Software for my creative workflow. What I am using now.

[kojack]

 I have been a creative content creator for years now in both video and photo, as well creating graphics, writing stories, how tos etc. 

 

I have been trying all of the photo/video software (besides adobe as they are satan). I have settled on a couple of different programs because they are lightweight and you don't need stupid expensive systems to run them on. 

 

For photo work I mainly use Affinity Photo. This software is straight forward, easy to use and don't make your images look "processed".  just like a digital darkroom should. For more "creative" edits I am using Corel Paint shop pro ultimate. This software is awesome. It is super light so you can easily run it on older hardware, and it includes the right amount of AI for this type of work. Best part it can use photoshop plug ins, LUTs etc without issue. 

 

For video editing I use Pinnacle Studio Ultimate. Again, this software does everything the "big boys" can do, but in a very lightweight way. Only needing a decent spec computer to run it on.  I chose this because of the availability of quick sync for my laptop, and how it has all of the features that premiere or Davinci has. 

 

For Graphic work I use Affinity Designer. I have created numerous graphics for our clothing business which we are finally getting off the ground, and it's easy and straight forward. 

 

For publishing and writing, I use a combination of word and Affinity Publisher depending on what's needed. Word needs no introduction and Affinity publisher is easy to use, I can take graphics and images from Photo and designer and merge easily into publisher to use without issues and it makes creating things fast and easy. 

 

For our new podcast/vlogcast, I have a Behringer audio interface, mixer, mics, headphones going to my laptop via USB-C then into Audacity. Free is great. It has everything I need to make our recordings sound really professional and dialed in. I am an audiophile so crisp clear audio is a must for anything we produce. I will be renting the "studio" to others in the area who want a podcast/vlogcast produced as well.  The mixer has 6 channels on it so I have one set for me, one for my wife Kelly, and the other 4 will be the "others" who use our system.  Mine and Kellys are not touched. I have photos of the settings incase one gets bumped during setup etc. 

 

All software mentioned is buy once, cry once or free. I refuse to pay subs anymore for software. I got rid of luminar Neo because of the subscription fee for it. And the prices adobe charges for their entire suite is bonkers. 

 

Hope this gives some insight to people who may want affordable great software to create!