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  #1  
Old 10-22-2018, 03:35 PM
Peter Baird's Avatar
Peter Baird Peter Baird is offline
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Default Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

Let me paint the picture.

While I'm still very active in television production, the explosion in the availability of post-production facilities and my own indifference to marketing myself means that post work for me is now somewhat rare. Truth be told, most of my Pro Tools work is for myself--I do recording and mixing for various friends and clients, and use it to flesh out song ideas and microscopically advance my abysmal guitar skills.

This is a far cry from when I was deep into simultaneous production and post-production that went from around PT5 to PT9. After that I had a lovely interval with a D-Control and PT11 completely ITB doing music for a late night show. Now, however, not so much. The system might get used daily for 2 or 3 weeks, or it might sit for a like amount of time.

I'm coming up to my renewal deadline in November. My personal renewal nut for Ultimate is $400, and while that isn't a huge number it isn't a small one either.

On the plus side, Ultimate continues my relationship with all my present HD hardware and software. I'm used to the way Midi works in PT, and while it can be slow, I can be slow as well. I'm particularly addicted to the place existing song on timeline/get tempo close with click track/warp song to grid workflow. And PT still seems to be the most comprehensive package of audio production tools.

On the negative side Avid seems somewhat stuck in place with a relatively old chunk of code that has only gotten buggier as more capabilities are added. I really detest 9096 crashes (and yes, I do all my due diligence on versions and optimizations), and it took an unconscionably long time for EuCon to stabilize.

I've recently started a relationship with Studio One, and I like the idea of not being on a renewal plan, but I still seem to open PT whenever I start a project. Of course I keep my perpetual license if I stop renewing, but it would really feel like the end of era. Anybody want to weigh in?

Peter
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  #2  
Old 10-22-2018, 05:20 PM
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JCBigler JCBigler is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

I guess what you're really asking here is, should you pay up the $400 to renew your upgrade plan with HD/Ultimate whatever Avid is calling is this week...

From my perspective as a professional audio guy, I can't see it being anything other than an asset. Even if you start exploring other DAWs out there, you still have Protools to fall back to, which you know well and seem to be happy and comfortable with, since it's your go to.

I tried a couple years ago to switch to something else because I didn't want to pay the renewal fees every year. Looked at several other DAWs: Cubase/Nuendo, Studio One, Reaper. I just couldn't get comfortable with them and kept going back to Protools. Now I'm about to add an Ultimate license to my personal toolkit as I am about to buy a remote production truck here soon.

On the flip side, since most of my regular recording work is classical music ensembles these day, and I have started working with a company that specializes in live classical music production; I see myself adding a source-destination DAW such as Sequoia to my toolbox and skill set also.

But the hardware is a big variable on the Protools side of the equation. You've got a lot of it, you know how to use it, and it works. Nuendo is about the only other DAW out there that has anything close to the level of hardware integration that Protools has.

Probably doesn't help much. My vote is to pay the Avid tax and be happy working, and not frustrated learning new software.
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  #3  
Old 10-22-2018, 06:39 PM
DarkandKurious DarkandKurious is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

I'm not on HD/Ultimate, so the decision is easier for me. The way I see it, I used to pay ~$400 every three years for an upgrade, and it was filled with three years worth of workflow upgrades. Bug fixes got implemented as OS's were released, in a slower fashion than they are now. Today, I pay ~ $140 every year for a year's worth of workflow upgrades, and usually OS compatibility. It's pretty much the same deal, the cash flow is just spread out and I no longer treat my DAW as something I'll upgrade when I have the big lump sum.

I'm not suggesting Avid are doing the best job they could, but it does seem to me that the last two years have delivered an amazing number of workflow improvements for me. There are still bugs, but on the whole I know where they are, just like earlier.

People reminisce about stability from the period of their lives when OS's and CPU's didn't change each year. I think that is the real problem - the development cycle is shortened to an impossible level for software developers to achieve any meaningful advances.

The few times I've transferred projects to another DAW or (shock) mixed in a different DAW, I got rage for how counterintuitive they were. I know that it is just the learning curve, but I would rather have low level simmering at Avid and keep getting my work done with work arounds than banging my head against other software.

Admittedly, my cost for continuing is much lower, so it's not a fair comparison. You still get to keep your license anyway, so you'll always have PT at this level. with whichever legacy version you prefer.

