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Try blackmagic davinci resolve. Extremely powerful and FREE!

I've found the Affinity apps to be a pretty decent alternative. No joke.

I would whole heartedly agree...The Affinity products work both for mac and windows, and are one time purchase and not rental...they also are good about free updates and bug fixes.

You have to poke around the site to find the windows versions, tho...strangely.

Affinity Photo - This is the PS killer IMHO...it has every tool I've ever used on PS, and with the engine being written new from scratch I find it to often be FASTER that PS, and the content aware stuff is on par if not better at times that PS.

OH, and if you have an iPad Pro, I would highly recommend Affinity Photo for iPad, you have full blown desktop functionality on the iPad and it is amazing to work with.

They have a free trial on their products, give them a try.

Affinity Designer - This will give Adobe Illustrator a run for its money, I'm currently trying to learn vector stuff with AD.

Affinity Publisher - This is in public beta right now, looks VERY interesting.

On1 RAW - This is an up and coming alternative to Adobe Lightroom. I really like this, there is functionality that blows LR out of the water, I really like the luminance masks while working with your RAW images, there are tons of filters, and the latest versions of On1, now have pretty good cataloging and file management that was something I would have missed with LR. Its slightly more manual, but not a deal killer. I'm currently using it on an older MBP late 2011, 16GB ram, local SSD hard drive and external drives for cache and image storage, and performance is pretty good, although I find that at times it bogs while using my wacom tablet and pen, but if I switch to mouse, no problems. I'm hoping to soon update my medial computer and foresee these problems to disappear. This too has a free trial, I would recommend getting this, and looking through the tutorials and play with it...I believe this will be the LR killer...and I loved lightroom.

Now...for video and you want to get off of Adobe Premier....I like this:

Davinci Resolve - by Black Magic Design. This products started out as a high end color correction bit of software and it is still industry standard for that, but now, the NLE is very good, and is now paired with Fusion, an alternative to After Effects...and they're adding some high quality sound design/editing into it too.

You need to have a pretty beefy workstation to run this, but this is a quality one stop shop for most all things video.

There are several other options out there, I liked Adobe Products, but I just am not ready to "rent" my software and run into crap like this.

I've also been watching the Adobe products in the CC, and while there have been some improvements and updates that are kinda nice, I've not seen anything groundbreaking that would cause me to need to pay monthly/annually for my software, and I"d really get a bad taste in my mouth if I had to keep paying for software that isn't being updated or really supported.

I have my Adobe CS6 suite of tools for that category and I'm not paying regularly for that...one pay and done.

So...sure, there are a lot of people and shops out there with Adobe ingrained into their workflow and the muscle memory is strong there.

But there are now very viable alternatives...and in most cases, you can use almost all the same keyboard shortcuts (some come standard and some you can set up yourself custom)...and the layout of the desktop is very similar and familiar.

With others...well, if you know one, it isn't rocket surgery to pick up some new differences.

That's my dilemma. Photoshop is the bad one with this. I absolutely refuse to go with their subscription based model. I'm not going to pirate their product- I'll go with a rival product instead, despite being inferior.

Give Affinity Photo a try. I really like it and the engine is faster than PS.

If you know PS, then AP won't take you long to adapt.

It came out for Mac first, but there is a windows version, they have a trial I think, give it a look.

I"m also working with On1 RAW to replace Lightroom since Adobe took it CC *rental* too.

So far, i find it really great and with luminance masking in the RAW workflow...amazing.

For video, it appears Davinci Resolve 15 will chip away at Premier....

I refuse to rent my software at this time too...and while adobe is raking $$ in the stock market....this rental move has given their competitors room and incentive to develop and they are coming up with REAL I think Adobe's CC move next, is to more and more push and someday maybe 'force' your content to be kept on their cloud.

The LR CC and classic thing seems to be paving the way for that.....I wouldn't like that.

