CPTK to PT11HD Pricing Proposal for Tony Carridi and Tom Graham

[CPTK]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Didn't HD users pay $999 upgrading from 9 to 10 while CPTK users got off only paying $300?

And the response... (Drumroll, please...)

Originally Posted by WKG

Yup. That was quite a debacle as well.

Wow, it's about time that someone other than myself acknowledge the flaw in the past pricing model (or lack thereof) for us CPTK licensees. That’s about the most honest admission that I’ve seen from anyone else to this point.

I can understand that for the hobbyist out there, the added cost to get “HD features" is a tremendous burden. Perhaps the standard version is a better match for that particular user. That should always be the first consideration. For songwriters/composers that work closely with studios, the CPTK/HD-software only option is a great fit. I'll be sorry to see this option disappear for aspiring writers/composers in the future as it does assist greatly with workflow. But it’s not the end-all by any means.

For those that do make a living with the CPTK should honestly look upon themselves and realize why the CPTK couldn't forever exist as a key to the "HD city". It should never have been (or rather become) a more attractive alternative to the hardware licensee.

Again, steps do need to be taken by Avid to ensure the pricing integrity of their products going forward. Most of us (I think) are end-users (artists, content producers, engineers, etc.) and not in the business of reselling used equipment or licenses, so there should be no complaints on that front. Doing so I think that Avid will be able to find a workable solution where all end-user types can coexist, and not be in a position to remove options from the marketplace. Though as a CPTK licensee, I can honestly respect that for Avid it still and always will boil down to price and how it affects the hardware line. Push come to shove the hardware licensee will win this battle (or already has.) So better there be a li'l bit o' give from us or else there be nothin' but a whole lotta pain!

[WKG]

Originally Posted by CPTK

For those that do make a living with the CPTK should honestly look upon themselves and realize why the CPTK couldn't forever exist as a key to the "HD city". It should never have been (or rather become) a more attractive alternative to the hardware licensee.

It never was a key to "HD city"

It simply unlocked a few crippled features.

[WKG]

I have to say that a good bit of the posting in this thread sounds like disgruntled and insecure HD owners.

The CPTK was only an unlock for a few crippled software features. Get over it, enough already.

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by nigelpry

Bill,

My first post in this thread was mainly a response to the OP, and contained one line for you, a humorous comment about the predictability of your input .... you can tell it's intended as humour by the " ;-) " at the end of that line.

I accept it could also be perceived as a bit of a veiled cheap shot, and for that I apologise.

My second post in this thread to mention you was also, IMO, mostly an attempt to be humorous. It wasn't aimed at you, but was a light-hearted response to a subsequent post by someone else. That much is clear if you read my post in context of what went before it.

But of course there was a bit of a sting in the tail behind it too. And as that has clearly upset you, then of course I apologise for that too. I am all for everyone having a voice, I've said that in a number of posts in different threads over the years.

I suppose I just find it a little odd that someone would choose to take the time to comment, when the situation they are joining in the discussion about is not something they have a direct stake in, and they comment in a way that is contrary to the flow of discussion, and emerging consensus, involving people who do have a direct stake in the outcome.

In saying that, of course, I've been assuming, from the info contained in your profile, that you are a HD owner/user and do not have CPTK yourself. From your more recent post in this thread, it appears you are a 003 +PT9 user without CPTK. I apologise for misunderstanding, but that was an honest mistake.

While I of course accept your right to comment, you have also to accept that people will wonder what the motives are for your comments. If you don't have CPTK it is too late to get it, if you have HD it's not an issue for you. I struggle to see why you would want to comment with your views on what is an appropriate solution to the issue when, for you, there is no issue at all.

When all the anger was voiced regarding the PT9HD to PT10HD upgrade pricing, I had views on the subject, but I wouldn't have entered the fray to voice my views, because I'm not a HD owner/user, so my views would have been irrelevant. If I had posted what I thought, and if it went against the grain of what most people directly involved were saying, I wouldn't have been surprised if people weren't terribly happy about it.

I'm not going to dignify your derogatory comments about my reading skills with a reply, except to say that you seem to be far more adept and direct at hurling personal insults than I. People in glass houses ... etc seems an appropriate proverb here.

