Studiometry for Mac

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
Using studiometry 6.xx for 6 months now. Quite happy with it - a few smaller bugs - that can be by-passed. Very flexible program.

Pros

Time tracking for staff is simple using timers or time sheets. Our controller can then easily track what everyone has done and use the invoicing process in Studiometry to get all of our billing done ACCURATELY and quickly.

Cons

Moving the data from our old software was not possible at the time we made the switch (I was told their is a new process for this). Creating our invoice templates was an issue.

Summary

I like the product for the accurate time tracking and invoicing capabilities specifically. We had an issue with the last software we had which did not always calculate things correctly and when we reported this nothing happened. The Studiometry guys on the other hand release updates all the time and if you contact them for anything they are on it really quick and it gets fixed.

We made the move for the features we needed, the Accuracy and resilience of data (I cannot stress that enough) and the support.

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I've been using Studiometry for a couple months now and it's been excellent for my needs. Makes tracking work and invoicing a LOT easier than it was with my old accounting software. It lets me track everything that I need to track for my development business (invoices, expenses, vendors, etc) for taxes and such, but simplifies out a lot of the accounting details that just burned time.

The company itself is great as well. I recently needed a way to export data from the program in a certain way to prepare a tax report that I couldn't seem to do easily with the existing features. A few days later they replied to my ticket and told me they built the feature for me and it'll ship early the next week. I'm extremely satisfied by the support I've gotten from them (much, MUCH better than my last accounting package, where you get a support rep from India just trying to get you off the phone).

I'd STRONGLY recommend this product!

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I was excited for the upgrade when I found out that they had rebuilt the database system and that the speed had increased significantly. The speed of Studiometry has always been the problem for me. I've always like the features, but invoicing was a slow and tedious process. After upgrading our entire studio to 6.0, I excitedly tried out the new speed. Everything was much speedier, except the invoicing. So I contacted them and was so pleased at how quickly and pleasantly they jumped on my concern and fixed the problem. Within 2 days they had restructured the invoicing and released 6.0.1 to solve my problem. I couldn't believe how cooperative they were to respond!

This update justifies all of the money I have spent on Studiometry over the past few years. Great job!

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I researched heavily before purchasing Studiometry and am happy I purchased it. I think I've been using it since 3.x. Each update is welcome and has better features.

I was using an accounting program (MYOB) and a time tracking program. I needed a way to combine those into ONE program and be better organized with notes about the job, etc.

I literally tried about twenty different programs (including Billings, Daylite, Quickbooks, etc). I forget them all. I tried online browser based versions as well as desktop versions. For me Studiometry was the clear winner. The only downside to Studiometry is it took some getting used to. There are a lot of features and it takes a little time to get familiar with them. So, there is some learning curve. Not hard - but it will take a bit of time. Their online tutorials are very helpful and should get you out of the gate running.

For me the big sellers were PDF and HTML invoices (that I could code to make paypal buttons with the right amount), debits/credits I could program, recurring invoices, turning an estimate into an invoice easily, and the ability to markups items by percentage. I know there are lots more things I like, but those were things that were important to me. I have clients that are invoiced each month for the same item. I also have project type invoices.

I have always found the help desk to be very quick and helpful with any problems I was having. Heck, they even added a couple of additional tags for me in the program because I made a request.

The software and the support are clear winners in my book. If you need a robust program for a studio setting it is just the ticket. I think it would also work great for most any other type of business as well. But, for graphic design it is the best I've found.

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
Studiometry has been in use in my office since v1.2.3 when I had a one person setup. We've now got five clients and one server and we've just upgraded to a site license. The reason we upgraded to the site license was two fold - 1. We were having problems with what seems to have been serial number conflicts that meant one of the clients wouldn't open without saying it was a trial version. 2. Because at the time of these issues and what was an upcoming release of v6 we could upgrade to the site license in v5 and get a free upgrade to 6 when released.

Back to point #1:

Over the years I have experienced problems of varying degrees, some of which have been mentioned in other comments here, but at every stage of the way I have found the developers to be very responsive and determined to resolve any issues I've had. Simply open a support ticket and they get to work on it pretty fast. Worst case scenario its taken them 24 hours to respond with a solution best case scenario they have gone back and over several times in a day to help trouble shoot with me. I would have to give the development top marks for their efforts on the support end of things.

