Still the question, what does SCS do to keep the money coming in? What does SCS REALLY do?
About Sony Creative Software
Sony Creative Software inspires artistic expression with its award-winning line of products for digital video, audio, and music production, as well as industry-leading technology for DVD production and Blu-ray Disc™ authoring. Sound Forge™ Pro, ACID™ Pro, Catalyst™ Production Suite, and Vegas™ Pro software have defined digital content creation for a generation of creative professionals. These signature product lines continue to advance media production by providing powerful, accessible tools. Today, there is a Sony Creative Software application for every level of expertise, including a full line of consumer software based on the company's professional applications. In addition, Sony Creative Software produces the extensive Sony® Sound Series collection of royalty-free loops and samples, Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series exclusive sound effects, and Vision Series video creation assets. Further, the company provides the industry-leading tools for enterprise-level Blu-ray Disc™ production: Blu-print®, DoStudio Authoring, and DoStudio Encoder software. The company’s customers span the globe and include professionals in the film, television, video game, and recording industries, as well as students, educators, and hobbyists.
Sony Creative Software Inc.
8215 Greenway Blvd Suite 400
Middleton, WI 53562
608.203.7620
Incorporated April 24, 2004 in the State of Delaware
EU VAT ID #: EU826002597
Like a lot of folks on here, I've survived the demise of a few different editing software platforms. First it was the death of Commodore. I had the first generation Video Toaster and loved it. Then I bought a dpsVelocity and, after it was sold to Leitch and then to Harris, it too went the way of the dodo bird :( I made the jump to Vegs starting with version 1.0 as an audio sweetening app to work with my dpsVelocity. I changed jobs and jumped into Vegas at version 3 and have stayed with it ever since, upgrading with every new release. I stopped at version 12 because of budget cuts at work but remain very happy with it. Even if they went under tomorrow, I'd keep using it as retirement isn't that far off :)
I have fairly regularly upgraded these audio and video products since the Sonic Foundry days. I do wish, though, that Sony would do their part to keep the updates beneficial. They know that GPU rendering is or would be of significant value to most users who work with HD content (not to mention UHD content). A top priority, it would seem, should be to offer GPU rendering from Vegas that uses modern GPUs. I'd surely pay for that upgrade, even if I only considered it a bug fix (since they've long advertised GPU rendering as a capability).
Steam does not necessarily mean "rental". It has been used for games like Civilization for years. You would buy the boxed game in a retail store, then set up a steam account to control access / digital rights. Quite convenient actually.
In this case it really looks like Steam is simply an additional distribution channel for exactly the same product. It's really no different than if you had gotten it through, say BestBuy, except that it's download rather than packaged.
Steam Support is actually a good thing. There are 30 Million Steam subscribers worldwide, so this may give Vegas a lot more exposure than it's ever gotten in the past.
I've been using Steam since day one, which was way back in September 2003. It's been a great gaming platform, and now they are slowly expanding into software and movie distribution.
Just had my morning cup of coffee, so I'm feeling really energized.
What do you guys think would happen if they suddenly made VegasPro14 freeware? Totally free, no restrictions. Download and fire up all the copies you want.
I can easily picture a situation where one year from now Vegas is absolutely flooding the NLE market, starting with the youth and then infiltrating the pro ranks. After all, it's a very good editor and widely viewed as a very efficient tool.
Then, for those who really want bug fixes and are happy to pay for them, a support program for X dollars a year. But the program itself is free.
As long as Premiere and the others didn't follow suit, I think Vegas would eventually become a nearly-universal tool. And SCS might have a much-more-robust revenue stream.
In case you guys think I really need ANOTHER cup of coffee, then what about keeping the status quo but making a previous version of Vegas totally free? Such as V9? I can attest that this version, earlier generation as it is, has no vices and does not concern itself with 3D or graphics card rendering, "features" that are dubious to many.
The whole idea here is market monopolization. Suck the air out of the room for the competition. Pass out CD-ROMS of V9 like candy on college campuses, at BestBuy stores, everywhere. Like the AOL model from 20 years ago (which was extremely successful until the www made AOL irrelevant).
(Note to self: V9 doesn't run on W10. Fine. Some version that does.)
My impression (although I could be wrong) is Vegas is already one of the most "cracked" editing programs out there. The young crowd is using it already. This explains the vast amount of YouTube stuff with Vegas.
It seems a great number of Vegas users found on this forum are of the older variety, myself included. That may actually point out the problem. The number of paying Vegas users is dwindling, while the world is moving to 4k and beyond. Most top end phones are already shooting 4k.
I just picked up a RX10 ii and also fly a Phantom 3 Pro. I have been playing around with Catalyst Suite and it's starting to make sense where Sony is going. Catalyst is still far from Vegas for capabilities, but its 4k and S-Log space and workflow leaves Vegas in the dust. That said, I will still be using Vegas for a lot of editing. Catalyst can be a bridge to the future and my guess it will ultimately be the destination for those who choose that route.