Should we transition to a dedicated RIP (Onyx vs. Caldera)?

[Warmoth]

Looking for opinions on dedicated RIP software like Onyx and Caldera.

Our shop currently runs 5 Roland roll to roll printers, and 6 Graphtec plotters. We like Versaworks (free) and we like Cutting Master (free). We do a lot of print/cut jobs utilizing the Roland/Graphtec combo, and it's great.
I really don't WANT to change anything, but it seems that it will become necessary if we ever decide to get something other than Roland for printing. We're looking into flatbeds and it seems unavoidable.

So far I've only looked closer at Onyx and I honestly have a huge issue with their business model. Subscription, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. You have to pay extra for additional concurrent RIP processes - Seriously? I've reached out to their sales and was told it'd be "In the ballpark of $13k", most of which is a one-time pay, and "There would be an optional annual cost of roughly $1,800 if you would like support, version and driver updates, and a couple of additional subscription features for Thrive".

Coming from the Roland / Versaworks ecosystem (free), I just don't see how that much money makes sense at all. How does it translate? It seems as though everyone has accepted this huge cost - why?

Is Caldera any better? Does anyone feel passionately about recommending we switch to a dedicated RIP? What are we missing out on?!

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BigNate]

... so are you an amateur or are you a professional? the freebies seem to be best for the amateurs... though occasionally you find a tinkerer who works professionally as a sign maker and wants to tinker with the freebies - Onyx is very good, (so is Flexi). Get a good subscription with enough rips (I have 4 and rarely wish there were more - for as many devices as you have, maybe 6?).

Then once you have Onyx, figure out how many more man-hours you have from the more efficient workflow - then calculate what you had been paying an operator to work without a rip -- I'll bet you gain more time than the $1800 subscription fee.

IF a RIP costs more, then pass the little bit on to the customer.... (if it costs less, just don't tell anyone and let the production worker crank out a few more paying jobs in the same time and take the extra profit to the bank!)

 

[Warmoth]

... so are you an amateur or are you a professional? the freebies seem to be best for the amateurs... though occasionally you find a tinkerer who works professionally as a sign maker and wants to tinker with the freebies - Onyx is very good, (so is Flexi). Get a good subscription with enough rips (I have 4 and rarely wish there were more - for as many devices as you have, maybe 6?).

Then once you have Onyx, figure out how many more man-hours you have from the more efficient workflow - then calculate what you had been paying an operator to work without a rip -- I'll bet you gain more time than the $1800 subscription fee.

IF a RIP costs more, then pass the little bit on to the customer.... (if it costs less, just don't tell anyone and let the production worker crank out a few more paying jobs in the same time and take the extra profit to the bank!)

I'd consider ourselves professionals, we've been at it for over 30 years.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how does Onyx affect efficiency? What exactly does Onyx offer? (their website is truly a convoluted vague mess).

It takes like 5 seconds to setup a job using Versaworks. I don't see how it could possibly be any easier or faster than that? I haven't spent time in other shops, so I am very open to enlightenment on this. If we're missing out, I love advice!

 

[victor bogdanov]

What exactly does Onyx offer?

Can run just about any cutter/printer combo.

VersaWorks is very good but can only run Roland equipment.

Get whatever flatbed printer you are looking at and use the recommended/bundled rip for the flatbed and then decide if you want to switch all the printers to that RIP. No need to make the switch ahead of time

 

[FrankW]

VersaWorks and Onyx can´t be compared. It is like comparing a typewriter with a computer.

 

[FrankW]

The same with Caldera

 

[White Haus]

Can run just about any cutter/printer combo.

VersaWorks is very good but can only run Roland equipment.

Get whatever flatbed printer you are looking at and use the recommended/bundled rip for the flatbed and then decide if you want to switch all the printers to that RIP. No need to make the switch ahead of time

Agreed, VW is actually amazing for a free, OEM RIP platform. Very easy to use and just works.

We transitioned from a 100% Roland/VW shop to running everything through Onyx a few years back. It is a big step and I understand the confusion/frustration, but once you get it you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Like Victor said, it allows you to print on ANY device and then cut on ANY other device. No other software, no complicated workflows etc.

My only warning/complaint is that I've never been able to actually run a cut only job out of Onyx CutServer. They have some sort of nonsense workflow with SVG files and it just never works. Why they can't just work around PDF files like everything else I'm not sure, but I digress. Not sure how much cut only jobs you're running on your Graphtecs but that might be something that you continue to do with Cutting Master.

Yes, it is expensive. But it is a whole other level of automation and tools that free software just doesn't offer. If you haven't yet, ask them to give you a live demo where you can ask all the questions.

I have no experience with Caldera although you don't see a lot of complaints around here about it. I'm assuming it is more expensive/better than Onyx based on the comments I've read but that's only an assumption. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong regarding pricing vs. Onyx)

I could go on and on about all the features that Onyx has, but they're all listed on their website. Spend a couple of hours watching all their youtube videos where they walk through all the features.

Regarding the ongoing expense...yes, like everything else they will continue you squeeze you until the end of time, unfortunately. Personally I just upgrade every few years when old versions stop being supported or when new major features are released. It's a cost of doing business like everything else, and in the end should (theoretically) improved your shop's efficiency and throughput.

 

[Pauly]

If you think Onyx is expensive, don't look at caldera.
Caldera would cost double Onyx.

Caldera you need Mac OSX or Linux for it to run.

