Cannot open previously generated files.

Hi,

I have just purchased A reality capture license with the intent to export all of the models I generated in the Demo.
When I try to open the files I get the error: ‘cannot open the project that was locked to another machine’
This is pretty frustrating as I this is the same machine I have always used.
I just downloaded and installed capturing reality from the download area but I selected the non demo version, though as far as I can see they are identical.
I’m using the same computer, and the same log in details so I cannot understand why I am unable to open the project files.
Please let me know if there is some way to resolve this without spending weeks more processing files.
Thanks

Jules

Hi Jules,
this is of course disabled. Otherwise you would be able to use e.g. 1000 demo versions to map entire NY and at the end of the day get the $99 version to re-export the city. That would not be fair to us.

We state this in the demo download panel, to avoid confunsion:

* Scenes created in RealityCapture demo cannot be loaded in paid instances of RealityCapture

We are really sorry that this happened to you. To avoid such situations, the most of other software disable save/export at all, but this is really a question what is better.

Hmmm…
As you stated ‘Scenes created in RealityCapture demo cannot be loaded in paid instances of RealityCapture’ I guess it was my bad for not noticing, but I did not expect this as it seems unrealistic for users to stock up half processed scenes for months to save a few $.
I am running into further issues I did not experience the first time round when reprocessing the scenes, such as images never loading beyond the preview, presumably because the software is still in Beta. I guess that is for another thread though.
Thanks for the response none the less.

Jules

I’m having problems loading a scene that was started on another machine. I worked on it over a week ago at an office location. I restarted my RC licence here on my home computer, and now the scene i was trying to open is telling me The Project is locked to another machine. I wrote an email to Capture Reality last week and i was told i would be able to transfer my project to my home computer, but I’m finding out now this is not true. I’m very disappointed. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Gordon,

did you create your project in a paid version of RealityCapture and not the Demo? Can you please check the version of the RealityCapture in the upper right corner of the application?

I have to say - this is a really dumb restriction! We created three models on the demo before purchasing, just to be sure it would work with our project. Now we have to start over and are losing days of work.

I worked all night to test the preview of your software - satisfied - i purchased a license and now im having this locked to another machine issue again and you say that there is no way around it. Now I have to start all over again. This is really really frustrating and unfortunate. 

Guys, come on, listen to your customers - every software in the world has a solution to this. autodesk, adobe, all of them. 

Not cool at all. 

User feedback is critical in todays age where customers have many options. Listen to us for your own good.

I agree with the comments above, this is creating more frustration than actually solving something. Please remove this restriction.

My mind is baffled by these responses.

Is this how people act nowadays? Is this common practice?

How about you people *read* before you buy. It’s your money, your responsibility.

The reasoning from martinb is very solid and understandable. Obviously people would abuse if it means saving many thousands of $$$ which goes straight into their own pockets.

Come on, guys… this is $99.

I agree with Capturing Reality, this restriction is very clearly stated in the description and this would be too easy to cheat.

Demo is only here to do very quick tests, if you start to do some serious works, like weeks of processing ? just get the 3 months promo - $99 for this kind of software is fair in my opinion.

While I do agree that it’s the user’s mistake for not noticing the fine print on the download page, this probably should be made a bit more obvious upon launching the software for the first time, or when logging in to activate the demo.

This is especially relevant when compared to other types of software that 3D artists are most commonly adjusted to using, such as *****, which do include the ability to open projects that were created in trials, demos, and student versions (as someone mentioned earlier).

It’s currently very easy to make that mistake, and results in disgruntled customers after they’ve just invested money in your product. Probably not a good look when you’re wanting positive word-of-mouth…

On the subject of the restriction itself, this “is” the sort of product that takes a lot of work hours to assess whether it’s going to be worth using for a specific project, since it can take a very long time to align images and then reconstruct for a usable model. Adding control points is half of what results in a good outcome, and that is also quite a lengthy process. While I understand where the developer is coming from in terms of “doing all the hard work in the demo and then using a paid license for export”, perhaps it’s a bit unreasonable to rob the user of a couple of day’s worth of work/testing, when the minimum spend for your software is 3 months worth either way?

Personally, I’d be more than happy to leave the software running for the automated processes again upon upgrading to a paid license, but the manual labor involved with assigning control points is time I just wouldn’t be able to get back. A better option might be a 14 day trial (without export functionality) which includes the ability to import the trial project into the paid version of the software, maybe with a requirement for re-processing the model before export.

I don’t really think either either party is at fault or being unreasonable in this discussion, but I hope this is some user input that you can use for future licensing decisions. Cheers.

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Please consider changing your business model / demo technology so you don’t waste a paying customers finite amount of lifetime they have on this earth.