2020 over. Where is fusion studio activation key option?

Blackmagic 2020 is basically coming to a close. Where is the activation key option?

1.5 years has passed since following comment

It’s on my list but might not make this cycle so don’t wait for it ATM.

No one really uses dongle keys anymore and it's very inconvenient for laptop use.

Isn't it time to bring out the activation key and standardize your offerings on both resolve and fusion so that dongle or key makes no difference? Would reduce a lot of confusion, some negative feelings and probably increase sales.

Does Black Magic not engage it's users? Can any staff/employee respond please?

Does Black Magic not engage it's users? Can any staff/employee respond please?

They tend not to, at least not in te Fusion section. We're pretty much community driven when it comes to Fusion issues and solutions. There's a better user forum for Fu over at www.steakunderwater.com

all fanboy-ism aside, this is what Fusion has been like for the past 3-5 years. the biggest update was Fusion 16, which was a non-configurable UI/UX with some tracking stuff added. Look at the rest of the updates... mostly adding support for Blackmagic's cameras and codecs. The strength in fusion isn't in the software its the fuse/script developers which are doing things BMD shoud be doing.

Fusion has coasted on fumes for the past few years. it's cheap, and rightfully so... you get what you pay for at this point. there are so many things Nuke does a lot better and faster. If Foundry could get their heads out of their wallets long enough to make Nuke Indie worthwhile, Fusion customer base would shrink again.

BMD needs to do a better job developing Fusion like they do with Resolve, or just stop selling it and give it away for free again.

Agreed, I once I finish my current project I am going to take a look at Nuke Indie. I love Fusion but it is stagnant with no roadmap and I can't afford to get left behind. I used to use Nuke about 4 yrs ago but Foundry gave me the sh1's. Has anyone recently run any performance/stability/functionality tests for Nuke (Indie) vs Fusion (for in Windows)? Would love to hear others thoughts.

I really hope they do make it possible to use Fusion Studio with Resolve activation keys. Being able to have both Resolve Studio and Fusion Studio for the same $300 / £250 is an incredible deal, but right now it feels like that's hidden. Almost a loophole. I've seen a number of people say how they feel like they missed out because they bought the Resolve Studio code before they realised they could have had Fusion Studio as well if they'd bought a dongle, and now have to pay double what other users paid.

It's very generous to provide both products for the same price, but the way things are currently handled means people who didn't learn about that option prior to purchase may well end up feeling like they were penalised for buying the most popular package.

I'm wondering if there's already been a sign that this might happen: the fact that when the Fusion sections of the Resolve manual were recently updated they combined the documentation for both Resolve's Fusion page and Fusion Studio into a single document. Presumably this was primarily done for simplicity and to reduce the time and cost of updating the manual. But I wonder if it might also be an indication that in future, buying Resolve Studio will always provide Fusion Studio.

That could be wishful thinking on my part. But I've always thought it was a little odd that the Resolve manual has whole chapters describing Fusion Studio features that are not and will never be part of Resolve. That decision would make more sense if it's planned for Fusion Studio to always be available to every Resolve Studio user, and for that to be clearly communicated in marketing and documentation.

As always we will just have to wait and see. Like the CIA, BMD do not comment on future plans

Well this is disappointing....

Even Adobe engages more than this.

As always we will just have to wait and see. Like the CIA, BMD do not comment on future plans

Would be nice if they could at least address their own previous statements. The whole offering should really be brought into 2020 and standardized, who even really uses dongles any more? Not to mention a lot of creators on laptops would hate using a dongle as that not only locks up a USB port but could also potentially contribute towards damaging your laptop and dongle.

I still use and cherish my Fusion Dongle and would be sad to see it vanish. I understand that digital licenses are wanted and I'm not opposing that but I would hate to see dongles go completely.
The comfort of digital licenses is only really given when the process of transferring them is simple.

When I was working at a company I switched computers quite frequently or upgrades to the machine were recognized as new computers on other software. Having to transfer the C4D, Redshift and Houdini licenses was always kinda annoying while I could easily "transfer" my Fusion License by plugging the dongle in another computer.

Now as a freelancer again, I sometimes test my scripts on my old Mac and plugging the dongle in is super quick. Or due to network connections I have different accounts on my old Mac. I can't open Houdini on that but I can use my dongle to open Fusion on every Account.

Again, I'm not opposing digital licenses but there are people using dongles and would prefer to use them in the future.

Again, I'm not opposing digital licenses but there are people using dongles and would prefer to use them in the future.

Sure and they could still keep the dongle option for the rare few that want or need it. They'll probably sell 100x more activation keys though if all things were equal and that is the point ie more sales for them, easier for everyone else including customer.
They could also consider your kind of rarer scenario but for the vast majority they would likely activate on a new machine they intend to use permanently. So like resolve key deactivates the first old activation fusion key could do the same.

