Whats new in Adobe CS6 Production Premium? Im glad you asked!

[lasvideo]

CS6 will surprise and delight everyone here. PrP and AE have worked on the basics and added new tools. I am so excited to see everyones reaction at NAB this year.

http://success.adobe.com/en/na/programs/events/1203_16108_nab.html

[SCAPsinger-PZKeOS]

1) Through May 6th, you can buy 5.5 for $399 and get CS6 for free, whereas if you upgrade direct from CS5 to CS6, it's $749. Why is it $350 more to upgrade once? Is $350 the value of Adobe's annoyance for skipping a half-level, or is this an unintended loophole?

Adobe has usually allowed people who purchased right before the announcement/release of a new version to receive the free upgrade. They do this as a favor, not as a sales promotion. While there are certainly plenty of people who take advantage of it as a sales promotion (and Adobe is fine with that), it's much more about making sure that people who had no idea a new version was around the corner don't get stuck.

As for the difference in price for upgrades, users are given a progressively better discount depending upon how up-to-date they have stayed with their software. Again, you're looking at it the wrong way. It's NOT about Adobe punishing users for not staying up to date, it's about REWARDING users who have. I think most would agree that it's reasonable to expect a loyalty discount of some sort, and the greater your loyalty, the greater your reward. It's not a punishment. If you didn't previously upgrade to CS5.5 when it came out, then you still saved money overall by making the choice that suited you best.

2) SpeedGrade specifically lists the Quadro 4000 as optimal, yet every other program in the suite lists the GTX 285 as supported for GPU acceleration. What is the difference in performance in GPU acceleration between a Quadro 4000 and GTX 285?

The difference is between "supported" and "optimal." The actual real-world difference? Guess we could possibly get some test results from the Adobe folks later today, or maybe someone will do a comparison. If you are chiefly concerned with grading your footage in SpeedGrade and need the best possibly acceleration and use 2k, 3k or 4k footage, then you probably want the best performing card you can get, which would be the optimal one listed for SpeedGrade. If you want a card that is also going be supported for MPE, be sure it's listed in the other apps (in this case the Quadro 4000).

The GTX 285 is a relatively old card at this point that only meets the minimum specs for hardware MPE accelaration. I own a GTX 470 and have been satisfied with that level of performance. If you are shopping for a GPU, a GTX 285 might be quite difficult to find these days. A GTX 470 might also be getting rare. The new 500 series GTX cards should be pretty good, and might be all you need. (If you are on the Mac, I realize that Apple has somewhat limited your choices, so you may just want to go with the 4000 for best results across the board).

[wonderspark]

I see how that makes sense in regards to the upgrade. It's just interesting to see this little window of opportunity pop up like this.

I've seen some comparisons between the GTX 285 vs. Quadro 4000, and it actually showed the GTX 285 doing a lot better due to double the bandwidth and 512-bit vs. 256-bit of the Quadro 4000. Since I *am* still on a Mac, I'm limited in my choices while using Snow Leopard. The interesting thing there is that in recent updates to Lion, it seems I can use the GTX 580 or other cards as well. I currently have a 5870 and a GTX 285, and I'm trying to make good choices moving forward. Eventually, I'll have to update my OS software anyway, so I'm wondering if I should try to keep up the Mac Pro, or cut my losses and build a new PC.

With Creative Cloud, I'm wondering how performance is affected when the internet is down.

[excited_Genie16B8]

cut my losses and build a new PC.

You'll actually gain by doing that.  More hardware choices, less cost, better performance.

With Creative Cloud, I'm wondering how performance is affected when the internet is down.

According to the FAQ, not at all.  You need the connection to install, and then once a month to check in, but not for daily use.

[Todd_Kopriva]

> You need the connection to install, and then once a month to check in, but not for daily use.

Note that that is only true for Creative Cloud Membership subscription option. No connection ever needed for perpetual license.

You can get an activation code to type in for non-connected computers if you use the perpetual license option.

