LucisArt classic plug-in discontinuation–heads-up

[plugsnpixels]

After several years of availability, the current version of the popular LucisArt plug-in will cease to be available as of May 8. It will be replaced later in the summer with the new advanced LucisArt Pro plug-in, aimed at professional photographers.

See this page for details.

[Craig Murphy]

Yeah.  At  too high a price also.  I just don't see where this software is so compelling to justify spending $600 on it.

[plugsnpixels]

Updated information just released by the developer:

1) The old LucisArt user interface will not be included in LucisArt Pro. The new user interface is easier to use than the current version of LucisArt. While the approach to accomplish the various effects is a little different, LucisArt Pro can do everything the current LucisArt can do (and more).

2) The Mac version of LucisArt Pro will only run on Intel-based Macs, while the Windows version will run on Windows XP service pack 3 and Windows Vista service pack 1.

3) Both the Windows and Mac versions of LucisArt will require Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements 6.

[plugsnpixels]

Craig, I should add that there are different ways to look at this. If you are a home user making pretty pictures for your own amusement, then the current "classic" version of LucisArt is fine, and will hold you for some time, with the following exceptions:

You will get no further technical support after the upcoming deadline, and if you are a Mac user, you will need to stick with pre-Intel hardware (or run Photoshop under Rosetta, which kind of defeats the purpose of getting an Intel Mac and CS3). Plus be limited to 8-bit processing, a small preview window, comical interface on the Windows version, etc.

On the other hand, LucisArt Pro offers 16-bit processing, a simple but highly flexible two-slider interface, access to separate RGB channels for individual processing, etc. I'm currently testing a pre-release version and find it incredibly easy to quickly slide from effects of one extreme to the other (ie, there is no single "Lucis" look, though the "Dave Hill" effect is the most common). Every image will generate different effects depending on its original color and contrast.

I've spoken to the developer personally about the new pricing scheme and she indicates the many working pros she's interviewed (portrait and wedding studios) are eager to get ahold of the new version because of its modern specs (the current version is over four years old). She's also related stories of studios buying LucisArt and immediately greatly increasing print sales, dwarfing their original investment in the software.

So it seems the new price will separate the men from the boys in terms of who can create and deliver these unique effects for clients and who can't.

I'm thinking of a fun challenge as the release date for LucisArt Pro gets closer: Post a few wildly divergent versions of an image treated with Lucis effects, and try to duplicate those effects using Photoshop and/or other third-party software, with special note of the time it takes to create each challenger effect and the complexity of the process involved. If the Lucis effects can't be duplicated, great. If they can but it's much harder and slower, that's telling as well.

[LoisWakeman]

I have seen software products I used and recommended "repositioned in the market" before - and it has often ended in greatly decreased sales or steaming into the sand. (Aside: Adobe seems to be going the same way with bundling stuff - I have licensed copies of PS, Acrobat Pro and Dreamweaver MX, but that doesn't get me far in upgrade discounts.)

It (Lucis) will have to be hugely better than other similar and more realistically priced products (like Painter?) to justify such a hike for all but dedicated professionals, IMO.

[plugsnpixels]

The sale deadline for LucisArt classic has been extended to May 9, 3pm EST (due to heavy traffic at the developer's website).

[mistybreeze]

$150 to $600? Talk about ambitious. Gimmicky software is not my style and I see nothing in their samples that illustrate the product's worth is $600. I barely see it being worth $150, but that's me. An assistant tells me LucisArt culls its popularity from the strobist community. Aren't they a notoriously thrifty group?

It takes quite a bit of gumption to increase your price-point so dramatically. I don't know a single "pro" who owns (or uses) this software. But if you wanted to cash-in before you jump off a cliff, is there a better marketing method than the one they are utilizing? Anyone willing to bet that $600 price-point will be reconsidered?

[sniper]

I only know of one guy who uses one of the effects (don't aks me which one) and he's created a copy in photoshop quite easily.  I haven't got a crowd of people beating a path to my door asking for these effect, so I won't be bothering, especially at that price, $150 - $200 might be a reasonable upgrade jump, but $600, they are having a laugh.  Wayne

[plugsnpixels]

I heard from the developer this morning and she said she had two weeks' worth of sales in the last three days, so I guess somebody's interested... ;-)

mistybreeze, there's always been an advanced, standalone version of the lower-end LucisArt plug-in called Lucis Pro which has always been near that higher price point, so this is not a new thing. The upcoming LucisArt Pro will incorporate the functions of Lucis Pro with specs and features updated for current operating systems and compatibility with Adobe PS CS3, but in a plug-in.

I'm not sure how the strobist community fits in here (unless the enhanced lighting adds to the effect), but my understanding is that portrait and wedding photographers (as well as fine art/landscape practitioners) use Lucis effects in their work.

sniper, I'd be curious to see your friend's results. Chances are they're going after the cliche "Dave Hill" effect, which is but one blip on the continuum of what Lucis technology can do.

As we get nearer to the official release of LucisArt Pro, I'm planning to offer a challenge elsewhere (maybe we can do one here too) where one image with several LucisArt Pro effects will be presented as a series, and we will see if the results can be duplicated using Photoshop and/or other third-party plug-ins. If they can't, that will be telling. If they can but only with much more convoluted effort and time, that too will be telling.

[rdonson]

Sounds an awful lot like a sales or marketing pitch.

[sniper]

As we get nearer to the official release of LucisArt Pro, I'm planning to offer a challenge elsewhere (maybe we can do one here too) where one image with several LucisArt Pro effects will be presented as a series, and we will see if the results can be duplicated using Photoshop and/or other third-party plug-ins. If they can't, that will be telling. If they can but only with much more convoluted effort and time, that too will be telling.
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And the point of that would be...??  

I don't know about you but I have better things to do than copy the effects of software I dont need in the first place.  Wayne

[plugsnpixels]

Hi Wayne,

It's no problem that you don't need or have any interest in such software, but plenty of other people seem to, as I mentioned.

As for the possibility of duplicating these effects more inexpensively, this challenge would be a way to tell whether the price of LucisArt Pro was worth it or not. If it takes a half-hour, several different apps and plug-ins and a long list of manual steps to do the same thing LucisArt Pro can do in a few seconds, well, that may interest somebody. (And again, the "Dave Hill" effect which makes a lot of folks ga-ga is but one of its many tricks.)

Anyway, if such a challenge doesn't interest you, don't participate. ;-)