program is useless

@peter-lang

Hi Peter, that almost looks like what I was getting before the last update. Everything would be screwed up and after a minute or so would pop into view, although yours is 1000% worst. 
I think after the first of the year if there has not been any movement by Photopia I will suspend my license and go back to Producer until they get a reliable program. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours, have a great New Year. 

Bob

Hi Peter, I can't disagree, I nearly subscribed, but all the problems put me off.

I often volunteer to be a Beta tester, and if I was running Photopia, I would have released this as a Beta as they can not seriously consider it is was ready for release given the issues. Maybe they should consider it still, and credit the time back to those who have subscribed...

I will have another look next year, and hopefully, they will have fixed the issues.  I hope so as this program has so much potential.

@peter-lang

Thank you for sending this issue to us through the Contact Us form.  The additional details we were able to get by eMail were very helpful.  If you should find that the problem becomes consistent, or even occurs again, please reach out through eMail once more so that we can dive back into the troubleshooting process and figure out what's happening on that system.

So gar ist did Not  Happen Again!

Posted by: @ledge1962

Hi Peter, I can't disagree, I nearly subscribed, but all the problems put me off.

I often volunteer to be a Beta tester, and if I was running Photopia, I would have released this as a Beta as they can not seriously consider it is was ready for release given the issues. Maybe they should consider it still, and credit the time back to those who have subscribed...

I will have another look next year, and hopefully, they will have fixed the issues.  I hope so as this program has so much potential.

+1

I have noted more than 120 bugs corrections (not minors) since the first release and there are still problems. May we consider the program was ready to be sold ? For me, it was (it is still) a beta version. I was also volunteer to beta test and even to suggest a french localized patch but nobody even give me a reply.

@jeep35

Please send over that list of issues you've run into through our Contact Us form, where we can work with you over eMail to sort out any details or obtain additional reference files as may be necessary.  We can also address any outstanding beta / translation requests you may have, as I don't see those in the usual place.

Thank you.

@joshua

Josh, my reply was based on those you have corrected since the first release. Everyone may consult this list in the history of releases. There are more than 100 bugs you have worked on since november this means that your programs were not ready to be sold. I'm sorry about that because I know you are a great developper ! We met at the latest Photodex Conference in Austin a few years ago and we were often in mail exchanges during the ProShow adventure.

In any case, I do believe you should have waited more beta tests to release Photopia Director and Creator because this gives a very bad idea of the program.  I hope you will master the development because you are the right man in this place.

Cordially

Jean-Pierre

As one who benefited from being a member of the Beta program for Proshow, I am quite happy that Photopia was released when it was. I do not mind being on board at this time, as a paying user, and have no doubt that both versions will continue to improve and rise above the level of what Proshow became. I do not see the program as "useless." I do, however, understand others may not feel the same. (I did mention in a past email that when I re-ran all my prior Proshow shows through Photopia I was very pleased with the results. It presented me with ideas I might never have come up with on my own, that I believe actually improved the shows, and I had no problems adjusting the few slides I needed to. This is the reason I jumped at the chance to get a subscription.)

I do think one of the problems that might have led to the downfall of Proshow is that there were a lot of us allowed to be in the Beta group with minimal participation in discovering actual bugs. This effectively removed an ongoing source of income that may (or may not) have contributed to it's ability to continue. I do not (nor do I need to) know what  financial backing the developers have to utilize while Photopia evolves. Whether they "need" my money to continue development, or not, I am happy to be able to use the program, and pay for that opportunity. 

My own experience is that EVERY program has bugs. Proshow was no exception. New releases of an old program tend to introduce new ones as well. What is important for me is that the bugs get addressed. And as I look over the history of releases, I can see they are.

It's the old Po-ta-toe/Po-tot-toe situation. Some will get a negative first impression. I have a very positive first impression. 

For those who feel it is not developed enough to warrant them paying for it, they can always hold off a while longer. Being the type of learner I am, I choose to get on board now and take the time to learn the ins and outs of the program while it evolves.

Hi Louis,

It's ok to make positive comments sitting on the other side of the fence.

Peter purchased the software at the start, in good faith, thinking it would work without having to shut down windows when the program fell over. He was/is also the back bone of this forum.(check his number of posts)

I have never had a new software program where I have had to shut down windows and restart because of bugs.

