THE AVID DONGLE
OK, I will go on record how much I HATE the Avid "dongle." This is a little USB device that connects to your computer that enables the Avid software to work. Don't have this, your software won't work. Period.
I mean, I know why it exists...to stop piracy. FCP claims over 1 million users, and I have no doubt that there are another 500,000 copies out there that were downloaded or installed from a friends disk. So I get it, but I still don't like it.
Why? Because I misplaced mine. I have been testing it out on my laptop mainly, so I kept it in my backpack. But then I was flying to New Jersey for a week, then off to Montana. I didn't want to lose it so I put it somewhere for safe keeping. Where? I hadn't a friggin' clue! I spent 6 hours tearing apart my office, bedroom, living room...pretty much the entire house...looking for this thing. I finally had the time and resources to begin my testing and review of this new version, and now I couldn't find it.
This was pissing me off. FCP doesn't do this to me. Premiere doesn't do this to me. Why the HECK does Avid? My ability to work is tied to a $5 hunk of plastic. Lose it and getting a replacement means a lot of money and time. At least it used to. I recall working at a production company where they lost one, and a post facility that lost one. The replacement cost a pretty penny, and the bays were down for days. And those were computers that were locked down. In this day and age of mobile editing, the dongle isn't attached all the time nor locked to the desk with a cable, so losing it is more possible than ever.
Anyway, my wife found it. She searched my desk and found a pouch that contains my Elgato Turbo.264 and tucked inside the OTHER pocket was the dongle. Worse part is, that I don't recall putting it there. Now I need to figure out some way to secure this to my backpack or something.
So now I can start testing out the new Avid Media Composer 3.0 software. And what I think is cooler, is that my next job might have me editing on an Adrenaline or older Media Composer, so I can compare features and speed.
8 comments:
Look at the bright side. That's a really good place to keep it. At least you didn't find it in your toothbrush holder, or your pantry.
If you just have the software on one machine it's very annoying.
But if you travel frequently it can be a lot easier than messing about with software licenses. Sometimes I have to use my software abroad on my laptop. The license says I can't use it on two machines at once (but it's ok to install it on both) and the licenses are tied to specific machines so I have to go to the company and ask for a temporary license for the duration of the trip. And if the project is extended, I have to go to them AGAIN for an extension but by that point they're starting to get a little suspicious. It's far easier in those situations to just plug in a dongle.
I feel your pain, Shane. I have been a Lightwave user for about 8 years. It originally had a parallel port dongle that was pretty large. But, I managed to lose it when I moved. Then I had to go through a nightmare of BS with Newtek to get it replaced and prove that I was a legit owner.
That's just wrong. Penalize the legitimate owners in the name of preventing piracy. And th ekicker is that it does not work. Pirates have beaten all of the dongle long ago.
One thing I like about Avid's dongle is that it means I can have Avid installed on as many machines as I want without any concern about licensing problems. Strictly speaking neither FCP or Premiere allow you to have the software installed on more than one machine concurrently.
We have copies of Avid Media Composer or Xpress Pro on pretty much every machine at work, with three licenses, so we can simply take any dongle on to any machine and go for it.
Many of the other applications we use are node-locked, only physically able to operate on one machine. I think a dongle is a good middle-ground.
FCP does have a dongle, it's big and silver, and Apple will charge you a very hefty replacement fee if you lose it.
Actually, the FCP license allows you to install on both a laptop and desktop computer, which is fair enough.
And you can install that one copy of FCP on as many machines as you feel like. But if they are on the same network (LAN), then you cannot run more than one at a time. But this is how FCP is heavily pirated. You can easily install it on as many computers as you want, and run it, as long as they aren't all on the same network.
But Mat is right, you have the license to have it installed on one tower and one laptop, as long as they are both owned by you, and you don't use them at the same time. This is what I do. This is to allow the people who have both to be able to edit in the office and on the road.
Well, okay so the FCP license allows you to install it on a laptop and desktop.
Installing one copy on more computers than that would be a breech of the end user licensing agreement, whether or not it's actually possible.
I have 'one copy' of Avid installed on three computers at work (one setup as edit suite, two others general workstations), a laptop and home PC (as well as two more edit suites each with their own dongle). I don't need to worry about breaking licensing terms. I can take any dongle and use any of the systems.
Certainly they could be easy to lose. I know someone who has one with a little keyring attachment on it, he can clip it to his keys when he takes it away.
hah i just lost my own avid dongle.. sucks!
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