Frequently Asked Questions

Product-specific FAQs can be found on the product pages.

Contents

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Can I transfer my Licence to another machine?

If you need to transfer a licence to another machine, please first read our Licence Transfer Policy, then complete our licence transfer request form.

You cannot transfer any of our products to a different host system. For example, you cannot transfer KEYLIGHT on Avid DS to KEYLIGHT on Final Cut Pro.

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
Windows 7 Licensing problems

Sometimes our software may give you licensing errors on Windows 7, even when the Foundry Licence Installer (FLI) reported that the licence was installed successfully.

This problem appears to happen on Windows 7 because of the extra ProgramData directory - Windows 7 has the same Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders as Windows XP but it also has the new ProgramData folder.

On XP, both Nuke and plug-ins look in C:\Program Files\TheFoundry\FLEXlm for a licence.

On Windows 7, The FLI presently installs licences to C:\ProgramData\The Foundry\FLEXlm only.

Nuke will look in this directory for a licence as well as the old one but plug-ins such as Ocula for Nuke or CameraTracker for AE, and NukeX features (which are effectively plug-ins) only look in the old C:\Program Files\The Foundry\FLEXlm location.

Therefore, if you only have licence files in C:\ProgramData\The Foundry\FLEXlm, plug-ins and NukeX features will not be able to find your licence.

You can solve this problem by copying your licence file(s) (these will have a .lic extension) from

C:\ProgramData\The Foundry\FLEXlm

to

C:\Program Files\The Foundry\FLEXlm

Please note that in order to see the ProgramData directory in Windows Explorer, you have to turn on "Show Hidden Files and Folders" in the Windows Folders and Properties - View options.

Please note that if you are using 32-bit plug-ins then you will also need to copy the .lic file to

C:\Program Files (x86)\The Foundry\FLEXlm

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
OSX Mountain Lion Licensing Problems

There is an issue with OSX Mountain Lion and some of our products that causes the valid FLEXlm SystemID for a machine to switch back and forth between MAC addresses for the machine, resulting in valid licences being reported as invalid. This problem can affect NUKE and NUKEX, FURNACE, FURNACECORE, CAMERATRACKER, KEYLIGHT, KRONOS and ROLLINGSHUTTER.

If you encounter this problem then please generate the diagnostic output from the Foundry Licence Utility (FLU) from the machine affected and send it to support@thefoundry.co.uk.

We will be able to reissue a licence to enable you to avoid the problem once we verify that OSX Mountain Lion is the cause.

(This answer was last updated Wednesday 10 October, 2012 )
"Invalid SystemID message" on newer Linux distros

Some newer Linux distributions (notably Fedora 15/16 and RHEL 6.1) have changed the way network devices are labelled.

This new method, called Consistent Network Device Naming, names the devices em1, em2 etc. according to their physical position in the machine rather than the older naming method of eth0, eth1 etc. after the order they are polled when the machine starts up.

Currently our software looks for the eth0 address when validating licences so this can result in an "Invalid SystemID" error message if your operating system uses the new method. This can prevent the software from getting a licence.

We will be updating our software to adapt for this change but as this will take time, you can revert to the previous standard with the following steps.

  1. a) For RHEL/CentOS 6.1, add "biosdevname=0" to the end of the the kernel boot line in /etc/grub.conf
  2. b) For Fedora 15/16, add the option "biosdevname=0" to "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX" in /etc/default/grub and rebuild grub.cfg as root with

    su -c 'grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg'

  3. Remove the file /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules (it will be recreated on reboot).
  4. Edit the files in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ for your network card. If it's already configured it will be something like ifcfg-em1. It will need to be changed to ifcfg-eth0 and any entries inside referring to em1 (or whatever it's called in the new scheme) changed to eth0.
  5. Reboot

You should then be able to license your software.

Please make sure that you back up any system files before making changes and please ask your SysAdmin for assistance if you are unsure about editing these files.

Please feel free to contact support@thefoundry.co.uk if you have any questions about this.

(This answer was last updated Wednesday 22 February, 2012 )
What is OFX

OpenFX is an open standard for visual effects plug-ins. It allows plug-ins written to the standard to work on any application that supports it. The long term aim of the project is to allow visual effects plug-ins to be written once and run on any host application. This avoids the current per application fragmentation of plug-in development and support, which causes much heartache to everyone, plug-in developers, application developers and end users alike.

The Foundry has been at the heart of creating OpenFX, co-ordinating the various interested parties and doing most of the work to develop the standard. We are also actively pushing the standard and overseeing its refinement and expansion.

Where can I get technical information on OFX?

http://openfx.sourceforge.net/

Who supports OFX plug-ins from The Foundry?

Currently supported host systems are:

  • NUKE
  • Digital Fusion
  • Avid DS

Please see the release notes for information about the supported host system version for our plug-ins.

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
How do I uninstall Foundry FLEXlm Tools (FFT) or Foundry Licensing Tools (FLT)?
(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
What is the System ID, and how do I display it?

Read the guide to finding a machine's System ID.

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
Which systems are not supported?

  • Avid DS Avid|DS 10.1 or earlier versions are not supported.
  • Shake is no longer supported.
  • Autodesk The latest versions of The Foundry's sparks should load fine in Autodesk 2011 and produce pictures. There may yet be issues with some features of some plug-ins under 2011.

    Autodesk 2012 Systems are unsupported.

  • After Effects AE CS3 (or earlier versions) are not supported.
  • Combustion is no longer supported.
  • NUKE NUKE 6.0 and earlier versions are no longer supported.
  • Mac OSX 10.7 Lion is not yet a fully supported operating system for The Foundry software.

    A fix for Lion users encountering a 'crash on open' bug is available from NUKE 6.3v3 onwards.

    A fix for FLEXlm issues on Lion is now available in FFT 5.0v3.

    There is a problem with the colour pickers in FCP 7 on Lion that affects KEYLIGHT performance. Our plug-ins for Final Cut Pro are unsupported on Lion at present.

    Please contact support@thefoundry.co.uk if you encounter any problems using The Foundry software on OSX Lion.
  • Anvil Anvil for Autodesk and AvidDS was withdrawn from sale on 31 December 2009.
  • Forge Forge was withdrawn from sale on 31 December 2009.
  • Tinder and Tinderbox 16 Feb 2010 - Tinder and Tinderbox are now owned by GenArts. For support please email support@genarts.com or call +1 617 492 2888.
  • STORM STORM is no longer available to purchase. Customers who purchased STORM will be supported until 31st October 2012.

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
What happened to Tinder and Tinderbox?

GenArts acquired Tinder and Tinderbox in 2010. For more details, read the GenArts Acquisition FAQ.

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )
Why did the spelling of 'License' change?

The website has always used British English for spellings, with one exception - the noun 'License' (the U.S. English spelling). We decided to bite the bullet and correct this anomaly in the new website. In British English, the noun is 'Licence', and the verb is 'License'.

(This answer was last updated Thursday 23 February, 2012 )