ShotPut Pro ?!!

[Piotr Wozniacki]

I've just received an e-mail from Imagine Products, announcing my Shotput software will more or less stop functioning as advertised by July 31th, and - in order to be able to use it - I need to upgrade to the "Pro" version for some 50 bucks.

Now, this is a really nasty surprise for me, as the original Shotput features have been just enough for me. Frankly, this is the first time I need to buy a piece of software for the second time in order to continue using my legitimate licence!

New versions, upgrades etc are OK, but usually you have the choice to continue using the previous version if you so chose...

Guys, have all of you ShotPut users upgraded to the Pro version? Is it worth the extra money?

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

Guys, have all of you ShotPut users upgraded to the Pro version? Is it worth the extra money?

No. I'm not upgrading. The company has treated me (and others it seems) with a bit of contempt. No demo before I purchased, no bug fix for the issues I was having, no upgrade path to my current version, just 'give us the money'.

To misquote Mr Adams (Dirk Gently?), "they, like the kippers I ate for breakfast yesterday, are out of my system now."

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Thanks Matt.

Am I right that just about the only difference between the "pro" version, and the original ShotPut is that it can now handle multiple formats (i.e. SxS, P2 etc.)? Plus some potential for integration with DVD/BD backup burning?

If so, I definitely find those improvements not worthy $50. I have developed my own workflow that the original ShotPut is enough for, and I'd like to stick to it.

It's very arrogant way of making us pay again for what we already paid for!

[John Peterson]

The way I am reading the e-mail, it is saying that the old update server is no longer operational.

To me that means that you can no longer move the software to another computer and activate it, but that it will still function on whichever computer it is currently installed. It was a single computer license. Automatic updates will also no longer function, but they are no longer updating it anyway so it shouldn't matter.

John

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by John Peterson

To me that means that you can no longer move the software to another computer and activate it

So let's take last August when my internal hard disk died. Switch to backup computer, copy across backup of internal hard disk, but the image is corrupt or the backup computer didn't like it. So had to reinstall manually. Can't 'deactivate' software as it's on corrupt hard drive. Almost all suppliers happy to help, often with semi-immediate email pingback with a solution.

I somehow feel that Imagine Products won't help in that situation. Regrettably they're not alone - I've had problems with Heuris and MegaPEG too (and bloody Microsoft, but I can feel the blood pressure rising), when trying to move software after hard disk crash or theft.

[John Peterson]

Originally Posted by Matt Daviss

So let's take last August when my internal hard disk died. Switch to backup computer, copy across backup of internal hard disk, but the image is corrupt or the backup computer didn't like it. So had to reinstall manually. Can't 'deactivate' software as it's on corrupt hard drive. Almost all suppliers happy to help, often with semi-immediate email pingback with a solution.

I somehow feel that Imagine Products won't help in that situation. Regrettably they're not alone - I've had problems with Heuris and MegaPEG too (and bloody Microsoft, but I can feel the blood pressure rising), when trying to move software after hard disk crash or theft.

I agree. They should take care of their customers. If I run into a situation like that I simply won't use the software any longer. I won't accept a forced upgrade. It's easy enough to copy the files with Clip Browser.

John

[Andrew Stone]

What are the other options aside from Clip Browser?

If they didn't state in the EULA (end user license agreement) that the license was to expire I would try to raise a stink.

[Dave Morrison]

I was stunned by how these guys were SO unwilling to help a customer with one of their products. I bought my original copy of ShotPut Express shortly after buying my EX1. I moved it between my desktop and laptop computer a couple times by deauthorizing one or the other. Somewhere during one of these de/re-authorizing steps, the program quit launching completely on both computers. I wanted to get it working on my laptop only and leave it there but they refused to help me get it working again in spite of numerous emails AND phone calls.

I've never had a company (and especially a US-based company) treat me like I was some kind of thief or as if I was trying to get away with something. Their "solution" was to extort another $50 out of me to get it working again. Unbelievable.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Thanks everyone to your responses; it seems I'm not the only one to get outraged by Imagine Products policy.

I almost always find the free ClipBrowser capabilities to be sufficient - apart from situations where I'm doing a live, multicamera coverage; being responsible for all the material I'd like to use ShotPut EXpress in order to dump cards handed over to me by all the camera operators WHILE the shooting continues, and to more than one HDD simultaneously.

Since I purchased the ShotPut EXpress licence, I used it in such demanding situation just ONCE. This autumn, we're shooting a series of live events (classical music performances) again, so I would like to take the advantage of automated storing to 3 HDD's - and my original EXpress version would be perfectly enough for this purpose... But what if my laptop fails, and I need to re-install?

Really don't know what to do; on the one hand $50 is not too expensive for that peace of mind, but on the other hand... Why pay for the same thing again?!!

And, who knows what they're going to come up with in the future.