Need Ipix Program
Hi,
I use the Ipix program Interactive Studios, I have version 1.4 and I need to have another copy of the program for work. I know they have gone under and bought out buy Sony. My question is how do I get it so I can run this program on another machine. It obviously requires the USB dongle key to operate and you have to have the liscense's as well. Is there a way to buy it and if it's not for sale is there a way around it? It's very imperative to me that I get more copies of this program so any information anyone could send me would be greatly appreciated. Please send me a message or respond to this if you can offer any assistance.
Thank you all very much.
Bob
Re: Need Ipix Program
Bob
There are other work-arounds, like using another product to stitch the fisheyes into an QuickTime .mov or Equirectangular Projection tiff file on one computer and coverting them into the .ipx format with the machine that has the licensed IIS install.
The only problem I've had is nothing stitches 2 fisheyes quite as good as the iPIX software.
RealViz Stitcher Unlimited does a better and easier job using 3 fishyes than IIS
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: Need Ipix Program
But can you still purchase the actual physical dongle keys I see on the website there are some options to buy products with those keys and some options that are without. I need the full package and i suppose i dont really care if it has a physical key (without would be nicer). I notice on some it says "support for 10 photographers". I dont quiet understand that.
Re: Need Ipix Program
Bob
No, you can't buy the actual physical dongle keys. Its a "USB Key" by the way.
From what I know from extending my own IIS license online after the bankruptcy filing and reports from other iPIX photographers using the Real Estate Wizard they have no problem continuing to buy keys online, right now you can do anything on the iPIXStore.com website that doesn't require a human being, like mailing out a dongle would. You can order cameras, rotators & lenses online, but there's no one to pack the box, label it and put in in the mail.
I spoke to an iPIX user who had ordered a "Starter Kit" for his new camera online just days before the filing. He hadn't received it 3 weeks later, tried calling but the phones were all busied out. There was no one there. (He disputed the charge with his credit card company and since there was no one to respond, he won the dispute by default.) All the employess were let go July 31, 2006. Bankruptcy is ugly that way.
Until Minds Eye View re-launches the iPIX products & services, you should be able buy a second license online without human help, but you can't get the dongle.
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: Need Ipix Program
Whata re the advantages to the dongle? do i need it to run the program if i buy the new liscense from them? Is there a dongle free version? If there is a dongle free version, than what is the difference between the 2?
Re: Need Ipix Program
Bob
The dongle let you install the IIS on more than one computer (I'm not sure if there was a limit on how many), like a desktop and a laptop or a home computer and an office computer, but would be in "Demo" mode unless the dongle was plugged in. In Demo mode the program watermarks all the output like the Demo for RealViz Stitcher does
The benefit was a photographer could have 2 IIS installations, but only pay for the dongle setup instead of a second full license.
In my case I had a photographer working for me and we processed at the real estate office during business hours, but I could have also done work at home in the evenings without paying for a second Essentials license and a Format Pack license. I never did buy the dongle though.
I think it was about US$200 and you got a different license file downloaded from iPIX.
I haven't talked to anyone who has bought a new IIS license since the bankruptcy, but theoretically you'd just install the Demo, go to iPIXStore.com, buy the second license, register the new install and let the license file download. That's roughly what I did to extend my license another year to Sept 2008. Its been a while, I forget exactly how it worked.
Personally, I'd look at another stitching program so you have a backup and alterntive product to use. Considering what's happened to iPIX, it only makes good business sense to me.
My preference is IIS, but I've already purchased PTGui (its cheap but really good for 3 fisheye stitching) and will probably be buying RealViz Stitcher Unlimited 5.5 DS to do the stitching of images from the Canon XTi and Sigma 8mm lens I plan to buy.
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: Need Ipix Program
360 Tactical VR Ltd Resell IPIX Photographic Products!
360 Tactical VR Ltd specialists in supplying 360 Immersive Imaging Solutions, are pleased to announce an exclusive reseller agreement with Minds-Eye-View, Inc. (MEV), the pioneer in spherical photography.
http://www.360tacticalvr.co.uk/
Hope this helps...
Malcolm
www.360spin.co.uk
Re: Need Ipix Program
Bob
I checked, they have the dongle for sale.
Check with them about the technicalities of using it before buying.
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: Need Ipix Program
Malcolm.
Thank you for that great news, when i get to the office on Monday I will definatly do some follow up investigation to see if it helps.
I'll get back to you guys on the progress.
Thanks again!
Bob Snyder
Re: Need Ipix Program
Hi Bob,
As others in this thread have mentioned, IPIX products are once again available for purchase. I can sell you a dongle which will switch your current computer locked license to a portable license. You will then be able to operate on any machine you like, although you can only operate on one machine at a time. Visit my website for more information.
To clarify:
An IPIX license is hardware locked. This means in order to function, three things have to be available:
1. A copy of IPIX Interactive Studio has to be installed on the machine
2. A valid ACTIVATED license file (.lic) has to be installed on the machine
3. The hardware ID number of the machine has to match the hardware ID number stored in the license file
By using an IPIX Dongle you get portability because the license file is locked to the Dongle's hardware ID number, not a specific machine. Nothing is stored on the dongle as it's not a writeable drive, just a circuit board with a hardware ID stamped into it.