And, unless the Atlantic divide has simply resulted in me totally misunderstanding your sense of humour (and if I have misunderstood you then, again, I apologise), I have to say that many of your one-liners seems deliberately designed to provoke a reaction. Are you then surprised, offended and upset when people do react?

And as for childish behaviour ... well for the most part my contributions to any thread in the DUC forums are well intentioned, and intended to be informative and helpful. Feel free to have a look at my posts away from this thread and the PT11 announcement timeline.

In fact have a look at my post a couple of days ago in the tips and tricks section in which I helped someone to learn how to use the varispeed version of elastic audio to achieve what they wanted to do. That's the way I like to operate in the DUC forums.

And don't forget, as you are a 003 owner, that it was me who troubleshooted, diagnosed, identified and posted up the solution to the problem when PT9 came out that lead to the installer removing part of the 003 driver set on Macs, which eventually lead to Avid providing the little fix app to reinstall the missing bits. I described in detail both the problem and the solution, a manual fix. Digidesign released the fix app several months later. My work was acknowledged in that thread by DigiTechSupport.

Finally, I did question the motives of several moderators, for the possibly misleading, possibly ill-considered and possibly uninformed comments made in the early days of the CPTK thread. Maybe, residually, that experience left me tuned in to querying the motives behind some posted comments by others, including yourself. Again, if I have misunderstood you, my apologies.

However, I've also been heartened by the people who have commented in the threads and/or PM'ed me, to thank me for my contributions.

Nigel...

I don't have the time right at the moment to give you a proper point-by-point reply, but I wanted to jump in here as soon as possible and offer you an honest and heartfelt apology...

I hope you can accept it and that we can have a truce, as I believe both of us truly have the best interests of the CPTK users at heart.

I have the feeling that were we to meet in person, we might end up cracking each other over the head with beer bottles, but God help anyone else who jumped on either of us!

My only interest in the whole CPTK thing is in trying to help those of you who are CPTK users come up with a solution that works for both you guys and for Avid.

Again, please accept my apology...I misunderstood some of your words and overreacted.

And hopefully we (and/or others) can find an equitable solution to the CPTK situation...

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Yeah, if you don't stop being so childish, I'll "tell on you!"

Humor is often hard to discern on the interwebs, so settle down, cowboy.



kasper

Unfortunately, amongst the 900 or so pills my advanced age dictates I take each day, none of them offer any calming effects.

But I am trying to overcome my (hopefully) temporary loss of perspective...

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by WKG

I suppose one big difference though is that CPTK will not allow users to run PT as an HD/HDX system with the hardware, It just unlocks some software features.

Actually, yes it will.
Someone posted that PT10/CPTK would run an HD rig, I was skeptical.
So, as an experiment, I had my buddy bring his iLok with 10 + CPTK to my studio, and it ran my PT HD Native + HD I/O 8x8x8 rig just fine.
Imagine that!

[nigelpry]

Bill, if I'm ever in your neck of the woods, I'd much rather crack open a beer with you and drink it. Cracking it over your head would be a waste of a good beer ;-)

Not that there is any good beer in America from what I've heard ;-)

Truce well and truly accepted!

[nigelpry]

ej,

seeing as you have the ability to do the test ... it would be interesting to see whether the true HD only features get unlocked when using CPTK with HDN hardware.

For instance Solo bus AFL/PFL switching, that you don't get with CPTK?

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by nigelpry

ej,

seeing as you have the ability to do the test ... it would be interesting to see whether the true HD only features get unlocked when using CPTK with HDN hardware.

For instance Solo bus AFL/PFL switching, that you don't get with CPTK?

That would involve getting my pal back over here, which probably won't happen anytime soon as he lives 100 miles away.
If I can, I'll check it out and report back.

[ChazC]

Originally Posted by nigelpry

For instance Solo bus AFL/PFL switching, that you don't get with CPTK?

I'd also be very interested to know if dynamic voice allocation works. I'd love that feature. If I go the HD upgrade route I'd really hope voice allocation will work without Avid hardware exclusively.