If you're putting this point up for debate, there are as many reasons for as against that you can't make a personal decision, so I would tend to advise for keeping the status quo for another year while you thoroughly research/explore options. I have the feeling the next few updates will have some necessary OS compliances behind the surface.
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  #4  
Old 10-22-2018, 10:30 PM
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YYR123 YYR123 is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

Peter it is weird to see what a similar situation we are/were in, even down to our similar guitar skills

I parked my system sometime last year or 1.5 years (it’s hard to remember)

One thing you didn’t mention is which side of the OS divide you are on. If you have a dedicated PT system that you can leave parked at a particular OS then you have a better chance at parking and continuing your blissful experience with PT, when ever you choose

If you have to update your OS every year then you might want to consider paying the Avid Tax

I put my $400 this year towards a Fender Super Reverb !!!! Great amp !!!
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  #5  
Old 10-23-2018, 01:17 AM
johnnyv johnnyv is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

If you continue to do nearly *any* work at the professional level, you'll be needing ProTools. And while sure, you can park it now and leave it where it is - as long as you'll not be wanting to upgrade your computer OS for reasons of general OS enhancement/compatibility with other software, you'll be missing future enhancements. I can't imagine not working, for instance, with Clip FX (a relatively recent enhancement). And I haven't even started to explore the other cool features added 2018.7. Plus, $400 is basically $1.10 per day. At that price, would it really be worth the savings NOT to renew and stay up to date?

I vote RENEW.
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  #6  
Old 10-23-2018, 01:30 AM
deanrichard deanrichard is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

If you don't need to stay current (and many facilities use older versions of PT) then you can stand pat with your current version of PT, and move on.

I can only speak to my own experience. In the past I needed PT to exchange projects with studios where I was doing recording, but things have changed. As you currently do, I work primarily on my own projects, and I don't need PT for compatibility. My license expired with v12.8, and I've moved on. I now only use PT for older, existing projects. For me, it was the best decision I could have made. For my needs, PT was never the best choice. FWIW, I'm on PC, and OS upgrades are not an issue.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Baird View Post
Let me paint the picture.

While I'm still very active in television production, the explosion in the availability of post-production facilities and my own indifference to marketing myself means that post work for me is now somewhat rare. Truth be told, most of my Pro Tools work is for myself--I do recording and mixing for various friends and clients, and use it to flesh out song ideas and microscopically advance my abysmal guitar skills.

This is a far cry from when I was deep into simultaneous production and post-production that went from around PT5 to PT9. After that I had a lovely interval with a D-Control and PT11 completely ITB doing music for a late night show. Now, however, not so much. The system might get used daily for 2 or 3 weeks, or it might sit for a like amount of time.

I'm coming up to my renewal deadline in November. My personal renewal nut for Ultimate is $400, and while that isn't a huge number it isn't a small one either.

On the plus side, Ultimate continues my relationship with all my present HD hardware and software. I'm used to the way Midi works in PT, and while it can be slow, I can be slow as well. I'm particularly addicted to the place existing song on timeline/get tempo close with click track/warp song to grid workflow. And PT still seems to be the most comprehensive package of audio production tools.

On the negative side Avid seems somewhat stuck in place with a relatively old chunk of code that has only gotten buggier as more capabilities are added. I really detest 9096 crashes (and yes, I do all my due diligence on versions and optimizations), and it took an unconscionably long time for EuCon to stabilize.

I've recently started a relationship with Studio One, and I like the idea of not being on a renewal plan, but I still seem to open PT whenever I start a project. Of course I keep my perpetual license if I stop renewing, but it would really feel like the end of era. Anybody want to weigh in?

Peter
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  #7  
Old 10-23-2018, 05:35 AM
Drew Mazurek's Avatar
Drew Mazurek Drew Mazurek is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

If you're making money from PT, call it a cost of doing business and write it off.

I think everyone is going to want their PT plan current in the coming 6 months.
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  #8  
Old 10-23-2018, 06:00 AM
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JFreak JFreak is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek View Post
I think everyone is going to want their PT plan current in the coming 6 months.
Oh yeah
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  #9  
Old 10-23-2018, 07:06 AM
JCBigler's Avatar
JCBigler JCBigler is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

Quote:
Originally Posted by JFreak View Post
Oh yeah
Oh you wacky mods...
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  #10  
Old 10-23-2018, 07:51 AM
midnightrambler midnightrambler is offline
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Default Re: Renewal Ruminations--Opinions Welcome

Fixed X-Form Elastic or something better?

Decent audio pitch editor incorporated into ProTools?

Not interested in anything else really. Whatever's on the horizon's got to be more kick-ass than search for plug-ins features... *MAJOR YAWN*
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