Probably off-menu suggestion here, but why not tie the Krakatoa license to the C4D installation serial rather than to the machine? You can include a key file that sits in the C4D folder, giving two levels of security. Two reasons why I’d suggest this:
You can predict when there will be a lot of users asking for updated license files, rather than getting irregular, disruptive requests every time someone upgrades their machine
It’s a reliable & trusted method, that’s worked for many other C4D developers.
It works, and is simple for the user. Whereas the node-locked or Flex method seems complicated and problematic for the user (still can’t get it working here, will try sending off a different MAC address until I hit the right one, assuming that’s the problem).
I remember Luxology launched modo with FlexLM, but ditched it soon after when it became clear how many licensing problems, and extra instability it was causing once the app was up and running.
Hi
Personally i think FlexLM is a very good solution compared to the native C4d method. Every year we have to get new serial numbers for all our c4d plugins because the c4d serial changes with each whole version number and therefore the plugin serials become invalid. For us its a drag because every year we have to send an email to every plugin developer asking for new serials.
In our studio we use Maxons license server, which is even less flexible with plugins. We use the license server because we need commandline licenses for the renderfarm and because we need to float our GUI licenses between several artists. Because of the way the license server is working, we always have to buy the same number of plugin seats as you have GUI seats. If you have 10 GUI seats, you have to get 10 plugin seats. So serving plugin licenses with FlexLM is a very good solution for us because then we can get as many seats we need of the different plugins, and then float them between the artists.
I agree that setting up FlexLM can be a little confusing if you’re not used to messing with the terminal. The Thinkbox-guys could maybe takes a look at how The Foundry handles FlexLM. They have developed a small GUI app that can start and stop the FlexLM daemon and can also be used to installing/deinstalling licenses. Super handy for freelancers and single seat installations.
Hey Bonsak - yup, makes sense, it’s the difference is between solo/freelancer and studio setups. And I suppose Krakatoa has it’s main audience in studios, so floating licenses make sense. No problems here with using the Terminal by the way. Just impatient to get testing the software, rather than working out why I can’t even install it - this needs to be sorted out before launching to the general C4D users, or the initial reactions are going to be very negative.
I know FlexLM can be a total pain at times. However, we would prefer to use it over tying it to a Cinema 4D serial. The reason is because we want to be able to unify licenses across all platforms (3dsmax, Maya, C4D, stand alone Krakatoa). This is done to be consistent with our other products, and allows us to be able to “share” licenses between platforms. For example, the “render node” license can be shared across all platforms, so you can buy 3dsmax render nodes, and they work in Maya. We are working towards doing that in C4D also.
I apologize that FlexLM can be such a pain. We are also working at creating some tools to help minimize the hassle of getting licensing set up!