FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Sales Related:

  1. What forms of payment do you accept?
  2. I didn't get a manual with my software.
  3. I ordered my software on your E-commerce site, and now I want the CD for backup purposes.
  4. Do you have a demo CD?
  5. Do you have tutorial CDs or tapes?
  6. My company needs more copies of your software for multiple artists, but buying individual copies can get expensive. Does Dynamic Realities offer site license deals?

General:

  1. Where do I send bug reports or feature requests?
  2. I have a plug-in idea I think would be useful. Would Dynamic Realities be willing to develop it? -or- I have written a plug-in that I think is marketable. Would Dynamic Realities be interested in publishing it for me?
  3. Do you pay for images and animations?
  4. Does any of your products support multi-threading?

Installation/Activation

  1. When I try to invoke a DR plug-in, an error comes up of "Activation Error -2". What is this error and why am I getting it?
  2. I have my activation code. Now what do I do with it?
  3. I need to reinstall my software, but I cannot get the activation code I used before to work. What is wrong?
  4. I installed my plug-in on a second computer, but I can't get an activation code from your Internet activation.
  5. I can't get my activation number or serial number to work properly.
  6. What's with this stupid copy protection crap? Don't you realize pirates can hack ANY copy protection scheme?
  7. Your software is keyed to the LightWave dongle, but what happens if my dongle gets fried?
  8. What if I change my LightWave dongle for other reasons?
  9. I have a CD with the software I purchased on it, but there are other programs on it as well. How do I install them?
  10. I purchased this plug-in for Intel, but frequently render my animations on a faster Alpha computer, and sometimes even farm the rendering out to a rendering service. Do I have to purchase multiple copies of this software just to render on these other platforms?
  11. I purchased this plug-in for the Intel, but I also own a Macintosh and have an Alpha at the office. Can I install the software on these computers as well since the Mac and Alpha versions are on this CD?
  12. I can't access my Help file.
  13. I have purchased the upgrade to Particle Storm 2. Does this mean I have two copies of PS (both old and new versions), and I can sell the old one?

Thor/TreeDruid

  1. Why does Thor or TreeDruid come up with a error saying that it can't create the object file?
  2. When invoking Thor from the Inspire Modeler, it says the dongle is different. What dongle?

Sales Related

What forms of payment do you accept?
We will gladly accept Visa, Mastercard, or American Express for payment. Wire transfers carry a fee of $11.25, and you must contact our sales department to advise of a transfer. Personal and company checks require 7 days to clear before we will ship your order. Bank checks or money orders will ship immediately. COD orders will require a bank check or money order for delivery.

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I didn't get a manual with my software.
To save on publishing and shipping costs, Dynamic Realities no longer prints manuals for our smaller scale products. This also allows us to update the Help file as needed when we come out with updates and revisions to our software.

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I ordered my software via ESHOP for internet deliver, and now I want the CD for backup purposes.
No problem. All Internet-delivery-only orders are given a 5% discount. We will have to charge you the 5% plus shipping, and then will send the CD to you. Please contact the sales department with your credit card number and your serial number, and we'll get one out to you right away.

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Do you have a demo CD?
We will have demos available for download for most if not all of our products soon.

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Do you have tutorial CDs or tapes?
No, Dynamic Realities does not provide educational material on CD or tape. However, several of the LightWave tutorial tapes and CDs contain some tutorials on our software as well. Contact them for more details.

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My company needs more copies of your software for multiple artists, but buying individual copies can get expensive. Does Dynamic Realities offer site license deals?
Yes! Site licenses are available in 5, 10, and 15 quantity discount levels for significantly reduced prices, but must be purchased direct from Dynamic Realities.

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General

Where do I send bug reports or feature requests?
Our programming staff is always looking for feature requests, and our high commitment to top-notch software makes bug reports important. Please email them to technical support with a detailed description of:

  1. Your system. Include hard drive size, space remaining, and type, RAM, graphics accelerator details, monitor settings, and OS (Service Pack on NT).
  2. Any other software you were using at the time (i.e. Hypervoxels, Steamer, Genesis, etc.).
  3. If possible, include the scene or the object that is giving the error.
  4. Exactly what you were doing at the time of the error.
  5. The exact error message.
  6. The exact version of LightWave you are using (file size and date).
  7. The exact version of Panels you are using (file size and date).

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I have a plug-in idea I think would be useful. Would Dynamic Realities be willing to develop it? -or- I have written a plug-in that I think is marketable. Would Dynamic Realities be interested in publishing it for me?
Sure! Contact our submissions coordinator, Andrew Frerking, with full details of the plug-in. Having a evaluation or demo copy would be helpful in the evaluation process. If he feels it could be a viable product, a non-disclosure agreement will be signed and we'll go from there. But don't be surprised if we turn your offer down! We are contacted several times a day by animators with something that's a good idea, but not practical as a selling product. Our standards are very high, as you can see by the products we publish. Don't take it personally, it just means we feel you could make more money marketing it on your own!

