Have more $$, then the cost won't "bankrupt" you. :)

I thought everything was cloud these days, and you just rented it. If you can buy it, can you also upgrade it later on?

i bought cs6 (teacher discount) and have absolutely NO intention of ever using cloud / subscription model. (you can still buy it btw)

i sub to adobe ps forum where there seems to be endless problems with cc one way or another.

i doubt i'm ever going to have problems with cs6 other than learning more than 50% of its incredible potential ;-)

I also own CS6 and purposefully upgraded to Production Premium CS6 as they were moving to the subscription model. For me, and many others I suspect, the cloud rental thing is a big financial no no. Well documented here..
AE CS6 renders in many formats and I've never had issues importing to Vegas, any version

ushere wrote: "know a student or teacher? there's a sizable student discount available..."

I must say that it really upsets me when people dishonestly use academic discounts. Those deeply cut prices are there for us who live on shoestring budgets either because we are students or faculty. If non-academics start to abuse the system, we who are legitimately entitled, might no longer be offered a price break.

Peter

At least sometimes, you are not entitled to upgrade an academic version of software - you have to buy the new version. Not a problem with CS6, however, because there is no upgrade. (The cloud is a downgrade!)

None of the CS6 suite actually runs off the cloud, all the software is installed on your local machine.

An alternative to AE at a much cheaper price which includes some great VFX is Hitfilm 3. It integrates with Vegas, Mocha and can use many 3rd party FX. I also prefer its workflow to AE CS6.

All student/teacher versions of CS6 must prove genuine academic status otherwise Adobe won't register them. Each registration is also locked to specific hardware and can't be installed on any other hardware without re-registering it. Even if a friend or relative buys it on this basis and lets others use their version this is no different to allowing a friend or relative use the full version. The ownership remains with the person who bought it not any one else using it. Many people collaborate on projects and use one licensed version of a product to do so. This is no more illegal or unethical than sharing a car with a relative or friend. Thankfully we haven't yet reached the stage where parents are prosecuted because their kids used their copy of Photoshop!

Having said that, try the demo first because it's a waste of money buying software if you end up seldom using it.

I bought CS6, I'll Never do a cloud bs subscription...I don't want a monthly bill / hand in my wallet like that, epic fail move on adobe's part.

I use AE all the time w/Vegas, I've found .mov renders best for ingestion into vegas. Going from Vegas (greenscreen) to AE, I use full-frame avi, which makes big files, so only suitable for brief less than 10 minute type videos.

"This is no more illegal or unethical than sharing a car with a relative or friend."

I have seen licence agreements which read as though only the registered licencee may use the software. Thankfully most companies are more reasonable.

So you can only install After Effects on ONE computer?! So if your computer broke down shortly after you bought After Effects then you'd have to buy it all over again? I hope that's not the case.

I'm thinking of buying After Effects CS6. I've found some that are actual physical copies they send to you. So hopefully you can install it on more than one computer. I figured the "one download only rule" would only apply if you electronically downloaded it.

I'm also looking into getting Sony Vegas Pro 13 with the newest DVD Architect. I hope you can install that on as many devices as you want. I remember having an installation disc of Vegas Pro 8. When my computer crashed I didn't have it anymore to re-install since I had sold it on eBay.

I'm with Spectralis on this.

I have AE6 and Hitfilm 3 Pro. There are benefits and drawbacks to both, but I've essentially taken to using my old AE6 as a fancy titling tool. It's just very fast and provides excellent results for building lower thirds and titles.

HitFilm 3 Pro is more of a "I need to do a complex effect, quickly," tool. They're both a very different animal than Vegas or any NLE. AE6 is a beast...incredible potential, but still a bear to learn. While HitFilm has the same sort of workflow, it's simpler somehow.

As an added bonus, HitFilm plugins work in Vegas, so for me, I've found HitFilm is a good value just on plugins for Vegas alone.

And finally, I hate Adobe's subscription model. I moved to HitFilm because it can do what I need and I get to own the software (and all those delectable plugins).

If you get either, expect to spend several weeks if not months learning the ins and outs. There are some good "Learn in 15 or 24 hour" type books for AE. You'll need guidance from a book or course. It's hard to self-teach such sophisticated applications.

Yeah, I find YouTube tutorials helpful for learning After Effects. I like the way that it'll give you a much better green screen effect, even when your green screen footage is poor.

On Amazon they have a $19.99 12-Month plan for Adobe After Effects CC. Which would be way more affordable for me than paying $84.00 for 6 Months on eBay for CS6. I'm confused about that Amazon deal though. So does that mean the program is about $240 all together? UPDATE: I just noticed that someone asked, "How many years will you have to pay $20 a month?" and someone answered back: "However many years you want to use the software." Wow, that's kinda ridiculous. Sounds like if you wanna keep having it then you're just gonna have to keep paying on it for the rest of your life lol.

The drawbacks are that it's a download, so I guess that it'd be a one time only kinda thing (not sure if a physical disc that you can get with CS6 would be for as many as you want or not though) and well... it's CC, which I've heard people have alot of problems with. So I'm not sure what to do here.

One other thing I wonder about is what if you decide to do a routine re-boot of your computer and have to re-install all of your programs. Would you have to re-purchase After Effects for every re-boot? lol

Sometimes you can get Adobe stuff as a side package if you buy a piece of equipment. In my case Adobe Elements 7 came with my Epson scanner. ($500.00)But I'm not sure it was the scanner anymore as the memory is fading.
JJK