As a self employed contractor software subscriptions are killing my business. Adobe has forced me into a subscription model where I'm paying 50$ a month to use their software, Microsoft is pretty much forcing the subscription model of Office 365 on me. Will Microsoft have Windows on a subscription model soon? My monthly fees are going to pile up it's going to make the decision to seek open source alternatives and simple choice.

Not sure what all you're using from Adobe. I myself have resisted the move to the rental model of software they have switched to.

If you are using Photoshop, take a look at: Affinity Photo. I you are a windows user, scroll all the way to the bottom there is a link for the windows version, and as I understand works just as well as the Mac version does. The engine is actually much faster than PS, it does 99% of what PS does...only better. It is about $50, and perpetual license...and so far over past couple years I've owned it, they've put out several updates/upgrades for free.

They also make a AI competitor, in Affinity Designer

If you use Adobe Premier, you might look at DaVinci Resolve one of the best color grading apps out there, and the NLE and sound is working nicely too. It is quite optimized for multi-core CPUs and will use your GPUs' well too, unlike Premier which often won't use all your equipment efficiently.

They also make Fusion which will substitute for After Effects (although there is a learning curve to use the nodal paradigm).

OH by the way, those last two products from Blackmagic Design...the FREE versions do about 99% of what the paid for versions do and those are only I think about $299 paid.

So, do look around, there are a number of valid alternatives to many Adobe products that have come out to serve the market that doesn't want to rent their fucking software.

As a self employed contractor software subscriptions are killing my business. Adobe has forced me into a subscription model where I'm paying 50$ a month to use their software, Microsoft is pretty much forcing the subscription model of Office 365 on me. Will Microsoft have Windows on a subscription model soon? My monthly fees are going to pile up it's going to make the decision to seek open source alternatives and simple choice.

Not sure what all you're using from Adobe. I myself have resisted the move to the rental model of software they have switched to.

If you are using Photoshop, take a look at: Affinity Photo. I you are a windows user, scroll all the way to the bottom there is a link for the windows version, and as I understand works just as well as the Mac version does. The engine is actually much faster than PS, it does 99% of what PS does...only better. It is about $50, and perpetual license...and so far over past couple years I've owned it, they've put out several updates/upgrades for free.

They also make a AI competitor, in Affinity Designer

If you use Adobe Premier, you might look at DaVinci Resolve one of the best color grading apps out there, and the NLE and sound is working nicely too. It is quite optimized for multi-core CPUs and will use your GPUs' well too, unlike Premier which often won't use all your equipment efficiently.

They also make Fusion which will substitute for After Effects (although there is a learning curve to use the nodal paradigm).

OH by the way, those last two products from Blackmagic Design...the FREE versions do about 99% of what the paid for versions do and those are only I think about $299 paid.

So, do look around, there are a number of valid alternatives to many Adobe products that have come out to serve the market that doesn't want to rent their fucking software.

I love photoshop, lightroom and other Adobe products. However, at this point, I stopped at CS6 for the Adobe suite of tools.

I have LR5, and may try to go to LR6 while I believe I still can to get that last perpetual license, but that's it.

While Adobe has put out "some" upgrades and new features over these past few years of Creative Cloud, I frankly haven't found anything there to be groundbreaking, that I cannot work without. IMHO, the adage that if they don't have incentive to innovate (due to steady income stream no matter what) they won't. And I don't see that they have really.

ON the other hand, it may be that things like Photoshop and Designer, AI, etc...have pretty much for the most part hit the wall on what you can do....and there isn't much room left for improvement for completely NEW features.

If that's the case, then if nothing else, Adobe should try going in and rewriting the engines behind the scenes, but you don't see that either.

One nice thing about the Adobe CC rental thing is, it has spurred on other companies to try to fill that void, and there are a number of them that are.

So far as a PS replacement, I'm enjoying Affinity Photo . It is damned fast, their engine work blows Adobe away. And for functionality, well, I'd say it is about 98-99% there. My only gripe is they need to emulate PS in that when you have the brush tool, you need to have the keyboard command to allow quick sampling of colors with the brush on the image. Other than that, the healing, cloning and content aware tools are JUST as good as Adobes from what I've seen so far. And I think with some extra time, it may equal or surpass PS. It is reasonably priced for a perpetual license, and they've been doing a LOT of updates for free since I bought it a couple years ago.

