Updates & upgrades thick and fast. How long before the n

General Moho topics.

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Mohlar
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Updates & upgrades thick and fast. How long before the n

Post by Mohlar »

I decided to hold fire after upgrading ASPro 5 to 5.6 because when v.6 came out there seemed to be a likelihood that an even more powerful version would be released very soon after. And so it has come to pass - a brand new Version 7.

It looks good.
It seems to do all sorts of things I'd like to try.
But how long before SmithMicro start calling for even more payouts with the next upgrade?

They don't seem too fond of offering suitably discounted upgrades to existing registered users ... or have I missed something? I sure hope so because as things stand, I'm not sure I can afford to risk what few funds I have by forking out for Version 7 when Version 8 is presumably already in the pipeline.

I know that this is a perrennial problem with software that is under development - but many sellers get round this by providing discounts that (a) still provide them with income, (b) reward existing users for their loyalty and/or (c) cover buyers for the purchase of upgrades during either a given length of time or for a given number of future releases.
Once, I saw myself in a mirror.
Or did I?
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PRIMAL MORON
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Post by PRIMAL MORON »

I couldn't agree more, it's pretty hard to fork out $130 when i just spent about that much on the last version.
I can't even remember a "discount" during Version 6's run... (They could've existed, but I've never seen one.)
I don't want to hear people telling me that "x function is worth the price" or "y function is worth the price" because if they were worth the price, they would sell the product for longer to make more money.
We all know that they're probably working on 8, and they'll tease us with that, too...
Like Mohlar said, I can't shell out 130 bucks, either.
i had V5.5 pro, too, so i gave Smith Micro/e Frontier almost 300 dollars combined.
I think the company is making more off of old users than new ones, because the new ones have to fork out more, which scares them, and are intimidated by the price, which sends them packing and going elsewhere.
And you are almost guaranteed as an older user to shell out more money total because you're more likely to buy it due to desire.
I'm not saying Smith Micro shouldn't get profit on this, but it seems very silly to treat your older customers with less respect. High prices are great disrespect.
Keep all of this in mind, Because they are your customers, and you could lose them at any time.

That's all for now.
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ingie01
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"free"trail Debut ??

Post by ingie01 »

Greetings Guys and Gals, Did you know that in order to get a 30 day free trial of Anime Studio debut you have to give your credit card number before you can try the "trial" version????? Hey, anyone remember good ole Moho?
(actually I am really pissed that SmithMicro put their grubby hands on AS and now they want my account number for a TRIAL version no way Jose.)
You'll know when you get there! My Dad
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jahnocli
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Post by jahnocli »

As things stand, the present upgrade situation actually rewards users who have skipped an upgrade. I still use 5.6 at present -- never was that impressed by 6 -- and if I want to upgrade now, I've saved myself $120. It's great for me, but not that clever for more loyal customers, and that can't be right. Can it?
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
ponysmasher
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Post by ponysmasher »

I guess it depends on what you use it for. Anime Studio makes me money so a $130 upgrade is a no brainer for me.

I guess if you just use it as a hobby it might be different. But at the same time, look at the prices of the competition.

It's not a perfect piece of software but I think the price is very fair.

/fanboy ponysmasher

(though it sounds weird that you would have to submit a credit card number for just the trial. Never heard of that before)
barryem
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Post by barryem »

I don't see problem. I bought the upgrade for $130. The new price is $200. That seems like a fair discount to me.

Personally I hope AS 8 with lots of new features is in the pipeline. That's a good thing.

I'm as little able to afford this as anyone. I'm a hobbyest and an amateur and not even a very good one. I'm almost 70 and living entirely on SS and the decision to put out that much money, a lot of money to me, was a tough one. I could have kept on playing with AS 6, which I enjoy. The choice was mine.

I think I'm going to be glad I spent the money. This looks pretty nice.

Barry
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GCharb
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Post by GCharb »

I agree with vern here. Developing software is expensive and although I am not entirely pleased with this release, it does add many cool features, like multi core rendering, better file handling, seems to fix the speed problem 6 had and much more.

If you look at other software upgrade options, most are in the same range compared to the initial cost, some are lower and some are even more expensive to upgrade.

This is the price to pay for new features and continuous development of the software.

G
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neeters_guy
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Post by neeters_guy »

Price is set by the marketplace. SmithMicro isn't trying to insult you. If funds are so tight that you can't afford it, then don't buy. This isn't like food or shelter, after all.

What makes me uncomfortable about these arguments (price is unfair, there's no trial, etc.) is the direction of the conclusion. They sound suspiciously like the arguments used by people who justify stealing software. Not saying you are, but consider that not upgrading is okay. You're still part of the community.

The fact that jahnocli has done some fine work in 5.6 also reminds me that despite all the new toys vers. 7, talent and perseverance are still the best tools for good animation.
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PRIMAL MORON
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Post by PRIMAL MORON »

neeters_guy wrote:Price is set by the marketplace. SmithMicro isn't trying to insult you. If funds are so tight that you can't afford it, then don't buy. This isn't like food or shelter, after all.

What makes me uncomfortable about these arguments (price is unfair, there's no trial, etc.) is the direction of the conclusion. They sound suspiciously like the arguments used by people who justify stealing software. Not saying you are, but consider that not upgrading is okay. You're still part of the community.

The fact that jahnocli has done some fine work in 5.6 also reminds me that despite all the new toys vers. 7, talent and perseverance are still the best tools for good animation.
Oh, well...
I don't want to start trouble, I just am a little upset at the price.
I guess I kinda overreacted, sorry.
I'm not saying I'm not impressed by the program, either.
Physics sound like a big plus.
3d vector assembly sounds pretty neat.
The cartoonish filter might be useful, too.
And quite awkwardly, my folks just offered to buy me a copy.
and they're buying for no charge on my part, too.
It's been a very confusing day...
If any of you are mad at what i said, I can edit that argument out.
Sorry to cause trouble...

That's all for now.
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hothead
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marketing

Post by hothead »

DEMO AS7pro the product sound good better than as6pro i have BUT I NEED to test the as7pro demo first
jwiede
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Post by jwiede »

You're absolutely right, price is set by the marketplace. A marketplace in which paying $130 a year for ASPro upgrades, after a few years you'll have paid the same amount as it would have cost to purchase higher-end pro-oriented animation software like Animate, TVPA, or the like.

Then again, judging by the dwindling numbers in here and fewer and fewer mentions of Moho/ASP in the big artists forums over time, it's pretty obvious that customers ARE voting with their pocketbooks, and they're not voting for Smith Micro or ASP. Smith Micro clearly doesn't care when any one product they own fails, they just promote another and move on, but I'm dismayed that the Lost Marble folks seem okay with their customers being treated this way. You guys can rationalize it all you want, but the reality is that this is not how other companies treat their customers, and for good reason.

It'll be a shame to see Moho finally disappear, but unless the Lost Marble folks step up and do something, all the signs are already pointing in that direction, so it's just a matter of time. Oh well, at least there are options, and those options don't ask me to rebuy the app every year.
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neeters_guy
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Post by neeters_guy »

PRIMAL MORON wrote:I don't want to start trouble, I just am a little upset at the price.
If any of you are mad at what i said, I can edit that argument out.
Primal, don't worry about it. What you said is a perfectly valid opinion. This is part of the typical point-and-counterpoint discussion.

(And I hope you didn't take anything I said as a personal comment. I tried my best to keep it on point. I have seen your work at the Animators Forum and you have talent. :) )

It's just that complaining about how expensive something is largely missing the point: Early adopters finance future development.

It cost me $460 to use ASP for the last 3 versions. That's is still cheaper than Animate 2 ($500) and TV Paint 9.5 ($560). I'm not saying these aren't great programs, but again the comparison is pointless. People buy ASP because of its unique strengths and I'm convinced some of the new features will distinguish it even further from other animation programs.