I really hope they do make it possible to use Fusion Studio with Resolve activation keys. Being able to have both Resolve Studio and Fusion Studio for the same $300 / £250 is an incredible deal, but right now it feels like that's hidden. Almost a loophole.

Yet users of the Resolve Studio activation key have Fusion Studio documentation installed on their system. It's super confusing the 3000 page help file to include pages for a software you don't even have a license for.

I really hope they do make it possible to use Fusion Studio with Resolve activation keys. Being able to have both Resolve Studio and Fusion Studio for the same $300 / £250 is an incredible deal, but right now it feels like that's hidden. Almost a loophole.

Yet users of the Resolve Studio activation key have Fusion Studio documentation installed on their system. It's super confusing the 3000 page help file to include pages for a software you don't even have a license for.

Yeah, that's why I was saying I wondered if the fact that they merged the Fusion documentation for Resolve and Fusion Studio was some indication that, perhaps from v17 onwards, Fusion Studio might be automatically included with every Resolve Studio license.

That would give a lot more justification for combining the manuals and including in the Resolve Studio manual chapters that only apply to Fusion Studio. Let's hope it's that anyway, otherwise yeah, it's not a great look to combine documentation for separate products.

but right now it feels like that's hidden. Almost a loophole.

To be fair, when I was tossing up whether to buy a studio license for Fusion 9 or Resolve 14 BMD did tell me that if I bought a Fu9 dongle I'd get the use of both packages. They're not hiding it, just not advertising it.

but right now it feels like that's hidden. Almost a loophole.

To be fair, when I was tossing up whether to buy a studio license for Fusion 9 or Resolve 14 BMD did tell me that if I bought a Fu9 dongle I'd get the use of both packages. They're not hiding it, just not advertising it.

Why do they even need to make it that complicated or confusing?

Bring out activation keys like everyone else on the planet and standardize the offerings so no one misses out on anything. Then your customer can choose whether they want activation key or for some reason a physical dongle. Assuming all else equal, activation keys will outsell dongles by the ton and those that want physical dongle for some reason can buy that instead. No more confusion and easy sell.

Any update or input blackmagic or peter chamberlain?

You may have missed the posts where this is all possible now with Fusion 17 and works with Resolve licenses

Buy a Resolve activation Key. There's your license.

Tested and confirmed.

Buy a Resolve activation Key. There's your license.

Tested and confirmed.

Sorry, I just want to be absolutely sure here, but you're saying that if we buy Da Vinci Resolve, that DOES NOT use the dongle, but instead uses an activation key, and said activation key will work with Fusion Studio?

Do you have more info on this, such as is it hardware locked or is it like Maya where you can essentially transfer licenses to and from any computer by logging in? Or rather, how hard is it to transfer a license if we get a new workstation/ switch back and forth from windows to linux?

I'm looking to buy 3 licenses for our studio but the pandemic is making the dongle look better since if we need to work at home, we can just take it with.

Looks like Fusion Studio 17 will accept the Resolve activation keys, but it is not clear if that includes the remote render nodes, which do not work with the Resolve Studio dongles (at least not in 16), but require the Fusion dongle specifically.

As to the need for the dongles, many of the high-end facilities that use these programs heavily are required to keep their systems completely off the internet, so the activation keys will not work for them at all.

Glad to hear some improvement finally happened.

Can we get some official clarification on any limitations? One pc? Render nodes? Is there a fusion activation key or resolve only? Dongle difference?

do we have any information whether Fusion dongle can be converted to an activation key for version 17?

I purchased Fusion Studio instead of Resolve Studio because I also need to use the standalone version (usually on two workstations - not at the same time), but would love to see to use activation keys instead of putting the dongle to my laptop every time.

Guys, I just got an email from BM support:

"The DaVinci Resolve Studio dongle will run Fusion Studio, and vice versa- the fusion Studio Dongle will run DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Fusion Studio requires a dongle, and does not function with an activation code."

I activated Fusion with my DR studio 17. All I did was download Fusion and it opened. Nothing else. So just download and install resolve and then fusion. That would probably mean purchasing a studio license with an activation key.


Ricardo

Guys, I just got an email from BM support:

"The DaVinci Resolve Studio dongle will run Fusion Studio, and vice versa- the fusion Studio Dongle will run DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Fusion Studio requires a dongle, and does not function with an activation code."

Activation codes only work for Fusion Studio 17 beta or later (it's in the release notes). I don't think BM support is trained for supporting the beta versions that were released this week.

Activation codes only work for Fusion Studio 17 beta or later (it's in the release notes). I don't think BM support is trained for supporting the beta versions that were released this week.

Ah that explains it. Seems like it is working for people with 17. Just confusing to have all these conflicting messages...

