Corels costumer relation and communication policy

[FrankX]

Dear Corel,

It makes me sad to read BrainCee's statement (http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=45843#p243247) about the support of new cameras which means, that Corel doesn't care about their customers. Other companies have dedicated people to deal with the costumers, to help with information and solutions. Other companies even have roadmaps, product cycles, update routines you can rely on so that you are not left in the dark what might come and what not.
At the moment I'm already checking other programs which might do a better job although it might be difficult to use them under Linux.
I find the communication skills of Corel not only in this forum very poor. Here are only a few comments by developers, mostly the users have to figure out solutions for themselves.
This means also that this forum might work well or even better (see "subforums") without Corel. I find the idea about building a wiki like someone mentioned here interesting, it could include very well an unofficial ASP forum.

Best regards

[spoilerhead]

BrianCee is no Corel employee, remember that. This is a USER to USER board, and as long as we don't get any official statement from a corel representative everything else is just speculation.

I would bet, that support for the new cameras is just around the corner, as bibblelabs has always been pretty fast in supporting new Nikon and Canon models. They probably just need some more time to get the Cameras and get good profiles for them. Also, I hope that Corel could make a deal with at least some camera manufacturers to get access to preview models (or at least files) of upcoming cameras, like Adobe does. There's simply no way to get day1 support if you don't have access to those prereleases.

[FrankX]

Sorry, I thought, BrainCee is an employee of Corel and that I didn't took "User to User Web Board" literally.
But as I know other user2user forums where also the developer work together with the users I think it would be a good idea for Corel to be more present in this forum - not only because on top of the page it states in big lettern COREL

[BrianCee]

Neither myself or Lata or Ken Berry are Corel employees - we do not even get paid for running these forums - so I do not have any special inside knowledge of Corel policy. User to User means what it says - there are a few Corel employees posting - but not in an official capacity.

All I can say is that in over 10 years of using Corel products I have never seen a new version of any software released in less than a year - occasionally we get an update patch to correct a problem - but these are also quite rare, and we have NEVER been told in advance of a patch or new version release.

The admins here received no advance warning at all of the take over of Bibble and the release of ASP, you all suddenly descended upon us - and for the very recent release of the new VideoStudio we received an e-mail about 12 hours before release warning us to be ready for questions.

Things *MAY* be different in ASP - I hope for you guys sakes they are - presumably a different development team are employed on ASP and they may have a different brief - we can only wait and see.

[clifford]

i don't see any disadvantages of corel having some form of communication with their customers.

[afx]

All I can say is that in over 10 years of using Corel products I have never seen a new version of any software released in less than a year - occasionally we get an update patch to correct a problem - but these are also quite rare, and we have NEVER been told in advance of a patch or new version release.

That model does not work with a raw converter that needs to be updated to support new cameras.

cheers
afx

[Fraenzken]

I've just posted this on Corel's customer service site:

Hello,

I'm a long-term user of Bibble 4, Bibble 5 and now AfterShot Pro. Though AfterShot is very good in some respects, it has one major flaw that makes it utterly useless for a great amount of shots: The way it renders blown-out highlights.

I've learned on the user forum that there is a fix for that. I know many many users that are desperately waiting for this fix. Now that this problem is solved (apparently already for weeks): Why don't you release a patch adressing this issue?

The rendering of highlights/highlight recovery is a weakness of AfterShot that becomes apparent once you use it. You needn't delve deep into the features of the program. By not releasing the fix you frighten away potential customers (and frustrate even your most loyal long-term users).

So please don't wait until AfterShot Pro supports the new cameras just announced, but release this extremely important fix as soon as possible.

Thanks for your consideration.

Best regards
Frank Luerweg

[skier-hughes]

All I can say is that in over 10 years of using Corel products I have never seen a new version of any software released in less than a year - occasionally we get an update patch to correct a problem - but these are also quite rare, and we have NEVER been told in advance of a patch or new version release.

That model does not work with a raw converter that needs to be updated to support new cameras.

cheers
afx

It doesn't work for new camcorder file defintions either, but it's what the customer has put up with for years, and I don't use Videostudio for my video work, but have found it the same with Adobe having used premiere for 6 years and Tomson Grass Valley using Edius for 4 years. If you move immediately with the latest technology you have to wait for the apps to catch up.

[afx]

It doesn't work for new camcorder file defintions either, but it's what the customer has put up with for years, and I don't use Videostudio for my video work, but have found it the same with Adobe having used premiere for 6 years and Tomson Grass Valley using Edius for 4 years. If you move immediately with the latest technology you have to wait for the apps to catch up.

