EITG Suspends 30 Day Demo

#1

For those of you not following the Arch Viz thread started by Siliconbauhaus, EITG has suspended the 30 day demo program for EIAS. Unfortunately, the dongles being sent out with the demo are having a poor return rate back to EITG. I’m not too surprised by this. So, for the time being, efforts are being made to bring up a new solution to this problem.

Matt Hoffman has indicated that a Macintosh demo version may become available soon. It will be restricted, but the main thing is to give potential users a chance to work with the interface to some degree. Show your support and let EITG know that this would be a good idea even if it is Mac only.

#2

If there is anyone out there who is interested in obtaining a demo for Electric Image, I now have the ability to provide you with information to an EITG ftp site. A downloadable macintosh version of v6.5r1 can be obtained free of charge. This is only 6.5r1, so none of the FBX functions are included in this demo release, plus the demo is unable to save data. However, if you’re curious about the program, this is a good way to get a first look at what it can do.

Contact me via email.

brianpohl@comcast.net

I will then forward you a link.

#3

Might be an idea to put that in a separate thread… for passers by to see…

Ian

#4

Wow… didn’t the people get charged if they did not return the dongle? Heck, if I didn’t want the app, I’d be all over getting it returned quickly to avoid a charge like that. Or, are they having problems enforcing the charge? If so, that sucks.

-Steve

#5

I’m sure they will be charged accordingly… however, EI only has so many dongles in stock. If you check something out of a library and dont return it, you’ll get fined…but the library still needs to replace the book. Likewise, EI has to go out and purchase more dongles, program them, and so forth. If you had to do this constantly, what’s the point? You’d have to measure units of sales versus the level of trouble you have to go through. Personally, I think users are just too lazy.

#6

I wish software companies would get rid of Dongles all together. I know it’s a touchy subject but if you look at EIAS, it comes with unlimited render nodes anyway. I’m not claiming to be an expert on the subject but if you look at applications such as ZBrush, Modo, etc, they are all around the same price point with no dongle. Your are NEVER going to stop warez kids.

I’m sure there are other issues that I’m not hip to but it seems to be an uneeded expense. Just my two cents.

#7

Does Lightwave still use a dongle?

Thing is, without dongles third party vendors would have no method to prevent their plugins from being scattered across the countryside. You’re right, you can’t stop the warez kids from cracking something, but generally, some sort of lock isn’t bad. Even if it is only a lock for a glass or screen door.

Maya essentially uses a “dongle” by locking it to the machines Eithernet address. Unless you buy a floating license for more money. Personally I prefer EITG’s way. At least this way I can just carry my key to a different machine and everything works great. Its a portable “node locked” form of copy protection.

#8

EITG really has done just this. It is simply impossible to pirate the EIAS (or it has been for years). Which puts us in a very elite group along with FormZ and a a couple of other impregnable programs :slight_smile:

I think the dongle is essential to help keep our 3rd party suppliers in business, however, it does get very annoying on occasion.

Toodle-oo,
Ian

#9

True, I forgot about the third party stuff. I’m all for thwarting warez guys but if they want to crack your software, they’ll do it. Little bastages. I have so many dongles right now I had to buy an addapter to support them all. That’s annoying but that’s the price you pay for having the coolest software on the block. =)

#10

I’ve actually seen cracked versions of EIAS and FormZ by using software dongle emulators…but its really rare…and of course, none of the 3rd party plugins will work with those. The system of using a hardware block can be annoying, but I think ultimately, its about the best thing you can do to protect your work.

#11

We were “on this side” not always. Yes, we also started as “little bastages”:slight_smile: But then we became older an (we hope) we understood it’s better and more productive to spend our time and efforts to write usable progs instead of stupid “code combinatorics”. We see no people are happy with stolen soft yet, but who knows maybe you’ll be the first :slight_smile:

#12

Nope…not Sacslacker… he is a proud owner. He picked up a copy of EIAS the right way. He paid for it.

#13

Speaking of buying an adaptor for all your dongles, that’s exactly what I have…

I’ve got 4 dongles attached to my Mac, obviously via a hub thing. I’ve had some compatibility issues caused by my emagic dongle telling my computer that the EIAS dongle isn’t plugged in… It still thinks so even after I point at and hold it up to the monitor so that the computer can see it’s really there. So some dongle hopping occurs.

Has anyone seen the topic? We misplaced it somewhere about 7 posts back… :slight_smile:

Ian

#14

Do

Doh! I’m not the clearest writer so I think you might have misunderstood me. I’m against the idea of stealing software. I was just saying how I don’t like dongles but they are a necessary evil.

Trust me, I want to see everyone who works hard to produce fine software, get the money they deserve. I’ve had things stolen so I know how bad it feels.

I do own EIAS and as soon as I have a need, I’ll be buying 3rd party software for EIAS as well. Thanks VizFizz for helping me out on that point. In fact, I bought it even when they ran out of demo’s so it was a leap of faith. I like to think it was a good one too!

EDIT: Oops, I read your post again and to clarify, my Little Bastages comment was meant for the thieves. I’ll be quiet now =(

On the topic though, I hope EIAG get their dongles back.

#15

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