Affinity has a designer app and I belive a Publisher app coming out....windows and mac.

For a lightroom replacement, I'm playing with On1 RAW ...it is very good so far, I do miss some of the LR cataloging, but On1 appears to be adding those options. I like that it has in the RAW development area, simple and luminosity masking...something you have to drop out of raw imaging processing from LR and got to PS for on the Adobe side.. And again...very quick and responsive engine.

And for video...well, the free version of Black magic's Davinci Resolve ....well known and respected for its color grading capabilities, now has a very respectable e NLE inside, and they're adding some impressing sound tools too. Premier? Well....it has competition. I also like FCPX too, but since it is so different and Mac only, I won't put that one up there right now.

Adobe After Effects? Well, now I love me some AE. I also have some 3rd party filters for AE from Red Giant and Video Copilot I enjoy using....so far, that one is the hardest to find a replacement for, but it appears that Blackmagic Fusion may be a real contender there.

So, there are alternatives....may take a little retraining, but then again, not that much. The PS alternatives often have pretty much the same layout of tools and keyboard shortcuts. A NLE for the most part is a NLE with some minor differences...

So, if nothing else, with Adobe going rental, it has put forth incentive for other companies to come along and truly compete.

So far, I'm voting with my wallet....I encourage anyone that can to also do so.

And I do this through a business....so, those that think the rental model is great for a business write off......I'd rather write off purchases of something the company owns, and doesn't go vapor when you stop rent payment.

I love photoshop, lightroom and other Adobe products. However, at this point, I stopped at CS6 for the Adobe suite of tools.

I have LR5, and may try to go to LR6 while I believe I still can to get that last perpetual license, but that's it.

While Adobe has put out "some" upgrades and new features over these past few years of Creative Cloud, I frankly haven't found anything there to be groundbreaking, that I cannot work without. IMHO, the adage that if they don't have incentive to innovate (due to steady income stream no matter what) they won't. And I don't see that they have really.

ON the other hand, it may be that things like Photoshop and Designer, AI, etc...have pretty much for the most part hit the wall on what you can do....and there isn't much room left for improvement for completely NEW features.

If that's the case, then if nothing else, Adobe should try going in and rewriting the engines behind the scenes, but you don't see that either.

One nice thing about the Adobe CC rental thing is, it has spurred on other companies to try to fill that void, and there are a number of them that are.

So far as a PS replacement, I'm enjoying Affinity Photo . It is damned fast, their engine work blows Adobe away. And for functionality, well, I'd say it is about 98-99% there. My only gripe is they need to emulate PS in that when you have the brush tool, you need to have the keyboard command to allow quick sampling of colors with the brush on the image. Other than that, the healing, cloning and content aware tools are JUST as good as Adobes from what I've seen so far. And I think with some extra time, it may equal or surpass PS. It is reasonably priced for a perpetual license, and they've been doing a LOT of updates for free since I bought it a couple years ago.

Affinity has a designer app and I belive a Publisher app coming out....windows and mac.

For a lightroom replacement, I'm playing with On1 RAW ...it is very good so far, I do miss some of the LR cataloging, but On1 appears to be adding those options. I like that it has in the RAW development area, simple and luminosity masking...something you have to drop out of raw imaging processing from LR and got to PS for on the Adobe side.. And again...very quick and responsive engine.

And for video...well, the free version of Black magic's Davinci Resolve ....well known and respected for its color grading capabilities, now has a very respectable e NLE inside, and they're adding some impressing sound tools too. Premier? Well....it has competition. I also like FCPX too, but since it is so different and Mac only, I won't put that one up there right now.

Adobe After Effects? Well, now I love me some AE. I also have some 3rd party filters for AE from Red Giant and Video Copilot I enjoy using....so far, that one is the hardest to find a replacement for, but it appears that Blackmagic Fusion may be a real contender there.

