Combined dongle?

[Zorro]

For those using Edius 4.x and PC3 it would be convenient to have just one dongle. Are there plans for a combined dongle or something?

[pjsssss]

I think that would be pretty tough to do. They are two different programs that work independently of each other.

[Zorro]

But afaik it's the same dongle technology (HASP by Aladdin).

[pjsssss]

True, but then they would have to manufacture (code) a third dongle. It would be one for Edius (in case you did not have PC3), one for PC3 (in case you did not have Eduis), and one combined. Given their drive to consolidate Edius from the original different versions to one version, I don't see them going in an opposite direction for the dongle,

[Zorro]

They could give every Edius 4.x customer who orders a PC3 upgrade the choice of a second or a combined dongle.

[pjsssss]

But my point is that I do not think they will go to the added step of providing that third option.

[THoff]

I've asked Canopus this question before, and unfortunately this is not possible, you have to have one dongle for each application.

I'm not sure what the problem is. Canopus already has a license manager that lets you transfer the license from the dongle to your hard drive and back, so clearly the dongles themselves can be updated.

Furthermore, Aladdin makes HASP USB dongles that can protect multiple applications, only their HASP HL Basic dongle is restricted to protecting a single application:

http://www.aladdin.com/HASP/srm-protection-keys.asp

I don't know how much the price difference between the Basic dongle and the Pro model is, but the latter would allow up to 39 programs to be protected using a single dongle. The dongles I have actually look like the Max dongle, which can protect up to 234 programs.

[GrassValley_KH]

For those using Edius 4.x and PC3 it would be convenient to have just one dongle. Are there plans for a combined dongle or something?

You can do this now.

Fire up the EDIUS LM tool on your install CD, and plug-in your PC3 dongle (the EDIUS one has to be unplugged for this to work).

Do a Dongle-to-Dongle transfer. You should be able to place the PC3 license "off to the side" and then swap dongles. Copy the PC3 license to your EDIUS dongle and you're set.

[Zorro]

You can do this now.

Thanks, Kenneally! Have you already tried it?

[THoff]

That contradicts what I was told on the phone when I asked about it, but I'll take your word any day!

The ironic thing is that I bought a USB hub last week because I got tired of juggling cables and the dongles. My LCD has a built-in 2-port USB hub and I was using that for the dongles, but I always wound up unplugging one of them to plug in my phone, my DSLR, or my HVX200 -- the location was just too convenient.

Can you think of a reason NOT to combine the dongles if you are always going to be using both programs on the same machine at the same time?

[GrassValley_KH]

That contradicts what I was told on the phone when I asked about it, but I'll take your word any day!

To be honest, I only discovered it by running the EDIUS LM app on a 'super dongle' we have here used at NAB. My understanding is that this is only possible with ProCoder 3/EDIUS v4 dongles.

EDIUS v3 and/or ProCoder 2.0 can't be a part of this party..

Can you think of a reason NOT to combine the dongles if you are always going to be using both programs on the same machine at the same time?

Sure can - like with the notion of putting licenses onto the hard drive, you're "*******" the license off the dongle, rendering it into a $60 piece of plastic, metal and silicon. So if your (now combined) dongle breaks or is lost/stolen, you now have NO applications. While EDIUS is forgiving in that it gives you 30 days of basic, non-dongled use, ProCoder 3 simply won't run.

Beware.

[Zorro]

Dear Kenneally,

EDIUS LM app

can you please give a short description what app you are using here?

[GrassValley_KH]

Should be on your E4 installation CD/DVD somewhere, with a name like 'EDIUSLM.EXE'

[Aristotelis]

it is under CD\Tools\EdiusLM

I wouldn't use it though except if it was absolutely necessary...
By merging the licenses you are multiplying the risk...
Loosing one dongle/one license means that you have to pay for one software...loosing one dongle/many licenses means that you have to pay a lot....(!)

[pjsssss]

Agreed. No way would I do this.