Using a Dongle, you can install a copy of IIS on as many machines as you like, PC or Mac or both. There is no limitiation. The only limitation is as the license file is locked to the Dongle, only one machine can be unlocked at any one time.
You seem slightly confused by licenses, keys and dongles. IPIX Interactive Studio uses an annual licensing policy. You purchase a license which has an expiry date of one year. During this year, you can produce as many IPIX images as you wish. At the end of the year, the software detects the license is out of date and reverts back to demo mode. This does not affect any images produced in the year which will continue to function ad infinitum. If you want to continue producing images for another year, you buy a license renewal. The Dongle allows the license to be portable instead of being locked to a single machine. IPIX Keys were not physical keys that plugged into a computer. They were single mini "use once" licenses for use with the earlier software called IPIX Builder. IPIX Builder used a different licensing model, based on a per-image (key) fee. The software was a free product and when you wanted to produce an IPIX image, you bought "keys" (read single use license) for as many images as you were going to make. With the release of Interactive Studio, IPIX switched to an annual licensing policy and it was their intention to remove the keys from the store completely but never did so, due to customers requests.
As for the 10 photographers, there are multi-photographer licensing options that allow you to have multiple photographers with different cameras supplying many images to one machine for processing. You can also get multi-network licenses that allow multiple copies of the software to run at the same time across a network. for example, you have 10 machines on a network and a 5 user license. This means that any 5 of the 10 machines can be running the software at one time.
Hope this explains things but visit my website or contact us for more details!
Andy Baddeley
360 Tactical VR Ltd - Immersive Imaging Solutions
www.360tacticalvr.co.uk
Re: Need Ipix Program
Andy
I also understood the reason iPIX stayed with the "key" model was they had made a version of the iPIX Real Estate Wizard for Homestore.com, now called Move.com (they run Realtor.com), called the HomeTour360 Real Estate Wizard which they sold for $35. It used special keys that "coded" the .ipx files to include hosting through PicturePath.com and distribution to Realtor.com at no additional cost. I used it for a few years
When PicturePath started hosting and distributing Realtor's images that could be viewed with the PTViewer and the iSeeMedia format, they got out of the software & key business. With little notice they dumped the software end back to iPIX, who released a new version of the iPIX Real Estate Wizard that used cheaper keys that didn't include hosting and distribution.
The HomeTour360 keys were $50 for 4 scenes with H&S (volume contracts could get the price down to $30 for 4 scenes) and the new iPIX REW keys are $20 for 5 scenes without H&S. They gave the new software (it was functionally the same) to the HomeTour360 users free. Through their PicturePath website, Homestore/Move.com charges $5 for hosting and $19.95 for distribution to Realtor.com which they bill me for. The price is the same regardless of the format or technology. I never found out what they charge if I just want to distribute to ColdwellBanker.com, Century21.com, ERA.com, REMAX.com and PrudentialRealEstate.com, but not Realtor.com
And like you said, there were some iPIX Builder users that didn't do enough volume to justify the iPIX Interactive Stuio annual license and wanted to keep using Builder and just buy the $25 keys as they needed them (they could buy in volume 100 keys for $1,000). I thought I remember the Builder software itself was only $195 or something low like that? So between getting the Real Estate Wizard dumped back in there lap and iPIX Builder users, they decided they had to keep the "key" system.
How would Bob and I switch from a regular single license to a "dongle" license, besides buying the dongle?
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: Need Ipix Program
If you've got an exsting license hardwired to your PC, we can sell you a hardware Dongle, then it's a simple matter of re-setting your license to the hardware ID of the dongle. Finally, we clear your existing license from your machine and you're good to go. The expiry date of the license will stay the same.
360 Tactical VR Ltd - Immersive Imaging Solutions
www.360tacticalvr.co.uk
Re: Need Ipix Program
Hi Bob,
Easypano Panoweaver works quite well in stitching 2 or 3 fisheye images. I don't know what camera and lens you are using now, but what I know is that Panoweaver supports 2 or 3 fisheye images taken by Nikon Coolpix camera and FC-E9/FC-E8 converters - equipments supported by Ipix.
I have been using this software for quite a few years and satisfied with the stitching result. Panoweaver 4.0 and 5.0 both work for 2 or 3 fisheyes, the price is $299.95 and $499.95 respectively. The stitching of Panoweaver is fast and accurate, you can visit www.easypano.com to download the full-featured trial version to have a try.
regards,
Lawrence
Re: Need Ipix Program
I still have over 100 keys, the original Wizard software for Mac and PC, and a Nikon Coolpix 990 with the lens, bracket, etc. I do not do that kind of work anymore and have just not made the time to post this for sale. If you're interested, I'll sell the whole bundle to you for $1000. Email crundell@artworxstudio.com.
Thanks.
Re: Need Ipix Program
Bob
For the short term the only way to get a working, non-Demo copy of iPIX Interactive Studio on another computer is buy another full license through the www.iPIXStore.com website which is still working.
In the longer term, Sony only bought the patents, and Minds Eye View bought the name, trademark, software, etc and plans to re-launch most of the the iPIX services and products
There's a press release on www.ipix.com/052107.pdf
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM