In Response to Pro Tools HD 10 Feedback

[panamajack]

Originally Posted by Oblivion777

Upgrade will cost you more if you are on PPro v.3, less if you are on v.4 and even less if you are on v.5

And that is EXACTLY the same as your scenario, albeit with different figures.

Ok. So you and I both agree that there is life outside of Avid. But I chose not to jump on board the Adobe bandwagon for EXACTLY the reasons you state. I bought Sony's Vegas PRO. It had a thirty day trial, long enough to learn and complete my first video documentary. I subsequently bought it at Version 6 and just upgraded to Vegas Studio PRO 11 for $149. Anyone from ANY prior PRO version was eligible for the discounted upgrade price. Over the years, Sony has received over $1,000 from me, as I purchased upgrades and add-ons.

At the time, about five years ago, I considered Avid's video stuff, but I am an occasional user, and it was priced way out of my league. At the time, even Final Cut was $1,000. So, I went with the product with the biggest bang for the buck. Now, however, Version 11 is 64 bit, burns Blu-ray, has multi-camera editing, its own set of plug-ins, a mixer and even has Boris add-on options, something that used to set Adobe, Finalcut and Avid apart. And guess what: IT NEVER HAS CRASHED ON ME!

If the Sony upgrade had cost $2,500, any other alternative would have been preferable.

[Avid]

Originally Posted by gclef101

Thanks Max can you elaborate on the 14 day trial. How do I get it and do get to download the update on a trial? Thanks for you help

The Pro Tools 10 Trial is now live.

Click here for details.

[Max Gutnik]

Also of note, we made the trial 30 days, per your feedback.

[johnnyv]

Max, do you think you're going to address the topic of PT8HD-PT10HD upgrade prices? A lot of us are interested in hearing Avid's perspective on that, so I'm sure that many of us keep checking back on this thread for that. If you don't think you'll be able to comment further, at least some of won't have to keep checking the thread to see if you've responded...

Thanks much.

[Max Gutnik]

Originally Posted by johnnyv

Max, do you think you're going to address the topic of PT8HD-PT10HD upgrade prices? A lot of us are interested in hearing Avid's perspective on that, so I'm sure that many of us keep checking back on this thread for that. If you don't think you'll be able to comment further, at least some of won't have to keep checking the thread to see if you've responded...

Thanks much.

Hi Johnny. There are no pricing changes planned at this time. There is a pretty cool Legacy TDM to HD Native promo that may be worth checking out: http://www.sweetwater.com/mobile/det...d=HDXLeg-HDNat

[johnnyv]

Thanks, Max.

I don't think people were looking for price changes (although that would be great!). I think many of us were wondering about the thinking behind the extra $500 cost for those of us PT8HD professionals who never upgraded to PT9HD because PT9 was geared towards the introduction of HD Native. Secondarily, I think many are interested in the reasoning behind not offering the $599 service plan to PT8HD users who, again, didn't upgrade to PT9HD for the same reason.

Do you have any comment on these issues? If not, I understand. But many people have posed these very questions, but in my searches, I've not seen any comment on the reasoning in either case. Perhaps I've missed some earlier comment?

Thanks again so much. I know you've got a full plate getting PT10 launched...

[Max Gutnik]

Hi Johnny- I can't really comment other than to reiterate what's already been said. We do understand your concerns and are listening to the feedback.

The best upgrade value is in exchanging existing hardware to HD Native or HDX systems. The software upgrade is included as part of the package and ensures you are set for the future as we move to 64bit.

[johnnyv]

Thank you, Max. When you say you can't comment other than to reiterate what's already been said, I don't think anything *has* been said on this topic that I have seen. If I missed the appropriate comments somewhere, can you point me to the particular thread or posts?

Otherwise, I understand you to be saying that you simply have no comment on the reason(s) for the extra $500 for the PT8HD/TDM users to upgrade and the lack of ability of your PT8HD/TDM users to have access to the $599 service plan, and that's fair enough.

If there are threads where these topics have been discussed, let me know. If not, I'll presume that Avid isn't currently planning to address those topics.

Thanks again for your presence here!

[Max Gutnik]

Originally Posted by johnnyv

Thank you, Max. When you say you can't comment other than to reiterate what's already been said, I don't think anything *has* been said on this topic that I have seen. If I missed the appropriate comments somewhere, can you point me to the particular thread or posts?

Otherwise, I understand you to be saying that you simply have no comment on the reason(s) for the extra $500 for the PT8HD/TDM users to upgrade and the lack of ability of your PT8HD/TDM users to have access to the $599 service plan, and that's fair enough.

If there are threads where these topics have been discussed, let me know. If not, I'll presume that Avid isn't currently planning to address those topics.

Thanks again for your presence here!

The pricing is tiered based on how current your previous version of Pro Tools is. Many customers did upgrade to Pro Tools HD 9 last year and therefore pay less to upgrade to Pro Tools 10 this year.

The Standard Support promo allows customers who were already on Pro Tools HD 9 to buy a Standard Support Plan as if they were on the current version of software. When we communicated the Standard Support option originally, we realized quickly, based on the feedback, that very few customers knew about Standard Support and could not have taken advantage of it last year when upgrading to HD 9, even if they wanted to.

Based on this, we wanted to give those customers an opportunity to get on this retroactively. Essentially, they are paying what they would have paid last year had they purchased the Standard Support Plan along side their Pro Tools HD 9 upgrade - and since Pro Tools HD 10 came out within the year, they would have been eligible for a complimentary upgrade.

Pro Tools HD 8 customers who did not upgrade to HD 9 last year would not have had a current Standard Support Plan and therefore would not have been eligible for a complimentary upgrade to HD 10. Going forward, you can purchase the Pro Tools HD 10 upgrade for $1499 to get current and then purchase a Standard Support Plan for $599, but when we move to 64bit, you will need to upgrade your hardware. This is why I recommended the Legacy TDM to HD Native promo available through the end of the year. It's essentially the same price as the software upgrade, plus you get all the benefits of HD Native, including support for new features and 64bit in the future. You can also purchase Standard Support for the new system as well.

I hope that helps.

[jeremybhunter]

I'm finding it impossible to download the HD 10 software for the trial. I've almost completely blown a day, and, then it hit me, I have been given the license for HD 10 and the software for regular 10. Could this be the case? Anybody run into this trying to download the trial?

Thanks for help...
JH