Digital Workshop

"sigh"..
Every week I look at the forum hoping that there will be new announcements about new export options in Opus products(iOs, iPad, WP8..)

Couldn't Harris or someone else just give a little more information? Other than the usual "work in progress" or something similar that has been the usual response in the last couple of years.

It really is a show stopper for an otherwise great product..

I doubt you are going to help your cause by posting general criticism in the support area or by impolitely referring to somebody by their surname. With two posts, no technical information or even a signature you come off as a troll not somebody with a genuine interest in the product development.

Perhaps I'm wrong, in which case you maybe interested to know that users seriously interested in the development of Opus become Evolution subscribers and then have access to such information that is not posted on public boards.

Mack

Hello again

I see your point, Mack.

However it is not my intention to behave in a troll-maner.
Nor did I intend to be rude.

But after having looked at previous posts on the export-subject, I just find it somewhat annoying that the lack of information from DW on the matter is so apparent. Hence my wish for more info on their progress.

Granted, perhaps I could have been more diplomatic in my writing, but as the months go by without news, one is getting anxious and wishes to convey such a feeling to the relevant people.
I'm simply a customer who have used Opus quite a bit, but has come to a complete halt because more and more of my pupils can't use the tools I have provided them with anymore, since they use Macs, iPhones and iPads all the time now - and all the other gadgets.

I do see it as a necessity that Opus can provide the tools needed to export Opus-creations to the current predominant platforms - and iOS is one major player.

Maybe that's just me being unfair and craving too much, but whether we like it or not - the mobile devices are here to stay. Hopefully DW will prioritize the export options for such devices more in the future releases of their software.

As for my missing signature that is a question of privacy.

The info about being an Evolution subscriber sounds interesting though.
Could you tell me more about what it involves?

Well, I'm glad I was wrong...

Yes, conveying your feelings and wishes to the right people is important and in general terms that's what the wish-list section of the board is for. In more specific terms, I would imagine that the directional and technological challenges that DW will need to overcome to steer Opus down a new export path are quite significant and I would personally doubt, that we will soon find ourselves with some one click button that puts the full power of Opus in a new format such as iOS or HTML5. More likely, key functionality, such as in the case with Flex, will form part of a developing core.

With this in mind, anybody who has an avid interest in this path would be better ensuring that DW are aware of the type of projects that Opus is used to develop and what key functionality is important to their customers. Additionally, whilst Opus has previously been a lone sheriff in development - exporting to a format such as HTML5, opens the flood-gates to interoperability with other development tools. This is important as both designers and developments on any scale invest a huge amount of time and money in their choice of tools and thus path.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to the evolution question. I would suggest, however, that you email DW support directly.

Mack

Evolution:

http://www.digitalworkshop.com/products/Evolution.shtml

HTH

Regards,

As mentioned above there are significant differences in the way HTML5 works to the way Opus works - consider how you integrate webfonts for example. We had originally decided it would have to be a separate program. However, Dave is working his usual magic and it looks like we'll be able to have it as a publication type in Opus.

As Mackavi intimated, we have already explained to the Evolution customers that support for other systems will be an ongoing process as we feel it will be better to give you some level of support and then add more advanced functions as and when we can find a creative solution to match HTML5 to Opus and also as HTML5 matures because it is not without issues at the moment. Another reason why Evolution is a good idea - they get new features as we develop them rather than wait for a major release.

HTML5 is an open format and means the whole world can read your code and get at your resources. This means we have to be very cautious about what we release when, and whether we can find ways of protecting our proprietary solutions.

Hope this helps. Thanks for your continuing support.

Paul