Every raw converter on the market so far has been updated in at least a quarterly cycle....
Expecting support on day one is a bit naive, but there is usually support within a few months the latest for the main cams.

cheers
afx

[Zarastro]

Every raw converter on the market so far has been updated in at least a quarterly cycle....

Ditto. I think we don't expect spanking brand-new features with each release, but OTOH to have fast-track procedures to include new cameras in ASP is paramount if Corel wishes to get new market share (and keeping old B5 customers happy).

[jknights]

Every raw converter on the market so far has been updated in at least a quarterly cycle....

Ditto. I think we don't expect spanking brand-new features with each release, but OTOH to have fast-track procedures to include new cameras in ASP is paramount if Corel wishes to get new market share (and keeping old B5 customers happy).

Unfortunately the addition of new camera RAW support is not as easy as releasing a new piece of code for installation into ASP. This would be really nice if it was but that isnt reality.
However we can hope that Corel update ASP product with the latest camera RAW asap but it does take time and resources.
We just need to be a little patient and see how this all works through in the next few months as the new processes work through.

[Zarastro]

Unfortunately the addition of new camera RAW support is not as easy as releasing a new piece of code for installation into ASP. This would be really nice if it was but that isnt reality.
However we can hope that Corel update ASP product with the latest camera RAW asap but it does take time and resources.
We just need to be a little patient and see how this all works through in the next few months as the new processes work through.

Excuse me jknights but I don't buy these arguments. Once Bibble knew that Corel would buy them, procedures should had been created and resources should had been allocated immediately - I'm not even talking about sharing the code among Bibble and Corel programmers since I'm taking as granted that it should happen in the first moment. After all, as you have said it yourself, Bibble was no corporation with thousands of employees but a very small team, and I also understand that they would continue to work exclusively on B5/ASP code base for some time before being involved with the development of other Corel products.

But since we're talking about time and resources, let's talk about DCRaw then. It is developed by one guy alone, and this guy alone has already managed to integrate XPro1's into his software. It's currently in beta (as of March 3rd according to the thread) but anyone can test it to see how good its results are. How he managed to do it so quickly? Because there's a symbiosis between Dave Coffin and camera owners, which provided their RAW files which are then reverse-engineered. And I remember that with Bibble this also happened a lot.

I don't see any problem about Corel coming to us and asking us, its customers, for help. But the lack of signals of Corel regarding this is truly disencouraging.

[MTF]

Every raw converter on the market so far has been updated in at least a quarterly cycle....

Ditto. I think we don't expect spanking brand-new features with each release, but OTOH to have fast-track procedures to include new cameras in ASP is paramount if Corel wishes to get new market share (and keeping old B5 customers happy).

Unfortunately the addition of new camera RAW support is not as easy as releasing a new piece of code for installation into ASP. This would be really nice if it was but that isnt reality.
However we can hope that Corel update ASP product with the latest camera RAW asap but it does take time and resources.
We just need to be a little patient and see how this all works through in the next few months as the new processes work through.

"This would be really nice if it was but that isnt reality" ........ Well it should be reality!

Corel with the introduction of ASP have thrown themselves into a highly competitive arena with the likes of Adobe & Apple. (As if they weren't already competing with them)

Coming up with a myriad of excuses why we don't have certain camera profiles isn't the solution .......... it's an excuse to be second rate.

Again I don't want anything for free, I understand the costs of software engineering, just get it done and make it available ..... I"LL PAY ..... that's the bottom line

If not then our hard earned money needs to go to a product that delivers and a Company that has the ability to stay up to date.

But am I to invest close to another $10,000.00 dollars in equipment to shoot JPG's so I can use ASP ....... ain't gonna happen

ASP is an excellent product with a bright future ......... but Corel ..... get the specs you require and build the profiles ....... I repeat Today's cameras need to be supported today.

Just tell me where to send the money ... I'll gladly pay for the update!

Regards

Mike

[tundraquad]

Neither myself or Lata or Ken Berry are Corel employees ... there are a few Corel employees posting - but not in an official capacity. .

This is what I don't understand.
I have a lot of respect for afx, jknights..., without mentionning all the plugin developers. They were there, with us on the Bibble forums, listening to our concerns. First of all, theses forums are a great source of feedbacks for the product maker. Therefore, he can work in the right direction for improving the product. (that's why Bibble was such a great product!)
Secondly, being with us on the forum solves most of the customer-developer communication issues (including useless speculations). Isn't PR a tool for quality services? For example, look at again most of the Bibble guys (as mentionned above), they are still here with us, helping us & taking care of us. Therefore, at the end they help Corel. Can Corel see this?

Thank you for you attention.

[clifford]

no, thank you.