Help with LE and License Manager

[jujubee]

Hi,

I'm a total newbie, sorry if this is super obvious stuff.

Just bought RF 2013 LE, and trying to install everything from the emails I got.

I have several questions:

1) Do I even need to install the License Manager? Can I do RFRK etc. without the LM running?

2) I want to use something like Maya or Cinema4D to render the fluids, anyone have any opinion on which program is better or for my purposes easy to use but still renders great looking water

3) What is the RFRK for? Is it better to render in RFRK? Or just use the plugin? I saw it said something about rendering meshes at render time but I have no idea what that even means. Does it mean it's faster in some way? Can I do everything on 1 machine without RFRK? Or RFRK could still possibly be used on 1 machine for some reason?

4) I get an error when I try to install LM based on the instructions here:
http://support.nextlimit.com/display/rf ... stallation

I get:
./nl_license_manager -a /<full path>/rflearnlic.txt
[License Manager Warning]: Invalid license.

This is LE, so I thought, maybe it's this local mode thing (what does that mean?)

I just followed instructions and exported the env var RF_USE_LOCAL_LICENSE=1

But it made no difference same error

I tried removing the
"# LICENSE ENDS HERE" part of the text file but that also did not work.

Strangely though, it does work when I installed RF2013 itself.
As a side note I'm trying to use the license that starts with:
#######################################################################
# REALFLOW NODE LICENSE DATA STARTS HERE

Is that the right one?

Update:
I just installed the rfrk license - that one went in fine on the same machine I have the GUI on.

Does that mean it somehow detected that I have the GUI on this machine so I don't need the node license, whatever that is?
Is that why the node license didn't install and said it was invalid license?

Do I not want/need the node license?

I'm totally confused.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[tsn]

1. The RealFlow GUI license, also called RealFlow standard license, is the license for the main application - the one you launch when you double click on the RealFlow program icon. The GUI license is installed with a license manager inside RF. When you start RF for the very first time then a tool opens where you can copy/paste the licenses.

2. A RF Node is an application without an interface and only needed if you want to simulate certain parts of a project via a network. If there's just one computer then you don't need any nodes. If you plan to simulate splashes and foam, for example, with the help of 3 additional computers then you need 3 RF Node licenses - one for each computer. These licenses have to be installed with the separate License Manager tool. Nodes and network simulations are managed with RF's Job Manager (part of the RF GUI application).

3. The RFRK is only needed for rendering and shading within your 3D program. It provides more tools than the connectivity plugins, e.g. volumetric shaders and support for RF's displacement maps. The RFRK requires another license (the RFRK license) which has to be installed with the License Manager application as well.

Nodes and RFRK will only work with an active License Manager. This means that the tool has to be started before you launch/open/use these applications. If the LM is not running you'll get errors like "unlicensed" or a black render.

All license texts (GUI, Node, RFRK) must include the "#" symbols.

"Meshing at render time" means that the meshes are not created in a separate process in RF's GUI. With the RFRK_Mesher you load a particle sequence, and make your settings (inside your 3D app, not RF) until you get the mesh's desired look. Then you start the render, and at this point the RFRK will create the meshes and render them, but doesn't store them. This helps to save resources like disk space. The RFRK also has its own memory management and subdivides the mesh internally. This helps to render even large meshes.

I hope that helps to clarify things.

Cheers,
Thomas

[jujubee]

That was very clear thanks Thomas!

BTW for anyone else struggling with LE edition, it seems that LM is not the way to install the Node Manager :/

There's a super secret squirrel way to do it: (this one is for OSX)
http://vimeo.com/album/2504567/video/73130269

Thomas, since you seem to know what you're talking about, could you tell me, for the Learning Edition (LE), is there any variance on the RFRK?

When I create a very simple hybrido domain with < 100k particles, no problem importing with the RFRK3 Particler (using Maya student edition), but when I have something with millions of particles, I get /nothing/ even on the display port window of Maya - I see no particles- when I import the larger emitter- same exact workflow, just a more complex RF scene I'm trying to bring in with many more particles.

I saw the demo RFRK has a limit of 100k, does that also apply the the RFRK3 that comes with LE?

I noticed btw that there seem to be no attempted connections to my running License Manager on port 2226- the only things I see from Maya connecting thru my firewall are out to s81.nextlimit.com or s8.nextlimit.com (what are those connections doing, btw?)

Does this mean that Maya's RFRK plugin thinks it is a demo edition so it isn't even bothering to display my particles when it's a bigger scene?

I am not even rendering yet in Maya.

Thanks

[tsn]

With regards the limitations of the LE editions I have to ask someone else, I'm afraid. I really don't know it, but I'll check back.

"I noticed btw that there seem to be no attempted connections to my running License Manager on port 2226"

As long as you can render smaller scenes, RF's license management appears to be Ok. So, it could be indeed a limitation of the RFRK, but I'll ask and then we'll see.

[jujubee]

Hi Thomas,

I played around more with it and found out what it was.

When I had 3 hybrido emitters in play attached to the same domain, the RFRK does not let me import #1 or #2 (by choosing the emitter #1 bin file or the #2 emitter's bin file) - it displays nothing.

But when I import #3 emitter, it works and brings in all 3 emitters all at once.

I guess because they are all attached to the same domain so it cannot separate them, is that right?

If I wanted to separately shade them etc, I guess I would have to have 3 hybrido domains, is that right? But then- I guess they could not interact with each other?

Thanks
James

[tsn]

I'm happy that you found a solution


"I guess because they are all attached to the same domain so it cannot separate them, is that right?"

Oh, actually it's possible. In export central (F12) you can activate particle export for each HY_Emitter of a domain and then you'll be able to load the emitters' particles separately and shade them. Just on a side note: you're right that multiple domains cannot interact with each other. Here's a description which formats can be exported - there's also Maya's PDC, by the way:

http://support.nextlimit.com/display/rf ... o+Emitters