Check the amount of activity on this forum, especially "News and Announcements". Photopia should be selling themselves, they could be letting people know of program updates and a list of bug fixes to start with.

People should be able make comment on this forum of any bugs they find and choose not to email them to Joshua if they like.

We are all here to learn from each other.

Regards,

John

Hi Louis and John!
Thank you for your comments.

Since I am not a good English speaking person, I struggle to write such good and detailed comments.
But tomorrow I will explain more details to my statement that the program was useless for me.
kind regards
Peter

Thank you for your response, John.

You wrote... 'It's ok to make positive comments sitting on the other side of the fence." I do not know what that means, so further clarification would be helpful. Thanks.

As to what I wrote, I was responding more to the title of this entry in the forum, rather than anyone in particular. So I am sorry,  Peter, if anything I wrote comes across as seeking to discount your experience with Photopia. That was not, nor is it, my intention. 

Hi Louis,

You are part of the Photopia Team.

If I have offended you in anyway with my post I apologise.

We all want Photopia to function well, the latest update is the first time I have confidence in the software.

Posted by: @lahazard

As one who benefited from being a member of the Beta program for Proshow, I am quite happy that Photopia was released when it was. I do not mind being on board at this time, as a paying user, and have no doubt that both versions will continue to improve and rise above the level of what Proshow became. I do not see the program as "useless." I do, however, understand others may not feel the same. (I did mention in a past email that when I re-ran all my prior Proshow shows through Photopia I was very pleased with the results. It presented me with ideas I might never have come up with on my own, that I believe actually improved the shows, and I had no problems adjusting the few slides I needed to. This is the reason I jumped at the chance to get a subscription.)

I do think one of the problems that might have led to the downfall of Proshow is that there were a lot of us allowed to be in the Beta group with minimal participation in discovering actual bugs. This effectively removed an ongoing source of income that may (or may not) have contributed to it's ability to continue. I do not (nor do I need to) know what  financial backing the developers have to utilize while Photopia evolves. Whether they "need" my money to continue development, or not, I am happy to be able to use the program, and pay for that opportunity. 

My own experience is that EVERY program has bugs. Proshow was no exception. New releases of an old program tend to introduce new ones as well. What is important for me is that the bugs get addressed. And as I look over the history of releases, I can see they are.

It's the old Po-ta-toe/Po-tot-toe situation. Some will get a negative first impression. I have a very positive first impression. 

For those who feel it is not developed enough to warrant them paying for it, they can always hold off a while longer. Being the type of learner I am, I choose to get on board now and take the time to learn the ins and outs of the program while it evolves.

 

You are a very lucky person, I did not have any luck with any of the shows I had imported from Producer 8 or 9.

Even with the last update there are still issues, this is why I went back to Producer and tomorrow (1st of the month) I will suspend and give them a few more months to work out the bugs.

It is obvious that the program is still in beta when you look at the posts in this forum.

2549 post as of today but only 751 on the public side. Also if the program was ready for prime time where are the docs?? I'm the type of guy that likes to look up an answer not watch hours of video's hoping they talk about your issue.

Oh well,

Happy New Year everyone!!

Bob

@robert-mcmurray

Hi Bob,

Not been on here for a while although I have popped by now and again to see how things are going.

I see it has not been great for you even with the updates, that is a shame because I think you had high hopes for Photopia as I did initially.

I note from the updates that many of the issues I had have been at least looked at if not fixed properly which I guess is something.

From looking through many of the posts on here it is obvious that the programme should not have been released as a full, pay for, version when it was.

Those who had no problems importing shows or adjusting slides were/are definitely in the minority from what I see.

Over 100 "fixes" since first release just a few short months ago and still each and every update has "fixed various stability issues" means that it was not a full and stable programme which should have been released for sale.

I have used many programmes over the years and been a beta tester for a number of them. Yes every programme will have bugs, no developer can account for every users different needs and systems straight away. But I am afraid I have never come across one which had quite so many basic bugs and errors as Photopia has had since release. Which is a shame since many of the developers were experienced with Photodex stuff and should have been able to transfer much of that to the new programme.

Oh well. Ce la vie.

I will continue to keep an eye open on here and maybe in a couple of months I might try a trial version again to see if things have improved.

Until then I will stick to ProShow.

Good luck to those sticking with it and to the developers.

A