So, there are alternatives....may take a little retraining, but then again, not that much. The PS alternatives often have pretty much the same layout of tools and keyboard shortcuts. A NLE for the most part is a NLE with some minor differences...

So, if nothing else, with Adobe going rental, it has put forth incentive for other companies to come along and truly compete.

So far, I'm voting with my wallet....I encourage anyone that can to also do so.

And I do this through a business....so, those that think the rental model is great for a business write off......I'd rather write off purchases of something the company owns, and doesn't go vapor when you stop rent payment.

Needs beefy machine.

Runs 2011 MBP.

Well, I've been struggling with what I have for a number of years....and right now, the old system doesn't do what I need.

Not to mention, for big purchases, I like to save my nickles and dimes and buy what I want/need with cash and have no buyers remorse...therefore rather than make lots of small purchases, I save up and buy big and best as I can periodically.

Currently, I can bog the little systems down for DAYS at a time with a heavy After Effects render.

And I can't do much with Resolve before it halts things to a snails pace.

So, yes, I'm looking for dropping some coin on a high end workstation type unit, that will hopefully get my preferred workflows going at a manageable speed, and hopefully, last me for a few years to come.

Again, I've looked at something comparable, as recommended by Blackmagic Design, for running Resolve (linux or windows) with the HP Z840...which also get $$$ very quickly.

I did a very quick comparable on the HP z840 to the base iMac pro and it was about $4665...it isn't exact, but is close to what Apple purports the base iMac pro to be. And also, the iMac pro includes the 5K 27" monitor which you would have to add to the HP or other comparable unit.

No, not everyone needs this type of workstation, but if you are wanting to do a good bit of quality video, SPFX and even some high end photography compositing, etc....a nice high end system can make your day and workflow work for you.

Imagine spending $4999 on one of these

I'm actually considering buying one...

I like the 5K screen, and need a beefy machine to run something like DaVinci Resolve for video editing, color grading, etc....especially if I start working with 4K footage.

I'm working on old hardware (MBP late 2011, with 16GB ram, SSD card replacement main drive, external thunderbolt work and cache drives)....and even with Photoshop, if I'm working with compositing several RAW files, I can bog my system down.

So, no...you don't really need this if you're just doing email and browsing the web.

I've priced out comparable HP and other systems...and they run well over $5K quickly as you start to beef them up.

And hey...it is a business write off!! Yet another good reason to incorporate yourself.

That's a mighty powerful FREE program, but whew...it eats up resources.

It appears Resolve now also works on Linux for the free version. I'd really like to play with that.

Unless you build a hack and drop an nVidia 1080 or two into it. They did just release OSX drivers - haven't used the new ones myself though. If you know of a better GPU, I'm all ears. As for capture boards, you have to be kidding.

So much that I have been considering stop using Final Cut Pro and finding an alternative that can run on Windows.

You might consider looking into Davinci Resolve . The NLE capabilities of that are really coming along!! That plus you also have the best color grading tool out there in the same package.

It is free..give it a try and see how you like it.

You do need a pretty "beefy" CPU/GPU combo to run it cleanly and real time, but it is a nice tool.

until there's real content for it. 5K is pointless one-upping until there is an application for it.

Well, there are a number of cameras coming out, that are getting into decent price ranges, that shoot 4K+ video....and with my photo editing, that high resolution really allows me to truly see my high rez images while editing them.

I can also fit a LOT of open windows on a 5K monitor which is nice too....

But there are applications for a 4K or 5K computer monitor.

I had thought recently to get one of the iMac 5K's....but was worried that the GPU on it would be so busy with the display that it might now have quite enough power to run Davinci Resolve as speeds I wanted and needed for editing and color grading video.

With a monitor like this with GPU internal, I might could get that, and a new CPU unit (macbook pro, mac pro, etc)...and let the GPU in the computer unit do all the hard work for the application and the GPU in the monitor would do the display work....that sounds pretty sweet!

One can only hope.

