License issues - two computers, two licenses, two PT versions

[Phil O'Keefe]

I am a longtime Pro Tools user, and I have a bunch of Pro Tools licenses on my iLok.

I have a Pro Tools Ultimate Perpetual license that came with my Avid Carbon. It's up to date until December. I use that with my Mac Studio. It's on an iLok 2 that's dedicated to that computer.

When the new tiers were announced, being a glutton for punishment, I decided I'd better grab a perpetual update for one of my old licenses while dealers still have some available, so I purchased an iLok 3 and a $349 perpetual update for one of my old Pro Tools 9 licenses to get it current so I'd have a second up-to-date perpetual license for Pro Tools Studio that I can use on my M1 MacBook Air without having to move an iLok around between the two machines.

I see the new license in my iLok license manager and was able to move it to the iLok 3 successfully. When I go to the My Avid web page, it shows both the Pro Tools Ultimate and Pro Tools Studio perpetual licenses. However, when I go to Avid Link, I'm not seeing Pro Tools Studio. I don't want to download Ultimate onto the MacBook Air - I want Studio on that machine - but it's not showing up for download.

What am I doing wrong here, and how do I fix it?

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

[Darryl Ramm]

What you're doing wrong starts with relying on Avid Link for anything. It's a know fairly buggy piece of software with lots of advice on DUC to just uninstall it.

Avid Studio (like previously with standard) or Ultimate or whatever it's called now depends on the license on the iLok not the installer. I don't think any of that has changed.

The fix for Avid Link telling you anything wrong should be obvious...

[jeffro]

Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe

...I see the new license in my iLok license manager and was able to move it to the iLok 3 successfully. When I go to the My Avid web page, it shows both the Pro Tools Ultimate and Pro Tools Studio perpetual licenses. However, when I go to Avid Link, I'm not seeing Pro Tools Studio. I don't want to download Ultimate onto the MacBook Air - I want Studio on that machine - but it's not showing up for download...

Thank you for upgrading! Avid Link should just reflect what's in your Avid account. Please try a right+click > Reset, or Sync Account from the Avid Link icon in the upper right of your menu bar. It's the same installer for each tier, so you can simply run the one you downloaded (or download it from my.avid.com/products > Pro Tools Studio > VIEW...) and PT will run as Pro Tools Studio with that license activated.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thank you, Darryl and Jeffro. Pro Tools Studio still isn’t showing up in Avid Link, but I was able to download everything individually from the my Avid web page. It all installed fine and PT Studio is now running on the M1 MacBook Air.

Quick follow-up question about the perpetual licenses: if I don’t keep them up to date, what happens? I know I’ll still be able to use the last available version of Pro Tools that was available at the time the support expired, but what if I decide I want to get back on the plan a year or two after it expires? Will I still be able to do what I just did and upgrade? Or once the retailers like Sweetwater are all out of reinstatement codes, will that no longer be an option? Is there any difference between the Ultimate perpetual parachute that came with Carbon and the Studio perpetual license in that respect?

[Darryl Ramm]

The risk is if nobody has reinstatement codes to sell then you are out of luck and stuck on that old version. And on Mac with so many OS related issues/updates stuff changing so fast and going Apple silicon etc. I would not want to be stuck on an old version.

The insurance often suggested on DUC is if you are deliberately going to let a license lapse then buy a reinstatement from a third party reseller and only apply that to you account in future when you need to use it. Lots of discussion you can search for.

But then you don't get other benefits of an active plan, like say the complete plugin bundle subscription or other included things. "other included things": I pay no attention to them no idea what they even are , but the complete plugin bundle is a must have for me.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

The risk is if nobody has reinstatement codes to sell then you are out of luck and stuck on that old version. And on Mac with so many OS related issues/updates stuff changing so fast and going Apple silicon etc. I would not want to be stuck on an old version.

I plan on keeping my support up to date on both of these perpetual licenses (Ultimate and Studio) for now, and maybe even long-term. At the very least, until there's a stable M1 native PT release.

The insurance often suggested on DUC is if you are deliberately going to let a license lapse then buy a reinstatement from a third party reseller and only apply that to you account in future when you need to use it. Lots of discussion you can search for.

IOW, if you think you might want/need to let your update plan(s) lapse at some point, buy the backup/insurance reinstatement codes now, because we don't know if they'll still be available in the future once the current stock available from retailers is gone.

I thought the perpetual parachute that came with Carbon could always be restored later, even if you let it lapse. Is that incorrect?

But then you don't get other benefits of an active plan, like say the complete plugin bundle subscription or other included things. "other included things": I pay no attention to them no idea what they even are , but the complete plugin bundle is a must have for me.

I don't dislike the Complete Plugin Bundle - there are some useful plugins included - but I'm not sure I'd consider it to be an absolute must-have. I have a bunch of UAD-2 plugins (and a Thunderbolt 3 Octo), Eventide Anthology XII, non-PT subscription-tied licenses for Heat, Autotune, Melodyne, the AIR IEP3 VIs, and some other things that I consider to be more essential. I even have separate licenses for several of the plugins in the Complete Plugin Bundle.

Didn't Avid used to offer a Complete Plugin Bundle annual subscription separately for $50 a year? Is that going away now, too?

If not, if the Complete Plugin Bundle was essential for someone, couldn't they let their PT perpetual license's support and updates plan lapse (with an unused renewal code kept in reserve for later), and just subscribe to the Complete Plugin Bundle? For pros who like to lock a system in for years once it's solid (avoiding software and hardware upgrades/updates unless absolutely necessary for the sake of stability/reliability), it seems like that would be more cost-effective in the long run.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Bump for answers on my earlier post re: Carbon perpetual licenses…