I have to say that TVAI v4 was nowhere near ready to be offered as an upgrade to v3.5.4! The UI is terrible, no, shocking awful. The things you’ve left out such as looping p/b of Previews - are hard to reconcile. You totally ignore the usefulness of the scroll wheel for e.g. changing the zoom level of the input file, changing amounts in the filters, etc., etc.
In these days of high tech cars you’ve made driving TVAI v4 like a Model ‘T’ Ford. I’m shocked and dismayed. Why did you rush it out?
Can I suggest you familiarize your devs with nice video editing UIs like you’ll find in Vegas, Black Magic Da Vinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, and the list goes on. TVAI v4 has the AI potential, now all you need is someone familiar with modern video editing who can write an impressive 21st century User Interface for it because we don’t need potential, we need a solid, reliable, friendly UI that’s pleasant to use so we can efficiently produce our best results in the least time.
Topaz Labs seems to like sticking to schedules. A new version of TVAI comes out roughly the same time and day each week. And the releasing of 4.0 was to probably stick to a schedule. For example, 4.0 released 364 days (almost a year) after 3.0 released to the public. The reason it probably wasn’t exactly 365 days was because they wanted to stick to the schedule of releasing the update on Tuesday/Wednesday (depends on time zone) like their normal updates.
Obviously 4.0 could of been “simpler” and thus more “stable”. E.G. it could just be 3.5.4, but with Nyx v2. But it seems Topaz Labs believes 4.0 needs to be more than a minor upgrade for them to confidently call it 4.0 (and to get consumers paying for the upgrade). So they did a UI redesign, added Nyx v2, adjusted the preview system, etc.
As for why it was rushed? Well, there’s the strict schedule thing. But also, it seems development on 4.0 started relatively late, with plans on what to change and include in 4.0 changing a few days before 4.0 release. And I’m not sure why they started development on 4.0 so late, but that, along with ambitious goals seem to be the cause for various issues with 4.0.
Here’s an timeline of development of 4.0 from the perspective of beta testers:
As beta testers, we got access to the new preview system about a month before launch. Topaz Labs was asking for feedback on the idea.
Then 1 week before 4.0 launched, they gave us the actual 4.0 beta. It had relatively minor changes compared to the preview we got many weeks earlier, suggesting not much work had been done on it.
In the following week, TVAI underwent a lot of changes. Major bugs were fixed, font/font size changed, UI colours changed, UI icons changed, a “favourite previews” system was added, developed and improved upon, then removed and replaced with the preview que 2-3 days before 4.0 launched due to it having bugs, design issues, and messing up various peoples workflows.
The last beta we were given prior to 4.0 releasing was full of many bugs (of which only some of them have been fixed), and was missing some features that are in the public 4.0 release. There are bugs with some of the new features in the 4.0 public release that seem to be there because TVAI didn’t properly test it themselves, and didn’t give the features to Beta testers to provide feedback on.
I’ve been using it for about a year, and there have certainly been many updates. I’ve found TVAI useful, but they should realize that familiarity is important to users. I’ll be testing new versions on a different PC in future. Thanks for your explanation.
We understand managers like schedules; but, one doesn’t run out of the house without his trousers on simply to stay on schedule.
If it isn’t ready, you don’t release…because your reputation is on the line.
It really is that simple. Their schedule is not an excuse.
The schedule is not an excuse, but the schedule they follow, combined with their development style seems to a major cause for many issues.
There are many companies that set theirselves strict schedules for software releases and don’t release updates that have as many bugs or are missing basic features compared to the previous release like Topaz Labs appears to do with TVAI. And it’s because they seem to follow a different development style to what Topaz Labs follows.
For example, if I applied the development style of a software development project I work on to TVAI, then this would be different:
TVAI 4.0 beta would of been made available to beta testers earlier.
New features would stop being added 1-2 weeks prior to release.
All features in 4.0 would be made available to beta testers before release, specifically 1-2 weeks before release at the latest.
The time frames (E.G. 1-2 weeks) change based on how large/complex the software is, how big the development team is, and what sort of changes are planned for that release.
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But he’s correct: In a state even only remotely near the current Betas this IMO is nothing that you can really release (at least not without damaging your reputation). This really is a very very early Beta stage those 4.0 versions are in and it’s only two days until release date… :-/
What’s wrong with Model T (aside from being a Ford).
I’ve done many miles in one and [almost] never let me down.
But more seriously, I am in full agreement with you on TVAI.
This is horrible, I want to go back? I can’t tell what’s going on anymore.
Sorry Topaz. It’s barely usable now.