You are lucky to have folks like that. Do them proud. :)
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PRIMAL MORON
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Post by PRIMAL MORON »

neeters_guy wrote:Primal, don't worry about it. What you said is a perfectly valid opinion. This is part of the typical point-and-counterpoint discussion.

(And I hope you didn't take anything I said as a personal comment. I tried my best to keep it on point. I have seen your work at the Animators Forum and you have talent. :) )

It's just that complaining about how expensive something is largely missing the point: Early adopters finance future development.

It cost me $460 to use ASP for the last 3 versions. That's is still cheaper than Animate 2 ($500) and TV Paint 9.5 ($560). I'm not saying these aren't great programs, but again the comparison is pointless. People buy ASP because of its unique strengths and I'm convinced some of the new features will distinguish it even further from other animation programs.

You are lucky to have folks like that. Do them proud. :)
I'm just checking to make sure I didn't upset anyone.
Do I really have talent, because I felt like i was just an average-joe anime studio user.
I might be willing to stay here and talk more often, this place reminds me of another forum i was on.
This place has that special touch that makes it seem more like a family than a group of ranting teens.
But enough about this, we should get back on topic.

As it currently is, maybe smith micro could offer 2 things for the pro version to attract more people and be alive and well, and make more people come, which means more money, too.
1. offer a ASP7 demo that is timed by a countdown device for 12-24 hours
every time you open it, it counts down. or you could do what a program known as gold wave did, and make a total number of maximum tool uses.
When you press a button or use a function, that would count up to, let's say, 2000 tool uses before it prompts you to buy it. either way, it would be the full version, just timed or capacity limited.
2. A mini version of Anime Studio, maybe like "Anime Studio Micro" (goes right along with the company name, too.)
Basicly, it'd be like a super compacted anime studio that is offered for free as a full version.
It would be have some abilities removed from debut, and be kinda like a draw on the go program.
It'd be a very simple version that could spread the word of anime studio to the world, since most of the newer animations are for phones or portable devices such as the ipad/ipod/iphone.
You could download it, and maybe have a way to share it to other people, so everyone may have a small opportunity to at least try it.
And if they wanted more, link them back to here, and cha-zam! You got lots of customers who know about the program, and want to make bigger and better animation.
If you can find a way to make as more portable than a computer, then I'm sure lots of people will buy it.
Just think for a second, if you work your way to the heart of iphone/ipad users...
You could be dealing with millions of new customers just waiting to try out ASD or ASP.
I'd love to see anime studio on and iphone screen, there's so much you can do with an idea like that.
This is how you guys can really get the community going, IMO.

That's all for now.
dh216832
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Post by dh216832 »

Like the idea of an iphone/pad app. But very scaled down...

I think credit card info is bizarre for a free trial. For me I bought the upgrade because the new feature list was too compelling. The pleasant surprise is the curve/free hand drawing.

But think about this, I paid for the AS6 upgrade and hardly used it, so this one really cost me $240. My own fault no doubt (sometimes life pushes you other places). I did more work in AS last night than I have in the past 10 months. So, so far I'm please - ha.

Besides, I was looking at toonboom last week, and I thought to myself...nah I can do what I need to in AS6. So pleasant surprise AS7 shows up. Had no idea!

dh
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GCharb
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Post by GCharb »

Hello all!

Many sites ask for credentials for trials, I never go with those.

As for updating, ASP 6 had a few goodies, like the new interface, blend morph and few others that made it good for updates.

ASP 7 also has some good things to it, multi threading, the new drawing tools are good, the new file handling is also good and few others that, in my opinion made the upgrade worth it.

Chances are, like ASP 6, that we'll get free upgrades soon, 7.1, 7.2 etc that will fix some of the issues with it. This is more development but at no cost this time.

Many things I do not like with this release, but my opinion is that the upgrade is well worth the money, but you do not need to agree with me, that is your prerogative! :)

G
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