VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

todd ellis

i've been using adobe products for 20+ years. it looks like now i am being forced into the world of "CC". the more i read about the invasive practices of adobe, the less i like it. running processes in the background even when not running an adobe program in order to "serve" you better??? all the bloatware slowing my machine down? only able to work offline for a limited time? it all goes very much against my grain.

i could switch to final cut or davinci and re-learn --- but there is really no viable alternative to after effects. apple motion sucks and i am not in the budget range of hollywood level fx suites.

mostly i'm just venting on a saturday morning - but i would like to know if anyone has had a particular experience with CC - good or otherwise.

/rant
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:28 am Post subject:

I fully understand paying for a subscription to something like a magazine, which gives you new content every month, but I fail to understand why I should pay for a subscription to a formerly stand-alone product, simply to line the pockets of the provider. Did Adobe cripple some of their pre-CC versions so they would stop working beyond a particular date, forcing users to buy subscriptions? If so, there must be a version that didn't include a kill date. I've mentioned before, I'm still using Cool Edit 2000, which is, essentially, Adobe Audition 1.0. It cost me the equivalent of $262 in today's money, I have installed it on four desktop and three laptop computers, and it still works with Windows 10. Yes, there are some features it lacks that the more present day versions have, but not thousands of dollars worth.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 11:18 am Post subject:

My first experience with Adobe goes back to my days with a corporate multimedia production house, beginning in the late 80s, when we converted our conventional typesetting and paste-up art department to Mac computers (Windows wouldn't come along for several more years). Adobe's first products were Postscript, which became the industry-standard digital printer language, and Postscript fonts. Next was Illustrator, and Photoshop came along in 1989.

We loved Adobe's products. But, even before Creative Cloud came along, I began noticing, as Todd has, Adobe's propensity for loading our computers with software; some of which we wonder whether is really necessary.

And, for the same reason as Lee mentioned, I never liked the idea of being charged annual subscription rates for software that used to be standalone. I considered it to be Adobe's way of getting back at the marketplace for those who, for years, were able to freely give copies of the applications to friends to use (shortly after came the dongle).

Now in voiceover land, besides Audition, the only Adobe a Hobo Tounge

I wanted to use was Photoshop, but I tried Creative Cloud a couple of years ago. I don't rely on Photoshop as I do Audition and, after the first year, they raised the subscription rate. But, because the two rate plans offered are for either a SINGLE a Hobo Tounge

or ALL a

s (no in-between), I decided against continuing with CC.

I am now back to using Audition CS6. It took some doing and undoing to get back to where it launches and behaves the way it did before CC, but I'm sticking with it for as long as I can; meaning I will delay updating my Mac's operating system (Sierra, v10.12.x) as long as possible for that reason. And, I think, if other conditions made it necessary to move to a newer OS, I just may buy a new computer for that and keep my late 2012 Mac mini for Audition.
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BruceG · Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 11:33 am Post subject:

Hey Todd - I TOTALLY feel your pain around this. I actually wanted to start a thread on this not long ago but since you started it, allow me to share my experiences over the past 1.5 years or so.

In 2018 I upgraded to Audition CS6 after finding a reseller on Etsy. VERY cheap price ($45.00). All was fine, the Serial # checked out and I was off to the races. UnTILL...early 2019 I get a prompt to update AA CS6. I update and then get a message from Adobe saying my Serial # was invalid. I decided to go with CC and paid $23/month. But I wasn't happy with CC's functionality as it was as you mentioned - bloated. Not only that, but CC's 2019 upgrades aren't compatible with Windows 7 as of June 2019.

I tried messaging Adobe, stating that I only wanted CS6, that I would pay for a Serial # as I already had the software. We went around in circles ("We don't make CS6 anymore and don't support it", "You need a valid Serial #", "We cannot sell you a Serial # because we don't support or make CS6 anymore"). Finally they said I can find resellers online (ummm, Doi - that's what I did to begin with!). So, I eventually found another reseller who was selling CS6 Master Collection for about $55. I bought it and cancelled my CC subscription, only to get those annoying messages again. Eventually they stopped - and now I have CS6 Master Collection products on 2 machines (Premier Pro, After Effects, Audition, etc.).

As a backup plan, I did purchase Sound Forge Pro 13 Suite (came with Spectralayers Pro 6 and Celemony 4) in case CS6 was taken away. Just today I received a backup AA 3 DVD, Instruction Book, and Adobe-issued Serial # so I'm good to go.

