AE Upgrades

[dalelpaq]

Maybe someone with a long history in AE can tell me - I'm using CS3 Pro and am considering upgrading to CS4. If I wait until CS5 comes out, will I still be able to take advantage of the much lower upgrade cost or will Adobe hit me for the full price of the new edition?

Why not ask Adobe directly? The Adobe website is so extraordinarily slow many don't bother!

[Steve Grisetti]

If the current pattern means anything, there will be a range of versions that will be eligible for the upgrade. (In the case of CS4, you can upgrade if you have 6.0, 7.0 or CS3.) And, if you are eligible, all upgrades cost the same. As you can see:
http://store.adobe.com/store/en_us/popu ... ility.html

In other words, there's not likely a financial liability to waiting for the next version.

[Bob]

Right, Adobe tightened their eligibility rules. At one time, you could upgrade from any previous version. Now, you can only upgrade from the previous three versions.

CS5 is expected to be released after or around the end of the 1st quarter. Definitely within the 2nd quarter. April, maybe?? Which isn't all that far away.

One very important consideration. Adobe has announced that the CS5 version of After Effects will be 64-bit only.

[dalelpaq]

Interesting! Obviously, with a 32-bit OS, CS5 wouldn't work. That said (I haven't seen any of their press releases (though now I'll go take a look), there may not be any benefit to waiting to upgrade unless they are planning something else (like CS6?). I'll see what I can figure out. Dale

[Bob]

See this: http://blogs.adobe.com/davtechtable/2009/10/its_official_the_future_of_ado.html

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

For me a little financial reality has to kick in here (sob!! sob!!)

Presently I am on CS4 and have Win 7 64 bit as my OPSYS. But going CS5 is going to be too costly for me in these (dire) straitened times so I'll likely be giving CS5 a miss.

By the time CS6 is released, and the green shoots of (my personal) financial recovery are firmly established, then I'll probably go CS6. But unless there are pressing reasons beyond that time, CS6 is as far as I am likely to go.

Of course, when CS6 is finally released, my PC will be an Intel based Whizz Bang i7000XX (or whatever they will call their chips in two years time) so I'll be able to edit all of that footage recorded by my Sony XWP8000 even though is is in highly compressed uXVHS format which only an eight core sixty four bit native architecture processor can manage.

[Bob]

I skipped CS4 for pretty much the same reason. I did upgrade to Photoshop CS4 though. I plan on upgrading to After Effects CS5. I'm all ready for it, I'm running Windows 7 64-bit with 8GB ram and an NVidia card with CUDA support (Adobe is going with CUDA for the GPU API).

[dalelpaq]

Guess I didn't realize that going to Windows 7 would convert me to 64 bit? I thought that was a function of the hardware. Dale

[Steve Grisetti]

There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 -- just as there were for previous operating systems.

If/when you upgrade from XP or Vista to Windows 7, you have the option of installing the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the OS.

[dalelpaq]

Got it!! I found a utility on the MS site that tests a computer for Win 7 compatibility. It only takes a couple of minutes to supposedly scan the PC and produce a report. It offers the option of checking on the 32 or the 62 bit versions. Apparently, my "system" is compatible, there are few devices it doesn't know about (an external USB sound card and my USB printer), and it is uncertain about a few programs (mostly Dell stuff, my printer, and Roxio). That said, it said nothing at all about PS or AE.

I need to check back on the article referenced a couple of responses ago, but it sounds like PS CS4 is already 64 bits - unless there is also a 32 bit version, and that it should run fine on 32 bits.

Never thought that to be an VFX artist was going to require me to be a PC expert geek as well. Your insights are very welcome. Dale

[Bob]

it sounds like PS CS4 is already 64 bits - unless there is also a 32 bit version, and that it should run fine on 32 bits.

PS CS4 includes the 64-bit and 32-bit versions in the same package. On a 32-bit system, the installer only installs the 32-bit version. On a 64-bit system, the installer installs both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions (for compatibility reasons -- so you can run your 32-bit 3rd party plugins). Only a few vendors, such as Topaz, are currently shipping 64-bit versions of their plugins.

[Paul LS]

Only a few vendors, such as Topaz, are currently shipping 64-bit versions of their plugins.

... tell me about it. Sony Vegas has been shipping the 64 bit version for a couple of years and the greatest downside is that none of my plugins or intermediate codecs will work with it as they are not 64 bit compatible. Neat Video, Mercalli, Magic Bullet Movie Looks etc, etc... none of them work that is why I still do most of my editing in the 32 bit version.

[dalelpaq]

I think this last issue represents the conclusion I've reached. My XPS720 can support a 64 bit OS and my Adobe stuff would be just fine - probably better. But most of the other stuff I have, let alone plug-ins - such as MS Office - wouldn't. I'm thinking that I'm going CS4 across the board and will just sit there till she dies the PC that is). At replacement time, who knows, I may not have a choice! That said, as my video interests increase, I might bite the bullet and shift to a Mac.