I just still at this point, refuse to RENT my fucking creative software. For now, my CS6 Suite of Adobe tools will work...and now, with things like Fusion from Blackmagic..... Davinci Resolve from black magic design that is not only one of the ultimate color grading apps, it is also now turning into a world class NLE to compete with Adobe Premier.

I'm also playing with Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer , which so far look to compete pretty nicely with Photoshop and Illustrator respectively. All without the damned RENTAL Model...you buy a standalone license and be done with it.

Also Davinici Resolve...has a FREE lite version that really has about 99% of the functionality of the paid version....The affinity tools, are mac only for now, but they are working on releasing Windows versions soon.

The sooner the better...I really want to give the Adobe CC rental model some real competition with teeth and kill this thing off that is not in the consumer's best interest.

Oh dear, I seem to have gotten on a soapbox again....

One can only hope.

I just still at this point, refuse to RENT my fucking creative software. For now, my CS6 Suite of Adobe tools will work...and now, with things like Fusion from Blackmagic..... Davinci Resolve from black magic design that is not only one of the ultimate color grading apps, it is also now turning into a world class NLE to compete with Adobe Premier.

I'm also playing with Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer , which so far look to compete pretty nicely with Photoshop and Illustrator respectively. All without the damned RENTAL Model...you buy a standalone license and be done with it.

Also Davinici Resolve...has a FREE lite version that really has about 99% of the functionality of the paid version....The affinity tools, are mac only for now, but they are working on releasing Windows versions soon.

The sooner the better...I really want to give the Adobe CC rental model some real competition with teeth and kill this thing off that is not in the consumer's best interest.

Oh dear, I seem to have gotten on a soapbox again....

But, do give Davinci Resolve 12 a look...they also have out Fusion, which is IMHO, going to be a competitor to Adobe After Effects too for SPFX....worth looking into too.

For those who've never heard of Nuke from The Foundry maybe https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/ . Fusion has been around for a while before Blackmagic got hold of it. There is also Flame, which is now an Autodesk product. Nuke though is the leader in node based compositing apps these days it seems (in terms of function and number of users) since Apple stupidly bought, and then killed off, Shake.

However, if you want something very polshed and fancy and automatic....take a look at Davinci Resolve 12 Beta.

This is the free version that contains about 98% of the $1K paid version...what's missing likely you won't miss either....it is now a full blow NLE that compete with Premier and FCPX and others...

You can do some amazing sync'ing of multi-clip video and sound with this thing..take a look at the demos on site.

Unfortunatley, the Linux version is only available for Paid version, but hell, who doesn't have a mac or windows box laying around? I mean, if you have money for a decent video set up, you've already poured out some decent cash (camera, lights, software....hell, lenses ALONE)....surely you have laying around a win/osx box or can buy one.

But, do give Davinci Resolve 12 a look...they also have out Fusion, which is IMHO, going to be a competitor to Adobe After Effects too for SPFX....worth looking into too.

However, if you want something very polshed and fancy and automatic....take a look at Davinci Resolve 12 Beta.

This is the free version that contains about 98% of the $1K paid version...what's missing likely you won't miss either....it is now a full blow NLE that compete with Premier and FCPX and others...

You can do some amazing sync'ing of multi-clip video and sound with this thing..take a look at the demos on site.

Unfortunatley, the Linux version is only available for Paid version, but hell, who doesn't have a mac or windows box laying around? I mean, if you have money for a decent video set up, you've already poured out some decent cash (camera, lights, software....hell, lenses ALONE)....surely you have laying around a win/osx box or can buy one.

But, do give Davinci Resolve 12 a look...they also have out Fusion, which is IMHO, going to be a competitor to Adobe After Effects too for SPFX....worth looking into too.

* pay zero and use Fusion 7 - https://www.blackmagicdesign.c... - now free-as-in-fantasy-beer
* pay zero and use LightWorks - http://www.lwks.com/

There's probably others that are closed source and commercially developed, yet available in free form one way or another, with extensive featuresets.

Of course on the open source side, there's further software as well. So I don't think it's unjust to ask why one would donate to Pitivi; it's just that the reason in this case is bunk. The real question should have been "Why donate funds to Pitivi, and not to [alternative]?"