[Jim Curtis]

I haven't seen anything in any of the promo videos or sites about the inclusion of a useful track matte function.  Is there any chance this has been addressed?

And please don't tell me there's already a track matte effect.  I know there is, but it doesn't give us the option of panning video inside a stationary matte, which is very limiting.  We need an alternate track matte that is fixed in size and location on the layer, and doesn't change when we pan or scale the image being matted.

I also didn't see anything about dupe detection (vital), Timeline text search (useful), audio effects copy/paste / save presets (very helpful).  I guess it's time to start putting in feature requests for Pr CS7.

[Wil Renczes]

Jim Curtis wrote:

I haven't seen anything in any of the promo videos or sites about the inclusion of a useful track matte function.  Is there any chance this has been addressed?

And please don't tell me there's already a track matte effect.  I know there is, but it doesn't give us the option of panning video inside a stationary matte, which is very limiting.  We need an alternate track matte that is fixed in size and location on the layer, and doesn't change when we pan or scale the image being matted.

Sounds like you could use the new adjustment layer to allow you to do exactly that - you'd put the track matte effect on the adjustment layer instead of the media, then do your pan/scale to the source media as before.  (Theorizing here, but I bet it'd work.)

Cheers

[tclark513]

Todd_Kopriva wrote:

> You need the connection to install, and then once a month to check in, but not for daily use.

Note that that is only true for Creative Cloud Membership subscription option. No connection ever needed for perpetual license.

You can get an activation code to type in for non-connected computers if you use the perpetual license option.

How would you get the code?  The system requirements for CS6 says that there is NO phone activation.  Internet only.

[Todd_Kopriva]

> How would you get the code?  The system requirements for CS6 says that there is NO phone activation.  Internet only.

Use a different computer that is connected to the Internet---including a smartphone. The wording of "no phone activation" is annoyingly imprecise, and I've pointed this out to the folks responsible for writing that information. When we tested this activation workflow, it was with a mobile phone accessing the web page to generate the activation code, which we then typed into the non-connected computer with the CS6 software.

[tclark513]

Todd_Kopriva wrote:

> How would you get the code?  The system requirements for CS6 says that there is NO phone activation.  Internet only.

Use a different computer that is connected to the Internet---including a smartphone. The wording of "no phone activation" is annoyingly imprecise, and I've pointed this out to the folks responsible for writing that information. When we tested this activation workflow, it was with a mobile phone accessing the web page to generate the activation code, which we then typed into the non-connected computer with the CS6 software.

Thanks for the update.  I really don't want my editing machine on the Internet.  How would the monthly verification work if I'm not connected to the Internet?

[excited_Genie16B8]

It wouldn't.  At least once a month, your machine would have to be connected.  (According to the FAQ.)

[Todd_Kopriva]

> At least once a month, your machine would have to be connected.  (According to the FAQ.)

That is only true for the Creative Cloud Membership option. If you use the CS6 perpetual license option (i.e., the "old" way), the computer never needs to be connected to the Internet.

This is a very important distinction that I need to make sure doesn't get lost.

[cjacs987654]

Hi Todd

Very excited about cs6, and def upgrading. Im considering creative cloud.

One question:

if after a period of time, say beyond the first year of paying monthly, if for any reason you cant continue to pay, for whatever reason,  what will happen with the software installed on your PC?. Can I still use this. I read that you need to be connected to the internet for a status check once a month, does this mean the software will be deactivated if you stop the subscription?

Im just concerned I might end up with nothing if financial circumstances change, i understand offcourse there would be no new updates

Thanks

[Todd_Kopriva]

Yes. That's what it means. If you don't pay the subscription fee, the software stops working. If that is a concern for you, then don't use the Creative Cloud subscription option.

[Powered_by_Design]

@ Todd

Say someone goes the Cloud route and then a new version comes.  Will the person still have access to the old version ?

GLenn

[Todd_Kopriva]

Yes, Glenn. There will be an official statement about that soon.

BTW, this is not the right forum for Creative Cloud questions. We on this forum know the video software. The details of pricing and subscription plans are not our realm.