I have no exp with versaworks, but not do I want to. Personal, I'm surprised you run 5 rollands and haven't decided to replace them all with something better and less machines. More doesn't equal better.

The difference in short.
Your using cutting master to setup and create the cut file and versa to print.
With. Rip software, it's done all in 1.
While it's done all together, there's much more powerful tools, e.g in Caldera there's true shape nesting, ink savings, colour management. And so much more.

If your a proper print shop, investing into the right set of tools is key.
Your lack of want into pay is concerning.
Yes, paying for licences for multiple printers is normal. Each licence has a licence for another adobe rip engine, which the rip manufacturers have to also pay for.
Because of you deciding to use 5x rollands, you'll need to buy 5x printer licences for any rip software you use.

I'm not here to give business advice, but I'd consider moving away from 5 rollands and look at something like an Epson 80600 or 2.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

If you think Onyx is expensive, don't look at caldera.
Caldera would cost double Onyx.

I think too, would have to get the more expensive options to get the perpetual license.

Caldera you need Mac OSX or Linux for it to run.

Very easy and cheap to get a Linux box setup, only downside is that they only support very specific versions (although really, Linux(because it's just the kernel), is Linux, knowledge is the key, I've gotten programs packed in a deb file to work on Arch very, very easily (deb, tar, rpm files etc are just compressed archive packages like a zip file)), so there is that, but bare in mind, no official support if go that route. Maya is another big commercial program available on Linux and they tend to support the RHEL based distros (can get it to work on Fedora, but no official support). Just keep that in mind, but I'm started to digress too much there.

Your lack of want into pay is concerning.

As someone that despises subscription services, I can somewhat agree with this if it comes at the sacrifice of abilities. If one has to have certain abilities within a program and the lower tiers (whatever that may be) do not have it and still don't get the upper levels, that's a big no no. If the abilities are there, but just require a different workflow, that may be something else.

 

[BigNate]

I'd consider ourselves professionals, we've been at it for over 30 years.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how does Onyx affect efficiency? What exactly does Onyx offer? (their website is truly a convoluted vague mess).

It takes like 5 seconds to setup a job using Versaworks. I don't see how it could possibly be any easier or faster than that? I haven't spent time in other shops, so I am very open to enlightenment on this. If we're missing out, I love advice!

the workflow will be much smoother, the switching between layout, in-position, cutting, color matching functions.... just about anything from the same platform - no switching programs, no making sure you can move the needed file between programs... just take the artwork into Onyx, get it ready, then print/cut/whatever....

I find even on a simple poster order I save about a minute vs using our old system of fixing in Illi or PS then setting in InDesign and printing... print 60 posters in a day and get a free hour! (I am sure whatever widget you produce you will find similar boosts in efficiency when using Onyx.)

if it takes 2 seconds in Onyx to setup a job you will realize a 60% savings in time.... (and let's be honest, you have not setup a job in Versaworks in 5 seconds.... possibly imported with already programmed presets (took time to preset, right?))

 

[Warmoth]

Agreed, VW is actually amazing for a free, OEM RIP platform. Very easy to use and just works.

We transitioned from a 100% Roland/VW shop to running everything through Onyx a few years back. It is a big step and I understand the confusion/frustration, but once you get it you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Like Victor said, it allows you to print on ANY device and then cut on ANY other device. No other software, no complicated workflows etc.

My only warning/complaint is that I've never been able to actually run a cut only job out of Onyx CutServer. They have some sort of nonsense workflow with SVG files and it just never works. Why they can't just work around PDF files like everything else I'm not sure, but I digress. Not sure how much cut only jobs you're running on your Graphtecs but that might be something that you continue to do with Cutting Master.

Yes, it is expensive. But it is a whole other level of automation and tools that free software just doesn't offer. If you haven't yet, ask them to give you a live demo where you can ask all the questions.

I have no experience with Caldera although you don't see a lot of complaints around here about it. I'm assuming it is more expensive/better than Onyx based on the comments I've read but that's only an assumption. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong regarding pricing vs. Onyx)

I could go on and on about all the features that Onyx has, but they're all listed on their website. Spend a couple of hours watching all their youtube videos where they walk through all the features.

Regarding the ongoing expense...yes, like everything else they will continue you squeeze you until the end of time, unfortunately. Personally I just upgrade every few years when old versions stop being supported or when new major features are released. It's a cost of doing business like everything else, and in the end should (theoretically) improved your shop's efficiency and throughput.

Good to hear from someone who's made that same switch. I've watched some demos to try and get a better understanding. I see a few things so far that look kind of neat, but nothing completely game changing (for our particular output). I am still looking though, I am very open to change. Oh and we do quite a lot of cut only jobs.

Regarding the cost, there's nothing wrong with spending money to make money. I joked in another thread that we're cheap, but I completely agree with you - do it when it's necessary, or beneficial for the business.

 

[BigNate]

Good to hear from someone who's made that same switch. I've watched some demos to try and get a better understanding. I see a few things so far that look kind of neat, but nothing completely game changing (for our particular output). I am still looking though, I am very open to change. Oh and we do quite a lot of cut only jobs.

Regarding the cost, there's nothing wrong with spending money to make money. I joked in another thread that we're cheap, but I completely agree with you - do it when it's necessary, or beneficial for the business.

we setup cut-only jobs through Onyx all the time - just treat it like a print job and the cut file is created the same. Now need to actually print. pm if you need more details.