[Shrinivas Ramani]

As explained in the release notes for Fusion Studio 17, this is the first version to support activation keys.

As explained in the release notes for Fusion Studio 17, this is the first version to support activation keys.

Are there going to be fusion studio activation keys coming out or only resolve keys that allows access to both?

Any limitations with activation key vs dongle? Render nodes access?

I get an error if i want to activate the fusion 17 with installed and activated Resolve 16.2.7.
Fusion asks for an activation key. if i type in the used activation key it won't work.

Also after deactivating Resolve (1 activation left) and trying to activate Fusion with this key.

I get an error if i want to activate the fusion 17 with installed and activated Resolve 16.2.7.
Fusion asks for an activation key. if i type in the used activation key it won't work.

Also after deactivating Resolve (1 activation left) and trying to activate Fusion with this key.

You might need resolve 17 activated to then be able to use fusion 17?

I get an error if i want to activate the fusion 17 with installed and activated Resolve 16.2.7.
Fusion asks for an activation key. if i type in the used activation key it won't work.

Also after deactivating Resolve (1 activation left) and trying to activate Fusion with this key.

You might need resolve 17 activated to then be able to use fusion 17?

It works as advertised, with activation key. I have Resolve 16.2.5.015 installed, and just tested it. Fusion started up no issues. It says Nov 11 build, so maybe download Fusion 17 studio beta again and try it?

I get an error if i want to activate the fusion 17 with installed and activated Resolve 16.2.7.
Fusion asks for an activation key. if i type in the used activation key it won't work.

Also after deactivating Resolve (1 activation left) and trying to activate Fusion with this key.

You might need resolve 17 activated to then be able to use fusion 17?

It works as advertised, with activation key. I have Resolve 16.2.5.015 installed, and just tested it. Fusion started up no issues. It says Nov 11 build, so maybe download Fusion 17 studio beta again and try it?

Agree.

All I had to do on both my Desktop and Laptop was install Fusion Studio 17. It saw the Resolve Activation on both machines and used that. It never asked me for an Activation Key.

[/quote]
Agree.

All I had to do on both my Desktop and Laptop was install Fusion Studio 17. It saw the Resolve Activation on both machines and used that. It never asked me for an Activation Key.[/quote]

Awesome! But what if I decided to format my pc or switch to another device? Can I just paste the code again or log in to my BMD account or what? If there are any limitations I would love to know about them before purchasing the Resolve activation key for Fusion studio.

Yeah BMD isn't making a big deal of it, but when I saw the post I downloaded Fusion 17b and it runs fine on my Resolve Studio 16 activation. (Though I am running Resolve Studio 17b3 currently.)

Sorry to read in this thread that Fusion has been somewhat neglected compared to Resolve, but I have enjoyed the experiments I've tried in Fusion and could definitely see some times when I'd want to only use Fusion and not Resolve for a particular task. It seems like Fusion has quite a few quality-of-life kind of things that Resolve's Fusion lacks, and if nothing else it also includes Primatte and nicer network rendering (I think).

[Peter Chamberlain]

Agree.

All I had to do on both my Desktop and Laptop was install Fusion Studio 17. It saw the Resolve Activation on both machines and used that. It never asked me for an Activation Key.[/quote]

Awesome! But what if I decided to format my pc or switch to another device? Can I just paste the code again or log in to my BMD account or what? If there are any limitations I would love to know about them before purchasing the Resolve activation key for Fusion studio.[/quote]

The DaVinci Resolve activation key also supports Fusion Studio 17, u get two concurrent seats just like before, and u can de-activate and re-activate as much as u like. No reduction to Fusion Studio feature set compared to single seat fusion dongle. No render node limit nor fee.

The DaVinci Resolve activation key also supports Fusion Studio 17, u get two concurrent seats just like before, and u can de-activate and re-activate as much as u like. No reduction to Fusion Studio feature set compared to single seat fusion dongle. No render node limit nor fee.

It's good to hear this from a real BMD employee. It makes me much less confused and clears a lot of things for me. I can't wait to get my hands on the license then. I'll get one as soon as I can!

If I am being honest I am confused about the way to get the license because I am used to just go to the software's website and buy the license there. I have no idea why I have to go to a reseller to buy an activation key. It seems a little bit confusing in my opinion but I would definitely do what I can to figure it out and get one as soon as I can. Fusion studio and resolve are by far my favorite programs in general not just when it comes to video editing. But I would love to know the reason behind making the software only available from resellers and not just from the official website. Thanks!

Ok, so if i get all this right, by getting a Resolve Studio 17 dongle/License I will be able to activate and use Fusion Studio 17? I asking this because I tried to find a Fusion dongle and could not find any anywhere except eBay, and the eBay ones are very sketchy...

That's correct.