[Powered_by_Design]

Thanks Todd.

Keep up the great work.

CS6 looks great.

GLenn

[Stan Jones]

Im just concerned I might end up with nothing if financial circumstances change,

That's why I am upgrading to CS5.5/6, even though I may then elect the cloud. If I drop the cloud at some point, I have my CS6 perpetual license as my base. And why I am watching with interest the bottom line on compatiblity of future versions. It didn't used to be an issue. I always had the newest version I was working in.

[Todd_Kopriva]

One approach that I've seen recommended is for a shop that needs multiple license to have one perpetual license and then as many licenses using the Creative Cloud Membership as necessary to expand for projects, etc.

The good thing about this new option is just that: it's another option. It will help to solve some folks' needs, but other folks can keep using the perpetual license system if they feel that it better suits them.

[the_wine_snob]

Todd,

That makes perfect sense, and is one of the first really good reasons to explore the Creative Cloud option. Having been a "one-man shop" for so very long, it was not something that came immediately to my mind.

Thanks for that,

Hunt

[wonderspark]

Yeah, I might be able to gain if I can sell my Mac Pro for a decent price. My Areca RAID card and tower would all move to a PC nicely.

Todd ~

Is the perpetual license what you get if you sign up for a year at a time?

[Todd_Kopriva]

> Todd ~

Is the perpetual license what you get if you sign up for a year at a time?

No. The term 'perpetual license' refers to the system where you pay one price and the software works perpetually. The perpetual license system is the "old" way of getting our software (which is still offered, of course). This is not the same as the Creative Cloud Membership subscription option.

[wonderspark]

Ah, got it. I thought there might be three licensing options, but it's actually only two:

1)    Physical disk or download for one-time purchase = perpetual

2)    Monthly Creative Cloud on month-to-month basis = subscription

2.5) Monthly Creative Cloud with 12-month agreement = subscription for less

I just ordered the CS5.5 upgrade for my CS5, which comes with the free CS6 upgrade. I did the online chat to confirm I can get a physical media box upgrade to CS6 when it's available, since I don't want a download, so that made me happy enough to buy it today. The plan is to stay on CS5 until the consensus is that CS6 is working well, then upgrade directly from CS6 from CS5 one time, never even using the 5.5 media, yet still getting the upgrade for $399. (I also bought Lightroom 4 for $99, so I'm thrilled with all that.)

[chac57]

Really Wonderspark? I understood that the free CS6 upgrade was one time download only. Can you tell us the method, suggested by on line chat to get the physical media. I would also prefer that to down load only.

[wonderspark]

I entered an online chat through the Adobe website. I don't recall if the "would you like to chat" window popped up automatically, or if I clicked a "chat with a live person" button somewhere, but anyway, I initiated the conversation as such:

info: Please hold as we route your chat to an Adobe Representative.

info: Welcome to Adobe.com!  My name is Sid. May I assist you with your selection today?

Sid: Hi, How are you doing today?

wonderspark: I have Production Premium CS5 right now, and I'm considering taking advantage of the 5.5 offer today for $399, and getting CS6 free when released, *but*... I want the physical disc media for CS6 when it comes out, and I read that one would download that update. Can I get a box instead of download when the time comes?

wonderspark: PS. I'm great, how are you? (:

Sid: wonderspark, I'm doing great, thank you for asking.

Sid: Yes, you'll be getting a promotion code or couple code to enter to buy the upgrade version of CS6 at free of cost.

wonderspark: So download isn't required after all?

wonderspark: And, what is a "couple" code?

Sid: wonderspark, if you buy the CS5.5 version now, you'll be getting a couple code/promotional code to get the CS6 at free cost.

Sid: If you want to get the box version of CS6, you can contact our Customer Service Team when the CS6 is shipped.

[srukweza-PhMhaR]

Does anyone know if Encore is now able to display estimated time of completion during the build progress. Currently it can only display estimated time when writing the Image etc? This is quite for Dynamic Link users to know the estimated time during the transcoding.