Common 4K cameras would fill up this card in a little over one hour of recording time.

Confirmed.

Blackmagic has lots of hardware and likely will be supported in the future - davinci is sweet, if this system proves stable it will create a much needed solution. https://www.blackmagicdesign.c...

What PCIe cards are you plugging in again? Graphics cards? You still have yet to demonstrate that it is not a novelty. I have never seen a CAD setup like that. Nor have I heard of a gaming rig that uses a laptop CPU but has an external graphics box. Maybe you're right and it will be all the rage in CAD houses.

What devices are these? Still graphics cards?

http://www.red.com/store/produ...
http://www.blackmagicdesign.co...
http://www.nvidia.com/object/q...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item...
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Du...

I could go on but really the answer is "Every single PCI-E card that exists." Or "Every single PCI-E card that is important to professional users that just because you don't know about doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

I'm a BSEE who, among many things, has done VCR (etc.) repair for over 30 years. I own many VCRs and a really high-end A/D converter. I do this for people from time to time.

The BEST VCR to play a tape is the _one_ it was recorded on. There is NO guarantee that the recording machine was 100% aligned to correct standards. Even among perfectly aligned new machines and adjusting tracking, a tape recorded on one can look terrible on another. There are so many possible mechanical variations due to normal manufacturing tolerances, and minute differences can make huge differences in the final picture. Each manufacturer has their own design ideas. Flying head thickness is a factor. Head wear is a huge factor- as the head wears, the gap will widen. You may not see the difference until it gets so bad that the video frequency response is bad and you see it. I could go on and on about tape path, head azimuth, etc., mechanical adjustments, and sometimes dozens of electronic adjustments (especially in older machines), but I won't bore you.

Bottom line: I have many brands and models so I can pick the best VCR for the tape. Tape wear is negligible during transport, _unless_ there is a broken head, worn flying head (big gap), tape path guide misaligned, etc. If in doubt, play another tape for 20 seconds or so, eject it, flip open the cover, and see if the tape is visibly damaged at all before playing your good tape.

Panasonic and Mitsubishi are great. At both a company I worked for and an A/V team I was part of did some tests and the Mitsubishis had the best video frequency response of 10 or so brands we tested. Sony wasn't bad, but cost more and seemed to wear out faster.

A great A/D converter for the money is Canopus ADVC 110 Converter. Some high-end ones: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/intensity/, http://www.ospreyvideo.com/products/osprey-cards, and I have an AJA http://www.aja.com/.

There's also DaVinci Resolve and and LightWorks. Both with free Linux versions.

In light of these two offerings, I'm surprised that PiTiVi is called the most mature. I haven't used any of them, though.

Neither is open source (atm), see the title ;-)

There's also DaVinci Resolve and and LightWorks. Both with free Linux versions.

DaVinci Resolve is mainly for color tweaking but since version 10 also can cut. LightWorks has been used in Hollywood a lot.

In light of these two offerings, I'm surprised that PiTiVi is called the most mature. I haven't used any of them, though.

Right now is Windows. Final Cut Pro was bastardized into Imovie pro. and Linux has absolutely nothing that is useable.

Oh dear...

Windows has a lock on it as the only platform that runs AVID and Sony Vegas for the only two professional platforms for video editing

Most of those switching from FCP7 went over to Premiere or Avid MC on OSX.

and After Effects as the ONLY EFX software platform that is useable.

I think you meant unusable and what is "EFX"?. AE is a motion graphics tool that evolved into a compositor and does neither very well.

And this makes me sad. All the Linux options are utter garbage or for making videos of your cat, none are usable for a feature length film or even a professional looking TV show.

Not true... you could edit your cat videos in flame, Resolve or piranha (etc) if you wanted.

Of course the linux version of Resolve is $30,000 because... being the version in professional use it's only available with the control surface. Since you're making "a feature length film or even a professional looking TV show" and want to use linux, it should be right in budget for you!