Hi I bought the Toon Boom Animate. However, I have two computers. MacBook Pro and MacPro. I want to install Animate on both computers to be able to work with them in turn. Is this possible?
Yours
Tomasz Ostaszewski
I think I can answer this one. Someone with an official response please correct me if I’ve got this wrong.
The key to your question is “in turn” meaning not both at once. You can install on multiple computers but activate on only one at a time. Let’s say you activated the program on your first computer. If you want to run it on the other computer, you have to first de-activate it from the first computer.
On the first computer you go to the License Wizard > Manage Licenses > Manage Local Licenses > Return.
When you run ‘return’ the license gets transferred back to the Toonboom license server. Then you go online with the second computer and activate from there. The license gets transferred from the Toonboom license server to the second computer.
If you were, for example, to try and activate the first computer again, while you already have the second computer ‘live’ you could not. Because your license is no longer on the server, it’s sitting inside the second computer. So, you’re just moving the license around (using the Toonboom license server as a go between) depending on which computer you need to run it on at the time.
It’s pretty fast and painless. Like having a dongle without the dongle worries.
that sounds pretty good ;D
Toon Boom please update the licensing system to allow for up to 2 computers for 1 license code. There are probably quite a few people like me who have a desktop and a laptop. Having to return a license and then reactivate on another workstation which means rekeying the license code in each time is not a very fast and convenient solution. What if I forget to switch it to my laptop when I leave. What if my internet access is down for some reason. What if I need to leave quickly and don’t have 5 minutes to switch licenses. All the other professional software I use allows at least the use of 2 computers. I understand wanting to keep your software from being pirated, but I think that allowing 2 workstations would be a lot more convenient for your loyal users and not cause a big problem with piracy.
-Steven
Hi,
This was something I wondered about too. The license agreement for many programs I use (including Adobe’s for example,) allow the user to install and activate on a primary system plus one mobile system (in other words, a workstation and a laptop.) After reading the license for Animate, I was disappointed that you could only activate on one machine.
Regarding dongle locked licenses, I for one, prefer them. A dongle allows me to switch between computers easily, without the hassle of deactivation/activation via internet, which can be problematic if you’re away from the computer that has the license or if your in a remote location that doesn’t have wifi.
Also, with the node locked scheme, I’m always worried about the time lost when the system that has the activated license dies, and I cannot unlock it to transfer the license. This has happened to me a few times with Adobe’s software, which is sensitive to even basic changes to hardware like upgrading a hard drive. Yes, it can be fixed with a phone call, but the last time this happened Adobe had me waiting on the phone for an hour before I could request the new activation. It’s much easier and faster to just plug a dongle into a another machine and go.
Anyway, that’s just my opinion. I’m not really suggesting that ToonBoom switch to dongle licenses. I realize that dongles have their own issues (such as, what to do when they go bad or you lose them,) but since I often hop between several different machines throughout the week, I do find dongles to be pretty convenient.
Getting back on topic, YES! I also wish they allowed activation of a single license on both a primary and mobile like many other companies allow with their applications. I think that would be pretty fair and certainly very convenient to users like me, since it means I can use Animate at my home studio or when I’m at a remote site, without worrying about which machine had the activation last.
So, pretty please Toon Boom? 
Greenlaw
Edit: A quick update regarding my comment about Adobe’s Licensing and customer support. Last week my workstation stopped working, but I managed to deactivate CS2. Unfortunately, I couldn’t deactivate Acrobat Pro before it completely died. When I got my new machine I was able to reactivate CS2 on it, and then it was time to make the dreaded call to Adobe’s Customer Support. This time however, Adobe took my call in less than a minute and the woman I talked to gave me a new activation code right away. I still think their licensing scheme is a hassle, but I have to say I have a nicer opinion of their customer service now. 
I agree with you.
An example:
I just received my Toon Boom Animate today.
In 15 days I go on vacation Christmas with family and I take my laptop.
I will be obliged to validate a license and on my return validate another license for
my home computer.
Is it that if there is too much the license transfer, the team does Toon Boom
stop activation? I hope not …
Sorry for my bad English. :-[
Thierry
Hey Guys-
I have a question that might fit in well with this topic. I haven’t bought Animate yet… but so far I am really enjoying the PLE version. In my current situation I am using windows. However, I am getting ready to switch over to
OSx. If I buy the Windows version now is it easy to switch my license over to OSX later when I’m ready?
thanks! looking forward to spending more time in this forum.
There are no limits to how many times you change machines for the activation since you are always using a single license. You can do it 3 times an hour if you want it doesn’t matter. It’s an automate process anyway.
Thank you very much for your response, I am now satisfied.
Thierry