Vegas on Multiple computers and updating to 9e

[Mike Kujbida]

Here’s Sony’s answer on the issue.

Our licensing agreement permits you to install the software on as many machines as you own, as long as you are not running the programs at the same time. For instance, you can install the software on your home machine and on your laptop. You are not allowed to install the software on multiple machines if you are going to be using them simultaneously, such as in a home studio setting. If you are going to run the software concurrently on more than one machine, you would need to purchase a separate license for each computer.
Note that when you install the software on a different computer you will need to complete the registration process again. Register the software as you did the first time to unlock the program on each machine. You can register online directly within the software, via the phone, or on our website through our online form.

On the update issue, yes, an update is the entire package rather than just a bit of new code.
If it’s taking an hour, you must have a slow connection.
Most of us download the latest version from the website and then install it at our leisure.

[Carlton Rahmani]

Forgive me for sounding dense, but I’m just a little vexed by your answer and would like some clarification. You say I can install Vegas on my home system and my laptop, but need to buy separate licenses if I want to run it on several machines at once.
I currently doing everything on just my laptop, but my plan is to have Vegas on my laptop as well as regular desktop which I’d devote exclusively to production, and network these two computers together in order to shorten the rendering time of longer stuff.
(All this info, including what I heard about being able to install Vegas on three computers, comes from the Class on Demand cd-rom for Vegas 6-7.)
So, can I do this with my current version–install it on a laptop and desktop, both of which I’d use, and together to help render–or should I plan on buying another copy/license when I get the desktop?
Also, will my current license apply when I update to 9e. I suppose it will, but I just spent a lot of money (for me), and don’t want to screw around and with risking some bad installation or something, and messing around with the licensing issue any more than I have to.

[Mike Kujbida]

The key word is “simultaneously”.
You can have it installed on 100 machines if you have that many as long as you only run one machine at a time.
Lots of folks here and elsewhere have it installed on a laptop and a desktop or, in my case, two desktops (one at work and one at home).
As long as you’re not running it on both machines at the same time, there’s no problem as far as Sony is concerned.
Make sense now?

[Al Bergstein]

I believe that Carlton is talking about the network rendering aspect, and as I read the agreement, that’s fine. It’s just that you can’t have two people running Vegas legally on two machines (say at a home office or office) without licensing it on those two machines and paying Sony for two licenses. But if you are simply using a second machine for network rendering, then that would not necessitate *purchasing* a second copy of the software. Is that accurate Mike?

For example, I have a desktop machines and a laptop. I use one *legal* copy of Vegas on both, both registered, but I don’t use them simultaneously. However, I could use them both for network rendering on long projects without buying a second license.

Alf

[Carlton Rahmani]

Yeah, I think that’s it. Any more trying to dig down to this I think is gonna twist my head worse than a corkscrew. When the time comes, we’ll just see how it goes.
One of the reasons I’m asking this, BTW (though not that it makes any difference), is that I was completely happy with Vegas 7 until I got my new computer with its 64-bit OS. . .driver issues and all, but I’m still happy to be working with the newest of everything this time around. Just trying to make sure I get the most bang for my buck here.

[Al Bergstein]

Carlton, I am running Vegas 9.0e on Windows 7 on two different machines, and have had less problems than any other setup, better than XP or Vista. Not to say that your particular situation isn’t painful, but it can be better, and probably will be, when you sort out the issues with your particular driver situation. Anyway, hang in there, and don’t worry about the license situation, if you think you are doing the right thing, you probably are.

Alf

[Carlton Rahmani]

Hey Alf, I gotcha. I had already resolved to get Vegas 9 before the driver situation between V7 and 64-bit OS became apparent. Checked out the trial version, and no real problems from the meager amount of editing I did. Just ‘venting’ a general frustration about upgrading one thing means you gotta upgrade just about everything. Personally, I like XP way more than I like Windows 7, if for no other reason than the ‘feel’. But I DO like what I’ve seen with Vegas 9, so far (actually, I was hoping to hold out for 10, but there’s no news of that.)
Apart from all that, though, there’s the principal of ‘built in obsolescence’ (though incompatibility with upgrades) that bugs me; when something I bought a year ago is no longer usable, even if I had all the money in the world. (My grandfather, who would be 108 if he were alive, used to say: We can’t afford to buy cheap.) Has very little to do with my original topic, but it is relevant in that these cumbersome technical matters are really starting to bog down the issue when all I want to do, basically, is create something interesting and make it look as pretty as possible. . .