6 ms·

I won't be buying any Adobe products any more. From their extremely high prices, to forced subscriptions/cloud only products to their terrible security track re

I won't be buying any Adobe products any more. From their extremely high prices, to forced subscriptions/cloud only products to their terrible security track record. Thankfully there are now many cheaper and better alternatives to buy from.

Uehreka 6y ago
Whenever people say this I ask about After Effects. I have yet to find a FOSS or cheaper substitute. Many people have suggestions for Premiere Pro replacements, but not After Effects.
- gilrain 6y ago
  Have you tried DaVinci Resolve? It's not FOSS, but it is a pro-level After Effects replacement with much more reasonable terms.
  - Jasper_ 6y ago
    DaVinci Resolve feels more like a Nuke clone; it's production film compositing, not the compositing-and-animation mix that After Effects is.
    - jpm48 6y ago
      You can do most things AE will do with a combination of Natron and Blender.
      - deltron3030 6y ago
        You can't replace the huge template and plugin ecosystem of AE. That's what really drives the adoption.
- marksalpeter 6y ago
  For simple 2d ui animations I use Flow instead of AE + bodymovin. I highly recommend it for simple stuff. https://createwithflow.com/ https://createwithflow.com/
- open-source-ux 6y ago
  If you want to do 2D motion graphics, there is no real rival for After Effects (AE). A new motion and animation app called Cavalry recently launched but it's far too early to see if it can rival AE. It also uses an online subscription model (https://cavalry.scenegroup.co/ https://cavalry.scenegroup.co/).
- interpol_p 6y ago
  I really like Apple Motion, but that's also a commercial substitute. The $50 once-off price is very good, though
- kkapelon 6y ago
  Blackmagic Design Fusion (now part of Davinci resolve). For really simple things you can also use Hitfilm Pro There is also https://natrongithub.github.io/ https://natrongithub.github.io/ but I haven't personally tried it
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- strogonoff 6y ago
  Hands down, Blender. See Ian Hubert’s channel[0] for samples of what can be achieved with Blender by a tiny team. His examples tend to be specific to VFX, but Blender is quite general-purpose as far as motion design goes with an NLE, support for the familiar “expressions” paradigm, and so on. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxD6H3ri8RI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxD6H3ri8RI
  - jp555 6y ago
    Blender seconded. I mean, can you code procedural FX with Python in After Effects? You can in Blender. And it's free. 2.90 is shockingly good.
    - FrozenSynapse 6y ago
      Blender's video tools have been overlooked recently. Video work is limited.
  - Uehreka 6y ago
    I use Blender and Ian Hubert’s recent work is what got me into it. It’s an excellent tool when it comes to the kind of motion-tracked work he does (and which I hope to get into) but for quickly cutting together motion graphics I have not found it to be as handy.
Ninjinka 6y ago
I won't be "buying" any of their products anymore either...
- mushbino 6y ago
  I used Adobe products, almost all of them, for over 20 years and I felt so burned by their business model that I don't even want it for free at this point. Also, Fireworks was the best mockup tool they had and instead of improving/evolving it they killed it.
  - Vanderson 6y ago
    I was a beta tester for Fireworks for one version. It was a pure joy to work with. It was the best web design/interface design software for years. And yes, another reason I have lost faith in Adobe as a company is them bailing on Fireworks. Maybe because it was a Macromedia product originally. It seems every Macromedia product has been abandoned/neglected by Adobe.
alexashka 6y ago
Very cool. Adobe stock has nearly doubled in the past 12 months and they've been on an upward trajectory for the past 5 years. Once Adobe realized they're competing with piracy the same way the music industry was, oops, all of a sudden there are profits to be made from simply charging a fair price. Who woulda thunk it.
- addicted 6y ago
  Or rather, they are making money by never letting people own the stuff they buy and only renting it out. They get more money out of us, for a lesser product, that we have even less control of.
  - FrozenSynapse 6y ago
    $50-ish is a very small monthly price if you're making money using those apps.
pjmlp 6y ago
So given the subject at hand where is the cheaper and better alternatives to XD, with the same feature set?
- nl 6y ago
  I think Figma and Sketch are often classed as competitors, and I know many prefer one of those. I'm unsure how pricing compares.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    Sketch is not multi-platform, so no real alternative. Figma doesn't support the design capabilities for native app design, so no real alternative. Where is then the alternative?
    - nl 6y ago
      I have no idea what your priorities are, so it's hard to guess. XD doesn't support Linux either. Apparently https://icons8.com/lunacy https://icons8.com/lunacy runs on Windows and can import and export to Sketch. Figma of course runs in a browser so works fine on all, and there is a Mobile UI toolkit for it: https://www.figma.com/templates/mobile-ui-kit/ https://www.figma.com/templates/mobile-ui-kit/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/04/sketch-figma-adobe-xd-ui-design-applications/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/04/sketch-figma-adobe-... https://www.codeinwp.com/blog/figma-vs-sketch-vs-adobe-xd/ https://www.codeinwp.com/blog/figma-vs-sketch-vs-adobe-xd/ But maybe what you need is... Adobe XD? I personally quite like it.
      - pjmlp 6y ago
        Exactly, so this assertion that alternatives do exist doesn't make sense.
        matzab 6y ago
        Alternatives do exist, just not for you specifically, perhaps.
Nathanael_M 6y ago
I'm pretty much completely invested in the Adobe ecosystem. I don't find it expensive at all for how much I get out of it, but if there's a better option than Illustrator/Photoshop/InDesign I'd love to hear about it.