My point in all this is that Adobe is bullying people into subscribing to CC by issuing "Invalid Serial Number" messages because there's more money to be had. But they are pissing off a TON of people in the process!

On a final note - I've heard good things about Davinci Resolve, just in case you decide to unplug from the Matrix that is Adobe CC.

OK - rant over!
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"What was that? An exhibition? We need emotional content." - Bruce Lee, Enter The Dragon

todd ellis · Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 11:43 am Post subject:

my particular problem is that i'm working with others on certain projects and when adobe issues a .xx update it is not backward compatible with older versions - which is effing INSANE. so i can't even open the PR file. message = "this project was saved in a newer version of premiere pro and cannot be opened in this version"

i'm probably holding my nose & pulling the trigger on CC monday because it's a business expense i cannot do without. it's not even the money - i spend more on dumber stuff - i just hate being flippin' hijacked.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

dwpthe3rd · Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 12:43 pm Post subject:

todd ellis · Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 1:30 pm Post subject:

still love AA3 - no problems there --- the rub is with the rest.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 1:31 am Post subject:

If I could buy a legal copy of AA3 (I've checked eBay, periodically, with no success), I would consider upgrading to that from CE2K, but that's as far as I care to go.

I also find it interesting that Adobe's roots were as provider of software for the Mac, but it seems to me the Mac versions of some of their products play second fiddle to the Windows versions.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
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Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 577 Location: SoCal

I use Audition CC and like it, not least for its spectral editor. I also use other Adobe programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom, and Premiere Pro for hobbyist reasons. So though the suite is overpriced I pay for it. I've tried other DAWs but keep coming back to Audition. It's flawed, but I know the flaws pretty well. I do know several top-level VO types who do everything on Twisted Wave, so there's certainly no particular reason to pay up if you're not inclined; but Adobe's got their hooks in me and I have slavish tendencies.
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Mandy Nelson · Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 3:37 pm Post subject:

I use the whole dang suite, especially illustrator and indesign. I think it has slowed up the computer considerably but that could just be that machine. When I use it on the laptop I lug around with me it seems to not slow up as much. I like having it so I'm going to keep on having it.

For recording, I use an older version of Audition and batch processing is better in Sound Forge.
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AlanC · Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:52 pm Post subject:

I've been a CC subscriber since its inception. It's expensive, an extortionate AUD$77 per month. That's for the whole suite but more cost effective than subscribing to just 2 a Hobo Tounge

s, Audition and Photoshop, I use most. I find myself using a few more of Audition's stable mates to justify the cost and as it's an essential business expense for me I can claim for it in my tax return.

Having cut my digital chops on Cool Edit all those years ago, I've stuck with what I know best. I've tried Pro Tools, Reaper and Studio One but keep coming back to Audition, it does what I need.

I think the days of the non-subscription model are numbered for most applications. Commercial enterprise survives on profit and that focus will drive all developers to the subscription model eventually.
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todd ellis · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:08 am Post subject:

the cost is a business expense like any other - no problem there. it's the bloatware and their constant, invasive reckless eyeballin' of my computer that i have a real problem with.

of the programs i use:
Au: no problem, AA3 works great
Ps: no problem Gimp works great
Id: i cut my teeth on Quark Express
Pr: i could switch to final cut or davinci pretty easily
Ae: there's the real problem. to easily add motion graphics to video, in my opinion, there is nothing easier, faster and more economical. thousands of templates available - easy to learn & in combo with Pr & Ps - pretty darn neat. no real substitute i've found yet.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

ronharpervoice · Club 300 Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 347 Location: Ohio

I do not like the CC model. I just had a new system built, and found a headache trying to re-install my Adobe CS 3 (that's right) where I had to get a new serial number online, but it still works for me. I also use Sound Forge (just bought the new version) and Vegas, which I've worked with for 10 years. The only "subscription" software I have is Office, and only because I was tired of dealing with the file extensions on my much older version, which I had gotten from a Microsoft employee.
Sure, I'd love to learn After Effects, but I can make a lot of that happen with my new Vegas software and Canva.
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BruceG · Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 9:38 am Post subject:

The interesting thing about unplugging from the CC Cloud is that now I'm getting emails almost daily from Adobe, practically begging me to "come back to the cloud". I guess they figure that bullying won't work, so now they're trying the "wine and dine" approach.
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"What was that? An exhibition? We need emotional content." - Bruce Lee, Enter The Dragon