paranoid and I don't really like how they've handled customers over the years anyway...   so I think I'll opt out. I may look at Speedtree, but right now I've decided to sit back and wait until I really NEED something.

Quote - You are correct Megalodon. I did not receive the answer you did when I asked specifically about this.

Well that would figure - different answers for different people.  :)

But they want us to spend $3k for two licenses of Producer instead of $790 for two licenses of Studio JUST so I can transfer models between the two. Am I the ONLY one who think that's...   stupid marketing?

Quote - I believe this idea that you cannot exchange plant models between two licenses of The Plant Factory is an error, megaldon. It is clearly intended that plants made in the high end versions of TPF be usable is all the versions of that program.

Actually it's been confirmed that there is indeed that restriction in place. It isn't an error. Amazing.

"You would need Producer to be able to transfer assets between multiple copies of Plant Factory.
It will be possible to upgrade from Studio to Producer."

At the bottom of the comments - my post 30 their reposnse 31:

http://www.theplantfactory-tech.com/index.php?post/2013/06/03/Lifting-the-Polygon-Limit-on-Plant-Factory-Studio-and-Selling-Plants

The million polygon limit for the Studio version has been lifted, but why in the name of all that's holy do they restrict users from using models created on this license? Apparently if I have two licenses of Studio, I can't take the models from the one license and transfer to the other license. I mean, WTF? Why this restriction? Why does e-on behave with such incredible paranoia? For me, this is a COMPLETE deal breaker even if the foliage is PERFECT.

I was hoping to buy this software - especially at the special price of $395. But then I also think that the Producer version should have the Studio price and the Studio version remain at $395. Apparently many others do as well. Oh well e-on...  another lost sale.

Quote - Xara and Xara Pro http://www.xara.com/us/products/designer/

I have Xara WebDesigner Pro and it's a joy to use. Before that it was MS Frontpage and I did not like using it. Xara is VERY easy and I believe it does use Photoshop plugins - but I would check on that first.

For the time being I'll be using Production Premium Suite CS4, but it will certainly be my last unless Adobe changes its mind and also offers perpetual licenses in addition to CC subscriptions. And considering the amount of flack that they;ve been hearing, that may very well happen.

Here are a couple of places to visit:

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2013/05/you-should-never-lose-access-to-your-work-period.html

http://boycottcreativecloud.com/

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672530/adobe-5-reasons-we-killed-the-creative-suite?utm_source=twitter

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57582735-92/adobe-kills-creative-suite-goes-subscription-only/?part=rss&subj=software&tag=title

There is Corel and Xara that are both pretty good.

Also, I think you have until sometime in June before they stop selling the boxed copies of CS6.

This is great!

Thank you ALL for your input - it is MUCH appreciated.

I don't know what route we'll eventually be taking - going with Lightwave and/or Blender - but at least I have an excellent starting point.

Again, thank you!

Being unable to upgrade from older previouos versions is one BIG reason I stopped buying Vue. I love the program and the capabilities, but the sheer greed of requiring you to buy a full package after skipping a couple of upgrades is ludicrous. This is one of the things that I absolutely LOVE about Newtek and Luxology - both companies allow you to upgrade from ANY previous version at the same upgrade cost! Incredible!

Until they change their ways, I'll not be a customer - they don't DESERVE my loyalty and patronage since they cannot respect my previous purchases from them. Too bad.

Well...    nothing going to be happening with Smith-Micro - at least for anytime soon. I don't think that I have the experience that they were hoping for. Oh well. Still hoping to see if these other two companies can move Scotty Chase - very slow going.

Quote - Megalodon - i tried sending you an email last week through the website - don't know if you received it or not, but I'd like to connect with you about this project.

Cooper

Poser Product Manager

Hey Cooper....

Sorry, didn't get your email. I don't ignore people - well...   most people.  :)  You can email me at:

dave@digitalsorcerywarehouse.com

I don't take too long to respond - though I do have unusual business hours: about 4pm to 5am EDT.  ;)

Quote - I hope the best for you. :)

Thank you! I can use all the hope I can get!  ;)

Quote - Bummer!

I spoke too soon. Shortly after the Update post I made above, I got an email from Creative Entertainment Media. And then another email from the first party I contacted. It seems both are interested. So far it doesn't look like I would need to spend any money with either company - at the moment anyway. I'm still reviewing all of the paperwork with my wife.

CEM suggested that if the episode could be expanded to a full hour - about 44 minutes of animation - the deal may be better. Interestingly enough, my first cut ran 34 minutes. I only wanted to cut it down to run in a half hour time slot. Adding another ten minutes would not be too difficult since I have scenes that I cut and assorted special effects I chose not to create. It may take a couple of months, but adding the extra footage may be good. But then we all know that it's the STORY that counts more than the visuals. Still...   a few more great visuals might help.

I'll be going over some deleted shots and others that I never created to see if it would work better or not. Either way...  it seems that I may have my foot in at least two doors. Time will tell....

Thanks for the info Nance - hopefully it will end up panning out!

Megalodon

Update.

No word from Creative Entertainment Media - so I would guess that they ask EVERYONE for money to help themselves. I'm glad I added that in my email - not to reply if they would be asking for money. I do hate scams like that, but it's good to check just in case. Of course the "other company" I'm dealing with usually takes about a week to reply after each email. It would more than likely be different if I had a complete series or feature-length film done. One episode doesn't offer too much.

Slowly pressing onward....  :)

Megalodon