Same here.. but just to double check, I’ve asked chatgpt how a Flame Artist should be dressed:
A Flame Artist should look effortlessly sharp — dressed in dark, minimalist tones like black or charcoal, reflecting precision and quiet confidence. Think clean lines, matte fabrics, and comfortable techwear or tailored basics. The vibe is creative professionalism: stylish enough for a client session, understated enough to disappear into the glow of the grading suite.
Oh and yes.. the current licensing scheme is a pain when bringing in various freelancers at times..
I think Flame is shifting to a market segment that doesn’t exist on this plane of reality. A hobbyist paying unlimited amounts of money per year for software they are not actually actively using.
Irregardless of their clothes
Most of the issues we all have with Flame could be solved by proper betatesting in real life scenarios.
Mine or @finnjaeger experience is different than @allklier. I need an API that is not counter intuitive and missing documentation and logic (clip file_path not being accessible from media panel, batch nodes not having ALL or at least most knobs accessible for example). A studio needs licensing tools that allow for artists to work in different timezones/shifts without administrator being there to monitor licenses. Artists need stable software that behaves in an expected way (segment on a locked looses connection to batch without any warning or communication for example, undo that keeps disappearing since 2016). Freelancers working of a single license need stable and hassle free deployment of new versions of software. You should not need an IT dept to install and manage your software.
Resolve is almost there. ALMOST. Honestly? The moment Blackmagic solves “project management” (timeline renaming of shots, better naming tokens etc.) and it’s going to be a hard thing to explain using a 5k a year software. For me it’s going to be additional pain because Resolves API is as broken as Flame’s but that is life. I’m not gonna advocate 5k against $300 just because I need to rewrite my plugins.
I will add one in-between variable to what you describe.
While I have a single Flame license, I’m frequently part a flexible network of other Flame artists which are not studio based. So we do frequently have 1-5 artists working on a job together and are still using the features that require collaboration. But we’re not functioning as a single business, and that elastic artist network constantly reconfigures on an as need basis.
These groups can compete for jobs that need to pass the bus test, or can deal with rapidly shifting schedules that a solo operator is too risky for.
I actually think that this will be more common in this space between the facility and the solo operator. Call it the ‘no sushi’ space (actually there’s a facility with that name and similar idea). And it has a specific customer segment that it matches well.
And while I have a single Flame license and am the only Flame artist for my business, I do have others work for me as part of my business in editorial and other aspects. A boutique house, not a freelance business.
All to say that there is a much wider and more diverse range of business models, all of which are viable for certain market segments and needs.
It does make it harder for companies like ADSK to decide which features to prioritize. However, ADSK, SGO, and the likes often have a few big enterprise customers that have outsized influence over these decisions. The small shops and solo operators while growing in number, generally don’t sit at the table when it comes to decision making much.
Regarding beta testing - there’s quite an active group of beta testes. But from what I can tell they’re mostly individuals or the test may run on a separate system in the facility. It’s not clear that beta testing is happening in larger workgroups. Most likely because it’s not very practical. There does seem to be quite a bit of cleanup left from the main 2026 transition that didn’t get flushed out pre-release to your point.
A lot of development resources went to the new Text module, and I can assure you, no one at a big facility cares about Text as that is handled by someone else on After Effects. This was meant to satisfy a small number of undie iMac based do-it-all guys.
But as so often happens with Flame, it is always a decade late. Look at the “new” 3D tracking stuff. It was the #1 request for at least a decade. By the time they implemented it, everyone moved on to a different solution for that problem. And the ADSK solution is terrible and un-reliable too. Or look at MotionVector tracking, they were 5 years behind Nuke, and the implementation is un-reliable and requires major caveats to work in production. Now wait and see how ADSK implements a Nuke CopyCat clone. By the time we get that, we will be lucky to even have a relevant human skill set in VFX.
I actually don’t use the Text Module. Depending on the job I work with a graphic designer who uses either After Effects or Cavalrie (we’re in the middle of a multi-month project like that), or I do it in After Effects myself. Just that this graphic designer isn’t my employee, but another small boutique house who has done mograph for 20+ years and who I respect.
Your big facility isn’t the only that understands that there are a variety of workflows and that specialization of various artists can be of advantage. And not everyone who doesn’t have a facility is a do-it-all-guy.
What I showed you is non-facilities may not use the Text Tool in do-it-all-mode.
And if you follow the forum or were at the last NAB you would know that there are users in this group who work for larger shops who are frequent and ardent users of the Text Tool.
There is no causation between Text Tool use and user type or sophistication. Highlighting that your generalization doesn’t work.
Let’s take this tangent back to what this thread is about. We need a licensing schema that works for a wide variety of setups, from large facilities, to smaller shops who rely on spot licenses for dynamic demand, to boutique shops that may have just one license, or even freelancers. And it needs to be bug free, which seems to be the main pain point.
It has nothing to do with their clothing choices, office space choices, or workflows they follow. They’re all paying customers of ADSK who use whatever subset of features that makes their business profitable. And that’s their prerogative. You may be nostalgic about simpler and fancier times, and that is your prerogative.
And Fred and Stephane have been clear on how they pick features. It’s part data, part judgement.
You know, that’s not a bad idea. As long as you have an up to date OFX of Silhouette, you can still gain access to all the cool ML and “AI” toys the current versions of Flame have. You might not get all the latest CODECs for the newest camera RAWs out there, but there are workarounds for that.
i hinestly only need the conform and publish module, i dont think it has been updated in XYZ years? I develop my raw media in resolve anyhow, it would actually be a solid deal.
Just like how I still use my perpetual nuke studio 12 or whatever…
wasnt the mill on flame 2023 until the very end too?
It’s moving away from large, bloated, non-sustainable business models for niche vendors of industries that have seen record decline year over year of tentpole pictures and commercial shoot days.
Just to add to this, a couple of us over here in the EU can’t get anything to license this morning and we can’t open a support ticket. Funnily enough, the only options I see are to enter a serial or a network license which, ya know, doesn’t exist anymore for Flame.
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