Dongles phase out, material subscriptions and the likes, users please take position!

[Pretty Picture Girl]

Today I received an email by Chaos Group were they are anouncing that they'll phase out dongles.

This upsets me, as it leaves anybody without or with only an unstable internet connection stranded.

Personally I will be impacted by this drastically as I will be travelling frequently in remote locations in the near future and for the long run.
Full internet access maybe once in 4-6 weeks. Still, I can work in these locations as I have a power supply.
Further it forces these users to buy into local networks only for the purpose of using their Vray license.

I strongly urge Chaos Group to offer at least one viable option for users without web access.
Requiring web access for a machine for initial installation on one machine would be acceptable, the requirement for a permanent internet connection surely not.
Apart from practical issues I do also have privacy concerns regarding this.
I do not mind if a license gets tied to one machine until a reinstallation becomes necessary. I do not mind either having to log in for an upgrade at a time convenient to me, as long the software functions then without web access until the next upgrade.
Subscriptions are not acceptable. This is by the way the very reason why I have moved away from Adobe products and use Affinity instead.

Second to this I am very wary of the push towards online material libraries for users. It only makes Chaos Group more likely to move towards material subscriptions easier.
Vray without a local material library will be a showstopper for me and make me change to a competitor.
I am not sure how we the users can stop this, but many small offices will agree with me that monthly or annual subscriptrions are a great pain in the neck if your income varies greatly.

Possibly its time to look into purchasing software somewhere else if things move more into this direction, hope they can come up with something acceptable though.

[Peter.Chaushev]

Hello,

The Online License Server allows using V-Ray almost exclusively offline. There's an option to borrow your licenses for offline use.
If you wish to give it a try, first, you need to access the License Server using one of the following ways:

• open http://localhost:30304 in your browser (if the server is installed on another machine substitute localhost with that machine's IP address, e.g. http://10.02.33.45:30304)
• open the Manage Chaos License Server from Start Menu > All Apps > Chaos Group > Manage Chaos License Server or by just typing this in after opening the Windows Start Menu
• in Rhino open V-Ray > Help > License > License Server...

(https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/...eLicenseServer)


Then, select Online Licensing > Use licenses offline and follow the process steps to acquire licensing for 2 weeks. You can even set automatic renewal, which will update the borrow duration for 2 more weeks at a time a few days prior to the expiry date. All you need is a minute or so of going online every couple of weeks.



For more detailed step-by-step instructions and additional info, please visit https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/...or+Offline+Use
Should you have any difficulties setting up your licensing, our Support team can help out. You can reach them at support@chaosgroup.com

As for your privacy concerns, be advised V-Ray can only receive anonymous usage statistics and it does so only if you manually enable its telemetry (see https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/...roup+Telemetry)
You can see for yourself all data which V-Ray send (when telemetry is enabled) by navigating to your system's Temp folder and looking for files named vray-telemetrics (V-Ray for Rhinoceros 6).log


Regarding your second concern, the accessibility of the material library - our dev team is currently working on enhanced library management (not only for materials) which will include the ability to create your own custom material presets and library structures. The aim is not to restrict access to the material library but to build up on its existing implementation to provide better tools for users to manage their scene assets. Expect more info on this when the V-Ray Next for Rhino beta is announced.

Do not hesitate to share any further thoughts you have on the development direction of V-Ray. Any critique or feature requests are more than welcome!

Kind regards,
Peter

[ivan.slavchev]

Further to the above - users are not forced to give up their dongles, phasing out means that new products won't be sold on Dongles. We're also planning some improvements on the backend, so borrowing licenses for offline use will be improved. Lots of users need an offline solution, so there will be one, just not with dongles.