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Do you pay for images and animations?
Dynamic Realities receives animations and images from some of the world's foremost studios, as well as from many talented animators working in smaller companies or freelance. We enjoy receiving the material, because it allows us the chance to see what people are doing with the software we work so hard to create. We do not give monetary compensation for the submission of these images or animations, but we do give full credit on any demo reels, advertisements, packaging, and our web site. It is a great PR move for you as an animator to have your work shown by us. Thousands of people visit our web site monthly, tens of thousands of people see our demo reel at trade shows, and hundreds of thousands see our printed material. We are proud of what our contributors create, and we are more than happy to show it off!

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Do any of your products support multi-threading?
Good question. Our multi-threading support seems to change with each revision of LightWave and sometimes we even have trouble getting LightWave to multi-thread properly in general. Expect to see a complete multi-thread FAQ up here on the support area very soon.

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Installation/Activation

When I try to invoke a DR plug-in, an error comes up of "Activation Error -2". What is this error and why am I getting it?
That is an error LightWave gives you when it can't initialize the plug-in. This can be caused by a number of things such as the plug-in is corrupt, can't be found, or the registration period has expired (or trial period if a demo).

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I have my activation code. Now what do I do with it?
Make sure LightWave or Inspire is not running. Insert the plug-in CD and run the activator.exe program. You will be asked for the activation code. Enter it in, be sure to include the dashes, and be sure not to use the letters I and O in place of 1 and 0.

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I need to reinstall my software, but I cannot get the activation code I used before to work. What is wrong?
Make sure you are using the same LightWave dongle. Our software keys off of the dongle, and if it's different, the codes will no longer work.

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I installed my plug-in on a second computer, but I can't get an activation code from your Internet activation.
The software you own is licensed for use on one computer only. To use it on more than one computer, you will need to purchase additional copies. Site licenses are available in 5, 10, and 15 quantity discount levels for significantly reduced prices, but must be purchased direct from Dynamic Realities.

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I can't get my activation number or serial number to work properly.
These are some of the typical mistakes made during installation:

If these steps do not result in a successful activation, please email technical support directly for assistance.

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What's with this stupid copy protection crap? Don't you realize pirates can hack ANY copy protection scheme?
In developing software, it is necessary for us to protect our investments as best we can. Sort of like a car alarm, our copy protection scheme helps us reduce "casual piracy". Also like a car alarm, this protection can be defeated by experts, but it is the reduction of theft that is important. Car alarms can be defeated, but not by the ordinary car thief, same applies to software piracy. This method also helps us in product registration and offering tech-support, and more importantly, helps us stay in business so that we can continue bringing you cool software in the future!

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Your software is keyed to the LightWave dongle, but what happens if my dongle gets fried?
When you return your dongle to Newtek for repair, they usually issue the same dongle serial number. If that is the case, your DR products do not need to be re-registered. Sometimes, Newtek will issue replacement dongles, in which case you will need to fax us a copy of the dongle replacement paperwork along with your registration info (name, product serial number, address, phone number, etc.) to 702-564-2952. You will then be allowed to re-register your copy for your new dongle.

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What if I change my LightWave dongle for other reasons?
We don't recommend you do that. Registration of all your DR plug-ins would be lost, as well as other plug-ins that use this similar method. Even LW 5.5 and later key your registration info to your dongle.

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I have a CD with the software I purchased on it, but there are other programs on it as well. How do I install them?
You own the license to the one program you purchased, and to install the other programs you will have to purchase serial numbers from us to unlock them. They can be installed in demo mode and will run for 14 days, so you can decide if you like them enough to buy them.

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I purchased this plug-in for Intel, but frequently render my animations on a faster Alpha computer, and sometimes even farm the rendering out to a rendering service. Do I have to purchase multiple copies of this software just to render on these other platforms?
No. ScreamerNet only versions of all our software can be installed right from your plug-in CD. Simply select the 'ScreamerNet' only option during the installation.

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I purchased this plug-in for the Intel, but I also own a Macintosh and have an Alpha at the office. Can I install the software on these computers as well since the Mac and Alpha versions are on this CD?
You can't install the full version of these products on the other platforms, but you can install the demo version, which will run uninhibited for 14 days, or you can also install the ScreamerNet rendering portion for these other platforms for no additional charge. You will need to contact the sales department to purchase a Mac or Alpha serial number.

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I can't access my Help file.
There are two possibilities you may be encountering:

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I have purchased the upgrade to Particle Storm 2. Does this mean I have two copies of PS (both old and new versions), and I can sell the old one?
Absolutely not! That is not the way any software upgrades work, which is why you get a big discount when buying the upgrade. When you install the PS2 upgrade, it references your old registration information and activates the new version with this same info. This includes the dongle info. Therefore, you can only run your new PS2 on the same copy of LightWave that you had originally installed. This also means that your original version of PS has to have been registered properly in order to be upgraded. But this should be an automated process, that if everything is done correctly, you won't even know that the procedure is being done.

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Thor/TreeD

Why do Thor or TreeDruid come up with a error saying that it can't create the object file?
If you are running on Inspire3D, you need to create a 'temp' directory where the Inspire executable is.

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When invoking Thor from the Inspire Modeler, it says the dongle is different. What dongle?
This is an error with the Inspire Modeler which is fixed with the latest patch from Newtek.

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