SoundonSound interview with Tony from Avid

[electrodaddy]

Check it at 8min 40. Interviewer asked if there are any new features in PT12.

http://youtu.be/A0looBn5rqo

I'm taking that response as a no.

[Michael Zull]

Well, Tony certainly seemed nervous, that's for sure.

And it appears that no, there aren't any new "snazzy, twinkly, fun bits" aside from some stomp box plugins for Pro Tools First

[Dave Lang]

Man I feel sorry for that guy. Trying to sell this is a tough way to earn a living.

[gtrm8kr]

Tony's doing a good job. Tough gig, that.

I'm concerned, though, as an 11R guy, that Avid seem to be cannibalizing it for parts.

[snark warning] And PT 11 just crashed on me 10 minutes ago while I was - get this - selecting a clip in the clip list. For a song with 4 tracks and a total of 20 clips. I guess I shouldn't be pushing it so hard on my dedicated Pro Tools i7 3930K that's as clean and optimized as anything in existence.

[weezul]

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. Hilarious! I feel bad for him, he knows the whole thing is a joke to the average PT user, so does the interviewer. But they're both too nice and there's too much money on the line for them to release real human responses to the situations they are probably both stuck in.

[KV626]

Originally Posted by weezul

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. Hilarious! I feel bad for him, he knows the whole thing is a joke to the average PT user, so does the interviewer. But they're both too nice and there's too much money on the line for them to release real human responses to the situations they are probably both stuck in.

Well after all he works for Avid. It would seem odd for him to say "well there's no new functionality per se in this brand new major upgrade, except for this awesome cloud stuff - you can even "like" your friend's Pro Tools project in one click! Isn't that awesome?"

[::F-L-E-X::]

What's up with the thumb Tony?

Have Avid been applying those hardball tactics again?

[FilterDecay]

journalism in this industry is horrible. That red head could of pinned him down and got some real stuff done instead of just being a platform for sales.

I love when asked about new features he said you can buy stomp boxes. lmao.

[Righty27]

Tony looks like a nice guy ... but NAMM definitely a tough gig this year as he looked uncomfortable at times - maybe he has been reading DUC?!

Whilst I appreciate that this is a 'casual' interview with Soundonsound (whose Will has tellingly never been spotted in the same room as Ed Sheeran), TC does state that it will be less expensive than ever to stay current for folks on a traditional perpetual licence (paraphrased).

As we know, whilst Avid could construct things so that this appears accurate (e.g. by releasing a 'major' upgrade every month), based on the past, it is not strictly true.

I believe a PT11 upgrade used to sell for $299, so $199 is cheaper ... but an upgrade path (for less than the cost of a full new licence/plan @ $899) has always been available (no longer apparently) ... and how many users upgrade immediately for every release? And what's the average time between historical major upgrades? And the perpetual licence is not the 'traditional' licence Tony mentions several times - it will apparently change (e.g. regarding licence transfers and compulsory support plans).

Better to say it as it is - most of us wouldn't mind the strategic push to Everywhere/Marketplace in PT12 if we could just skip this version and its cost until something useful came along, but the new model either results in higher costs or the detsruction of value/investment which TC recognises in the interview.

The fee looks increasingly like a cost to protect previous investment and ensure one can keep compatible with new OS versions/hardware - basically a subscription under another name ... and with little incentive for Avid to keep innovating.

Avid/Tony - simple and rapid turnaround in user goodwill is possible: reflect on this, look at the community's level of buy-in (those who need to stick with Pro Tools until the cloud collaboration stuff kicks off - otherwise, could lose paying users in droves, and I doubt the new 'First' + pricing will lead to queues) and allow for reasonably-priced upgrades for lapsed plans.

[FilterDecay]

clearly avid doesnt think user goodwill will make the stock price go up.