Installation and Licensing

Forest Pack and RailClone are available in two licensing models, Standalone Licenses and Floating/Network licenses.

A Stand-alone license constrains the software to a specific PC and one license is required for each computer that the software will be installed on.
A Floating license provides a pool of licenses on a server that are available to any other computer also on the same network. You only need to have licenses for the maximum number of simultaneous users, not for each computer where the software will be installed.

To learn more about how to set up and license Forest Pack and RailClone, please follow the links in the menu on the left.

Licensing and Installation FAQ

Coronavirus and working from home

With the global Coronavirus pandemic, we have receive several emails from users asking if we offer temporary licenses so that they may work from home. Due to our commitment to perpetual licenses and resistance to online licensing and SAAS I'm afraid we do not have the ability to issue temporary licenses at this time. If you need to work from home you do have two other options, depending on the type of license you own.

Standalone. Although not explicitly stated in our EULA, we do allow users to install a second copy of our plugins on a laptop or home PC as long as the two computers are not used at the same time. If you require additional activations, please email us on helpdesk@itoosoft.com
Network/Floating. You can access your network licenses from home as long as you can connect to the license server. To see what ports need to be made available for access from a remote location, please see this article

Can I use Forest Pack Lite or RailClone Lite for commercial projects?

Absolutely! You are free to use our Lite plugins for commercial projects.

When is a floating licenses used/freed?

In RailClone 4 and Forest Pack 6 or above, a floating license is used once a scene containing one of these objects is opened. Once 3DS Max is reset, the license is returned.

If you wish to prevent a license being used, and you have no need to edit and FP/RC object or start a render you can prevent 3DS Max from grabbing a license by temporarily switching the license mode to Standalone. Just run Itoo Software>Forest Pack Pro>Change License Mode from the Start menu and click cancel at the license code request dialog. You can switch back to the Network license mode at any time, by running the configuration tool again. In this way, you can define easily the workstations that are authorised to use the licenses.

What are the requirements to use Network licenses?

Network licenses require you to install the License Server software on a Windows computer. It may be a workstation (even the same machine used to run Max), or a separate server.

Although the server software does not require a powerful system, it is mandatory that the computer hosting the license server be running and available while there are computers using the licensed software.

What is Activation?

When you acquire a license from Itoo Software, a generic license code is sent to you. Before using the software, this license must be linked to your hardware, this process is called activation. You can activate the license during the software installation (only for Stand-alone mode), or from the License Manager once the software is installed.

During the activation of a license, you can choose two different methods, Automatic or Manual. With Automatic activation you must be connected to the Internet, the software will connect with our activation server through a secure connection, and the activation codes will be sent and installed automatically. No personal information is sent during the process.

If you experience difficulties with online activation, or the computer where you are using the license does not have Internet access, you can use Manual activation instead. In this case, the software gives to you the necessary codes and a link to our secure activation page. In this web page, you enter the codes and the activation key is generated. Write or print out this code, and provide it when the Activation Wizard runs, then the license will be activated and ready to use.

For security reasons, our activation server allows you to activate a license only a certain number of times (5 by default). If you exhaust the maximum number of activations, please send us an email at helpdesk@itoosoft.com, we will increment the activation counter associated with your license. In the authorization process, the server informs you of the number of activations remaining.

In either case, if you have trouble during the activation, please contact us at helpdesk@itoosoft.com.

How to you identify hardware for licenses?

The Stand-alone license ties a single software application to a single computer. This method of licensing requires a machine's unique identifier (SID) to be incorporated in the license activation process. After buying the product, a generic license code is sent to you, the license is installed and activated. In the activation process the license is linked to the computer and can be used only for that computer. Should the PCs hardware change, it may be necessary to reactivate your licenses. If you run out of activations, please contact us.

Can I open scenes which use the plugin in computers that don't have an active license?

Yes. You can open and work with the scenes no problem, but the objects cannot be edited or rendered and in RailClone 4 and later will not display in the viewports.

Can I edit scenes in one workstation while rendering in other with a single license?

One license is required for each workstation to edit or render interactively. We define interactively as using 3ds Max manually by an operator.

In comparison, non-interactive render modes (such as batch rendering, distributed rendering or backburner) don't require any license.

In this case, regarding license requirements and render nodes, our software behaves exactly the same as 3ds Max licenses.

Are the Network licenses more expensive than the Stand-alone? Can I change between them?

No. For the convenience of our users, we offer both types at the same price. During the order process, you must choose the type of license more suited to your needs.

If you want to modify it after purchasing, please contact us by e-mail BEFORE activating the license. If the license was already activated, we charge a 30 Euro handling fee.

I have several workstations but a single Network license. As soon as a workstation opens a Forest scene, it grabs the license from the server. How can i avoid it ?

Just switch the license mode to "Stand-alone" (Itoo Software->Forest Pack Pro->Change License Mode), clicking cancel in the license code request dialog.

You can switch back to the Network license mode at any time, by running the configuration tool again. In this way, you can define easily the workstations that are authorised to use the licenses.

Do I need licenses for render nodes?

No, render nodes do not need licenses or require activation. To install render nodes, just choose the Install Slave Node from the installer. The only exception if commercial render farms who require a specific license. If you'd like to learn more, please contact us on helpdesk@itoosoft.com.

What are the license restrictions for the library models and sample scenes?

You can use the samples and library models for your own scenes, but you are not authorized to distribute or resell any models based totalyl or partially on them, including geometry, textures or materials. This limitation applies both for the Lite and Pro products.

Can I transfer the license to another computer ?

Actually, the software doesn't include any option to transfer the license. To move the software to another computer, uninstall it from the old machine and activate the license in the new one. For this purpose, we allow 5 activations by default with each license. This should be enough for a long time, but you can request additional activations if they are needed.

If you change your computer frequently, we suggest purchasing a Network license.