That was great 

I utilize most of Adobe software and I am excited by subscription...access to all their software and always having the latest version is a huge plus...and $50 a month is less than I pay for most things...as a freelancer it's actually better than having to pay $$$$ to upgrade an entire suite...I'm excited by this. Adobe has a cloud connected stylus and ruler coming that also looks awesome and can be used on our tablet.

This seems to be he way a lt of software is going.

April was my worst month in a long time...coming off a decent March and a strong February(BME)...oh well.

I'm under the belief that you should do what you like. I create what I like and when I self edit I ask myself if I would use this in my work. I feel if you are doing what you like you will produce better work. It is hard work either way, but when you like what you are doing you tend not to mind the hard part so much.

And yes, I think there is plenty of room for someone new to earn money in stock. I don't think anyone has a road map as it continuously evolves. I feel quantity over quality is no longer the way to produce work of value and is nothing but a race to the bottom. I think we all struggle with finding something specific to make our work stand out and honestly that is part of the fun in it...at least for me.

Indie Factories...are they some sort of mythical creature?

They increased the limit for vector artists a couple of months ago, and said that it had nothing to do with slower upload volume. Even though up to that point (and even afterwards) the vector queue was lightning fast and sometimes took less than an hour. They said it was because they brought on more reviewers. Yeah right.

I suspect the same holds true with the photo limits. They might say it has nothing to do with diminishing upload volume, but we all know better.

Yeah my last illustration was a few weeks ago and took over a week...the ones before that was less than a day to review.

My video sales at SS have become about 50% of total sales over the last year. I usually get at least one or two sales a day, and the amount I get per sale is much greater than at Istock. SS and Pond5 are neck and neck for sales now, with Istock dropping from number one to a very distant third over the last year. Since I am non-exclusive, I'm at the back of the search results on best match at Istock, even if my video is selling in that category.
Uploading is much easier, and approvals are fast, sometimes the same day. Rejections are intelligently explained and open to re-submission. Overall, they are a much more professional group than what has surfaced over at Istock.
Having said that, being an exclusive at Istock puts you up front on searches, opens up vetta, and makes approvals much easier and faster. Non-exclusives need to plan for a 6 to 8 week wait for approvals, with in my case a 40% rejection rate.
The walled garden at Istock is a great perk for exclusives, and seems to be growing, as it is the only thing they have as a unique selling proposition, so it's not something to give up lightly.
If as you say, your work is easily imitated at Pond5, you may be in the best place right now. I would do an analysis of the competition at SS and P5, versus Istock, before making a move.

Thanks. I am also thinking iStock exclusive may be the best fit for me right now as far as video. I plan to keep my photo and illustrations independent as I see less of a benefit to be exclusive in those areas as sales for them seem to be going stronger on other sites these days.

Is there any real advantage in being video exclusive at iStock?

That is the question. Sales are the same as when I was non- exclusive, but now I get 25% instead of 15%.

It's flattering to hear this isn't common practice for them...a good ego boost  . My main reservation is when I did have video content on SS I never got a single sale. The only reason I went with IS exclusivity was because I was getting sales there. Since the grass always seems greener on the other side, I'm curious how well I'd do now that my portfolio is much larger.

Thanks for the feedback, and the thread hijack has been a fun read as well   

Quote from: gillian on April 23, 2013, 15:26

it's a sad state for them when any announcement has everyone wondering what's going on behind the curtain.

That's what happens when you destroy Trust.

Are you really wondering why they got rid of upload limits?  The answer is to get more uploads.  I'm sure it was also one of the bigger issues for nonexclusives on the last survey.

It probably is something that simple. I do agree the lack of trust has just led to one conspiracy after the other. There are many things going on that has hurt trust...the main is probably the Google Drive deal, but I bet if sales were still strong we'd be less bitchy about that and all the site issues. The real issue is sales have been weak and confidence is low.

My point wasn't about developer time, but any time spent on making limit changes or anything outside of the already known issues seems counter-productive. I'm sure it can be argued that it isn't, but that is how it is perceived by me

 

That is a big issue...naive buyers. Did you contact them?

Quote from: dingles on April 15, 2013, 21:04

OB graphics can be fine for photo editing ...

Yes, can be but if I get a new computer for image editing as a microstock photographer I don't see how it could hurt to add a $200 graphics card that can easily outperform the OB GPU.

The same thing like running 3DS Max 2008 on a Pentium 4 processor with 1GB of RAM. You can still get your renders done but if you want to be productive - time counts.

I'm not arguing that. I believe it's best to get the best specs you can afford.