TrevorA:

Quantel always used to work on the basis that everything was inside the box you bought, but you only got to use the features  you had paid for, the rest were locked. IIRC you could rent the extra layers for a period, rather than having to upgrade the whole system for ever (like renting Genarts plug-ins).

I always thought this would be a good idea for the Symphony Color Corrector.  If Avid finally decided to merge Symphony and Media Composer, a user could either buy the color corrector as a full added "feature" or rent it for the time they need to do CC.  So, you cut on a more basic Media Composer model and then at online/finish, you could rent to CC module until the program is done and output.  Of course if you need to go back and make changes....could be a problem.

Or they just merge the products and give us the Symph CC for free a la FCP and Color...

jveekeres:

Hear hear...Sorry for going OT here...

Adman, FreeDV was stopped actually due to its succes???? The fact that you got the feetback, good or bad, is a very good indication that people are using your software.

That ain't what I said, so hang on just a minute there... lol.

I did not provide any information or speculation on why Free DV was discontinued. I only stated the facts regarding the burden that it presented according to what I have heard. And I fully understand the concept of "Murphy's Law," and the old adage that "you give an inch, they take a mile," and "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" for that matter... oh... and "no good deed goes unpunished."

I don't know nor did I claim to know the reason why Free DV was discontinued.

Adman:

I don't know nor did I claim to know the reason why Free DV was discontinued.

Ok fair enough.. but were you trying to point out that a "free" version causes avid enormous load on its resources and that therefor avid will most probably not go that road again?

The fact is that freedv was discontinued. If it would have helped in improving avids market position today is  speculation. I think it would have but who am I...

But if avid doesn't want the burden of users asking for support then maybe they should drop Media composer, drop symphony, drop unity, drop pinnacle, drop...., and only keep ISIS and DS... ok I'm exaggerating. I don't mean this literary.

But if avid wants to be market leader and compete with FCP, the burden of users needing support is unavoidable. The main competitor is Apple not "honky tonky computers", so avid needs to sell thousand and thousands of licenses... Maybe a free version for offline could help with that. I think throwing in the argument of "the burden" is the same as saying "we can't do it".

jveekeres:

Adman:

I don't know nor did I claim to know the reason why Free DV was discontinued.

Ok fair enough.. but were you trying to point out that a "free" version causes avid enormous load on its resources and that therefor avid will most probably not go that road again?

Again, you are "nuancing" my comments. ;) I'm just pointing out some considerations... I'll leave the decisionmaking up to Avid.

I am pointing out simply that what can seem logical from the outside looking in, can be a different animal in a "real world" scenario. The Free DV scenario is a good example of that as it caused a suprisingly large burden on Avid corporate resources from what I understand...and it epitomized the cliches that I mentioned.

Btw...Avid doesn't "want" to be a market leader... it is the market leader, historically. It OWNED the professional video editing market for many years.

Also... I didn't say (speculate) that Avid won't most probably go down that road again or any road. That would be up to Avid, not me. ;)

Adman:

Again, you are "nuancing" my comments. ;) I'm just pointing out some considerations...

OK.

Adman:

Btw...Avid doesn't "want" to be a market leader... it is the market leader, historically. It OWNED the professional video editing market for many years.

It OWNED... exactly. And the way it looks to me avid is trying to regain that position.. Maybe not in the way it once was but try at least to stop the loss of market share to FCP.

My point is not to nuance your words... or say that the problems avid faced with freedv are true or false or that they were right or wrong to discontinue freedv.

My point is that having a large user base puts a large load on after-sales and support. Lowering the price, as avid has done recently, to the point where some software might be free, creates a shift in your user base. This shift is a market development. Not just something avid faces. I believe avid started something right, back then, with freedv, when I look at these market developments today. I believe they should have given it a bigger chance.

In general I don't know if free products are the solution. I believe they can help but understand that there is much more to it. But the argument that it would bring too much load on avids infrastructure and support people is like saying:"We are not big enough to compete with Apple", while at the same time FCP is not known for its great support...

Its just my 2 cents...

The future for a 'lite editor' for producers etc is web browser based.

Avid just bought Max T ? they had the technology for this.

Hmmmm, I forgot about that,  Good connection Nick.  I think you're right.

Ra-ey

Indeed, if avid is developing some web based edit browse.... that would be great

Why not allow your MC to act as a browser with option to do basic assembly by simply not having the Dongle present? A bit like when you have AXP & MC on the one machine where the dongle determines what options are allowable...Eg which editor is licensed!