As I mentioned in point #2 I ran into difficulty with Studiometry 5 and I thought it was going to be the end of my studio using it to manage out information, there is a lot of it and I wasn't looking forward to changing program! Nick from the development team worked with me through their support system to try and find a solution for the problem I was having. This first became a serious issue for us on 6th June and he continued to work on this until 8th September when I upgraded to v6. This might seem like a long time to try and solve a problem but I took a holiday in the middle of it and when I came back there were several responses from Nick waiting for me, plus I like this program and didn't want to give up on it.

Ultimately I decided to upgrade to a site license becasue of the serial number issue at v6 pre-release which meant I got a site licence for v5 that when v6 was released was upgraded for free.

This was the best thing I could have done. Let me say that again "This was the best thing I could have done".

Studiometry 6 is heads and shoulders above previous versions of the program. The initial loading takes a bit longer than usual but this is because it is converting it to work with its new database structure. From then on it opens in 10 - 15 seconds in my experience on several different macs in the office. More importantly (ask my staff) it closes at speeds Usain Bolt would be proud off, so they get to go home without having to wait and see if it closes before the go out the door shaving several minutes of the world record time for leaving the office at the end of the day, in fact several personal best have also been broken since the upgrade - there is talk of random drug testing but I think its just an improvement in technology thats the difference. ;)

If you haven't done it upgrade to version 6 - I'm not getting anything for saying this - but the positives (speed, improved features, etc.) far out weighs the negative (price, which isn't bad compared to what's out there).

Some other things:

Invoicing:

Take a bit of time to understand how to set these up and it will be a better investment than any bank or stock (even in better times). It is incredible powerful so read/watch tutorials, create and test some yourself and find the solution that works for you. This programs flexibility is one of its greatest strengths but it is also one of it biggest hills to climb when it comes to the learning curve� keep trying and don't forget their support team.

As somebody mentioned earlier take the time to figure out how your current workflow operates and set Studiometry up to work with you set up. A little bit of time here will bring its own rewards later.

I've been using this for some years now and I'm still learning, but I see that as a positive.

For anybody thinking about trying this out I would really recommend it.

5/5

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I've been using Studiometry for a couple years now and I can say with all honesty that Studiometry 6 is their best update yet. This version is FAST and the new estimating features are exactly what I needed. I've been a happy customer since version 4 but this update is just light years ahead of what was out before (as well as all of the other apps out there). Great job Oranged!

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
We felt the need to respond after viewing the previous user's comments. We've been using Studiometry for 5 months now, we have 4 licenses for 5 employees. When we first purchased Studiometry we only wanted the initial single user license because we were not sure if we'd want to use it as a multi user setup. Somehow we accidently purchased two single user licenses (which isn't necessary since Oranged uses addon licenses for multiple computers) and later that day we got a phone call from an Oranged employee explaining the situation and their license scheme. That day they refunded the price of the second single user license and let us know that if we'd want to use multiple machines that we only needed to purchase one single user license and then the discounted addon licenses.

We ended up using the single user for about three days before we decided to purchase the extra 3 licenses. We couldn't be happier with the decision or Oranged. It's sad that people like James below feel the need to flame a good product because of what looks like his lack of effort in using one feature. The worst part is that he even blames the Oranged team for responding to flames such as his to explain their side.

This is a GREAT PRODUCT that we have had absolutely zero issues with day in and day out. Don't listen to the riff raff trolls that spend more time on download websites than actually working, try it for yourself.

- John P

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
The price of Studiometry has been raised once or twice a year every since I started using it. When I first bought Studiometry it was around $100. I see people complaining about the raised price as if Oranged.net has no reason to be raising the price, but they are very wrong.

Oranged.net keeps adding features and fixing issues with the program, and the added value should be reflected in the price. Even with the raised price, $190 bucks for a program that does everything Studiometry does still seems very low, especially compared to the competition. Studiometry's competition is no longer the tiny little timer apps that do one function (iBiz, etc), Studiometry does so much more, and runs my business for under $200.

This is a business program that runs everything I do with my business and does it well. My phone bill each month is more than twice the price of one copy of Studiometry, my copy of photoshop was something like $800, and hotel rooms are running around $150 in some of the cities I have to travel to. With that in mind, $190 for a program that manages my entire business is a steal of a deal.

I've been a happy customer for over 2 years now, and it is frustrating to see some of the immature and irrelevant reviews on these sites.

Jeff M.