Xara DPX Update Service - day 0 - included offers with Update - Interface problem

I'm at day 0 with the Update Service and considering not paying for the moment.

I noticed on the Magix website that under Upgrade, they are offering two additions:

1. ASEOPS 11
2. Vegas Movie Studio 16

Has anyone used ASEOPS? Comments?
I really don't need another video editor, especially a basic version. I would rather have a further discount and not get these two programs. Unlikely, I guess. Magix wants 149CAD for the upgrade, 229CAD new. Too much, IMHO.

I have downloaded everything possible from the online catalogue within the last couple of days, so I should be good for a while.

Why am I not wanting to pay now? I use Xara with Magix Video Pro X or Movie Edit Pro Premium to create animated/static overly graphics and animations. I have published some tutorials on this. This works from within the video program, opens the animation part of Xara with the video clip in the background, and moves the video along with the animation of whatever is drawn. For the last year, the interface from VPX10 was broken; the video would not open in Xara so the screen was blank and it was impossible to work with; no way to animate something that goes with the video. Despite bug requests starting from last year, Magix did not fix this until VPX11 was released recently. The interface now worked, great, but upon rebooting and opening a recently saved VPX project, the Xar object was usually empty. This means that I could not continue on with older projects because the Xar created overlay would likely be gone if I opened the project. The Xar animation object is there, but it is blank.

I was able to repeat this several times. After creating a video showing the problem, I reopened one that had 3 objects done before rebooting. Two of them were still there. I opened another one, and all three were there. In the third one, only one was there. So with the third one, I recreated the 2 missing objects, just simple things like a rectangle or star moving around the screen, saved, rebooted, and the 2 new objects showed up, but the other one had now disappeared. I can't work with this.

This is not the first time that I have had problems with this interface. A few years ago, and for about 2 years, the video would show up but not advance. I raised several tickets with Magix (and one with Xara) about this, showing them a video of how it was supposed to work. They finally fixed it in a new version. All in all, over about 6 years, I have only been able to use this half of the time.

Thus, until I see that this has been fixed, I see no rational reason to pay more money.

John, I totally agree. I updated and got ASEOPS and have get seen no tangible benefit to use it.
Xara could probably learn from it and adjust the HTML Filter but as end-users of the output of the Xara Desktop application, we have no control over what is generated.

I cannot even recall if I had something else bundled. Oh yes, it was MAGIX PanoramaStudio 3.2.
Again, a waste of disc storage.

Acorn

I just Xara gave us a way to get rid of that update nag (the one that does not have a "do not show again" check box) every time you start an unupdated designer Pro 16.2.

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Originally Posted by Promidi

I just Xara gave us a way to get rid of that update nag (the one that does not have a "do not show again" check box) every time you start an unupdated designer Pro 16.2.

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I think that if you look back, you will see several posts from users who say that they did not know about the Update Service, were not aware that it was about to expire, and that they did not know that it had expired until they tried to get into the on-line catalogue. We know that you do indeed get a message that the Update Service is about to expire, starting about 30 days prior, and that you can turn off. Once it has expired, we get a notice upon opening Xara that the Update Service has expired and we cannot turn it off. I think that these messages are intended for those who complain that they were not informed and the rest of us have to suffer.

That said, it would be nice if we could turn it off after a couple of iteration.

The update price has gone from $99 that is was for years to a ridiclous $129. Ridiclous? Well the entire new license cost with a year of service is only $199. Again, I take a swip at the ridiclous marketing scam approach of saying the "regular" upgrade is $696.99 offering a whooping savings of $567.99! The "added value" as indicated by previous post here is trumped up garbage. Offer me the renewal at $99 without the garbage and i'll go back to being current. Magix, btw i own your Movie Edit Pro Premium, so why would I want an entry copy of VEGAS?

Maybe a better approach from Magix, if they insist on the sleezy added value approach, would be to let me choose a Magix product that was of some interest and value to me.

ok, rant done. Have a Magixal day everyone.

I just went for the £10 a month photoshop cc option - I need this program - the stuff Xara doles out in drips and drabs I don't...

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Originally Posted by handrawn

I just went for the £10 a month photoshop cc option - I need this program - the stuff Xara doles out in drips and drabs I don't...

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Hmmm. And if you stop paying Adobe, you have nothing.

I'm going to wait until v17 comes out plus some bug fixes (hopefully in about 11 months), then upgrade if there is something that I would like to have. That should take me through to v18 plus some bug fixes, then I can sit out for another year or so. Result - half price, I hope. I'll call it a senior's discount.

As for the risk of dropping back to v15 if I have to reinstall Xara, if this should happen, reinstalling Xara would probably be the least of my worries.

+1 for getting a choice of add-ons.

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Originally Posted by browj2

Hmmm. And if you stop paying Adobe, you have nothing.

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but.. I get a program that is designed and updated by a company who is in tune with what I do.. Xara changed it's tune long ago... it is not focused on true illustrators [or designers] any more

and I get the bonus of being in sync with others that I work with

an update to Xara is like money you spend in your local bar that you know you really shouldn't spend so much time in

I can stop abobe subscription too for a month if I am doing other things and then re-subscribe - don't underestimate how flexible that is...

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Originally Posted by Acorn

...I updated and got ASEOPS and have get seen no tangible benefit to use it...

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I was considering updating my XDP12 but like you I don't want to pay for extra stuff I don't want. I also definitely dislike Magix publishing prices in US Dollars which usually convert to around 150% of the advertised price here in AUS where we use dollars, AU$ that is. Magix really should either state that their prices are in US$ or use an online service to convert them for the target country, e.g. Ashampoo manage to do the currency conversion in their advertising.

Anyhow, I did a little digging online and found that ASEOPS is from a European company called Acebit who also make a similar search engine optimisation program called Hello Engines! You can download a free version of that from their website hello-engines.com or via acebit.com

From Acebit's descriptions: 1. "Hello Engines! attracts more visitors to your website and thereby results in a better ranking among search engines. The best thing is that this software suits both professional web designers as well as absolute beginners", and 2. "ASEOPS is an SEO software and the successor of our software Hello Engines! Professional".

I don't use Google much for privacy reasons, instead preferring DuckDuckGo where a search for ASEOPS only brings up links for Aesops, so if they use their own SEO software it doesn't seem to visit all the search engines ;))

jaydear ... Do a little more digging ... I can make my cost show in CAN$. You may be able to edit yours to show correctly. Go to Magix.com and Select AUSTRALIA as your country ...

Attachment 124555

Yes, been there, seen that, and dug deeper. Trouble is, even though they know your country from your login and you can set the little globe up in the top right hand corner to show your flag, they still send emails and in-app adverts with prices in USD!