Uehreka 6y ago

Whenever people say this I ask about After Effects. I have yet to find a FOSS or cheaper substitute. Many people have suggestions for Premiere Pro replacements, but not After Effects.

gilrain 6y ago
Have you tried DaVinci Resolve? It's not FOSS, but it is a pro-level After Effects replacement with much more reasonable terms.
- Jasper_ 6y ago
  DaVinci Resolve feels more like a Nuke clone; it's production film compositing, not the compositing-and-animation mix that After Effects is.
  - jpm48 6y ago
    You can do most things AE will do with a combination of Natron and Blender.
    - deltron3030 6y ago
      You can't replace the huge template and plugin ecosystem of AE. That's what really drives the adoption.
marksalpeter 6y ago
For simple 2d ui animations I use Flow instead of AE + bodymovin. I highly recommend it for simple stuff. https://createwithflow.com/ https://createwithflow.com/
open-source-ux 6y ago
If you want to do 2D motion graphics, there is no real rival for After Effects (AE). A new motion and animation app called Cavalry recently launched but it's far too early to see if it can rival AE. It also uses an online subscription model (https://cavalry.scenegroup.co/ https://cavalry.scenegroup.co/).
interpol_p 6y ago
I really like Apple Motion, but that's also a commercial substitute. The $50 once-off price is very good, though
kkapelon 6y ago
Blackmagic Design Fusion (now part of Davinci resolve). For really simple things you can also use Hitfilm Pro There is also https://natrongithub.github.io/ https://natrongithub.github.io/ but I haven't personally tried it
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
strogonoff 6y ago
Hands down, Blender. See Ian Hubert’s channel[0] for samples of what can be achieved with Blender by a tiny team. His examples tend to be specific to VFX, but Blender is quite general-purpose as far as motion design goes with an NLE, support for the familiar “expressions” paradigm, and so on. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxD6H3ri8RI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxD6H3ri8RI
- jp555 6y ago
  Blender seconded. I mean, can you code procedural FX with Python in After Effects? You can in Blender. And it's free. 2.90 is shockingly good.
  - FrozenSynapse 6y ago
    Blender's video tools have been overlooked recently. Video work is limited.
- Uehreka 6y ago
  I use Blender and Ian Hubert’s recent work is what got me into it. It’s an excellent tool when it comes to the kind of motion-tracked work he does (and which I hope to get into) but for quickly cutting together motion graphics I have not found it to be as handy.

Ninjinka 6y ago

I won't be "buying" any of their products anymore either...

mushbino 6y ago
I used Adobe products, almost all of them, for over 20 years and I felt so burned by their business model that I don't even want it for free at this point. Also, Fireworks was the best mockup tool they had and instead of improving/evolving it they killed it.
- Vanderson 6y ago
  I was a beta tester for Fireworks for one version. It was a pure joy to work with. It was the best web design/interface design software for years. And yes, another reason I have lost faith in Adobe as a company is them bailing on Fireworks. Maybe because it was a Macromedia product originally. It seems every Macromedia product has been abandoned/neglected by Adobe.

alexashka 6y ago

Very cool. Adobe stock has nearly doubled in the past 12 months and they've been on an upward trajectory for the past 5 years. Once Adobe realized they're competing with piracy the same way the music industry was, oops, all of a sudden there are profits to be made from simply charging a fair price. Who woulda thunk it.

addicted 6y ago
Or rather, they are making money by never letting people own the stuff they buy and only renting it out. They get more money out of us, for a lesser product, that we have even less control of.
- FrozenSynapse 6y ago
  $50-ish is a very small monthly price if you're making money using those apps.

pjmlp 6y ago

So given the subject at hand where is the cheaper and better alternatives to XD, with the same feature set?

nl 6y ago
I think Figma and Sketch are often classed as competitors, and I know many prefer one of those. I'm unsure how pricing compares.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Sketch is not multi-platform, so no real alternative. Figma doesn't support the design capabilities for native app design, so no real alternative. Where is then the alternative?
  - nl 6y ago
    I have no idea what your priorities are, so it's hard to guess. XD doesn't support Linux either. Apparently https://icons8.com/lunacy https://icons8.com/lunacy runs on Windows and can import and export to Sketch. Figma of course runs in a browser so works fine on all, and there is a Mobile UI toolkit for it: https://www.figma.com/templates/mobile-ui-kit/ https://www.figma.com/templates/mobile-ui-kit/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/04/sketch-figma-adobe-xd-ui-design-applications/ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/04/sketch-figma-adobe-... https://www.codeinwp.com/blog/figma-vs-sketch-vs-adobe-xd/ https://www.codeinwp.com/blog/figma-vs-sketch-vs-adobe-xd/ But maybe what you need is... Adobe XD? I personally quite like it.
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      Exactly, so this assertion that alternatives do exist doesn't make sense.
      - matzab 6y ago
        Alternatives do exist, just not for you specifically, perhaps.

Nathanael_M 6y ago

I'm pretty much completely invested in the Adobe ecosystem. I don't find it expensive at all for how much I get out of it, but if there's a better option than Illustrator/Photoshop/InDesign I'd love to hear about it.