Paul P

Ola Tomas ! Good news ! Thanks for the prompt reply.

Ola Tomas and all EIAS users. Hope all is well with you in these crazy, mixed up times. For us Mac users, Apple has some big changes in store - dropping OpenGL for Metal, Mac OS Big Sur, and of course, the Apple Silicon processors which will be used in all Macs in the future. I'm just wondering how EIAS is placed to handle these changes ? Thanks.

Ola Tomas ! Are you including a modeler with v10 ? That would be huge ! At any rate, your work on EIAS over the last decade has been fantastic. It must be devilishly difficult doing a 3D program in the current climate. All the best with v10. Let's hope you really smash it out of the park.

I'm not sure when you last used EIAS, but for various reasons it no longer has a modeller, and hasn't for some years. Every once in a while there will be a bit of discussion about reviving it, but nothing as yet.

It seems as though Lance Evans himself is the creator of Headgames. Graphlink Studios is his company. I dare say the whole process may either be more trouble than it's worth, and may just be a waste of time. It's old software, so even if Lance did sell / give you a copy, the chances of this working with modern Mac OS and modern EIAS would IMO be very slim. I don't know if Headgames used a dongle. If you want, you can try contacting Lance through Linkedin, but I think you should be looking at more modern alternatives, as suggested above by Tomas. https://www.linkedin.com/in/graphlinkmedia/

Ola Tomas. Maybe you can find some middle ground between the current and LW. Maybe like formz ? Anyway, this is low priority for you now, so all good.

I like the way Lightwave currently handles software licensing. It's a bit old school, which is more trusting and forgiving. I also think the EIAS licence should allow installation on 2 computers from 1 owner, a desktop and a laptop. Installation only on 1 computer seems a little mean IMO. Of course, with the dongle there was no choice, but if there is a chance that the dongle may be removed, it is a good time to look at other licensing options.

And get rid of the dongle.

The latest Cheetah 3D (Mac only program) also has a simplify function, which reduces polygon count. This may also work. Good luck.

To me, Daz seems like a company where software packages go to die.

Hi Tomas. Sorry for my rant. I am on Mac, and taking into account my age, and all the different software packages i use (or formerly used), I have about 20 dongles, a mix of ADB and USB. The best thing about this collection is that you can boast to your friends about how much "expensive, niche" software you own. LOL.

I can't say how much effort is required to make EIAS dongle free, but from an end user perspective, it's outdated and a PITA. No system is perfect, but if the dongle breaks or gets lost, that's at least 1 week waiting for a replacement, most likely more, especially when you are on the other side of the world. That's at least 1 week without being able to use the software. If you have a server activation system, and the server goes down, then maybe you wait a day for it to be sorted. formz and Lightwave have made the move to dongle free, and EIAS should follow suit. I don't buy the idea that there will suddenly be an explosion of illegal versions of EIAS. The 3D world is very different now from EIAS started. My 2 cents.

Oh la la Diego. SImply beautful work. Amazing.

Ola Tomas, I'm just wondering if you could answer my questions from post #13 ? Thanks

Ola Tomas, thanks for all your help with this problem. 1. Have you considered getting rid of the dongles altogether and using some other system of protection ? 2. Can you please tell me what is involved in getting a replacement dongle ? The 6.5/8 dongle is also giving me trouble with Animator 8. I can use my other Universe 5 dongle for EI Modeler. Thanks