Can't open Cinema 4d lite because of "Maxon License Manager" in AE v 17

[davidx1]

Just started working with AfterEffects & interested in working in C4D Lite. When I open a Cinema 4D file, or use FILE > NEW > MAXON CINEMA 4D FILE, the Cinema 4d Launcher window appears. After a moment, a popup from Maxon requires me to register an account on their website. I made sure that I registered on their website with the same login as my Adobe CC account. However, no c4d files can be opened, it asks me to activate a Cinema 4D trial instead of reflecting some kind of Lite license. 

I'm not finding much information online about this license manager at all. In all the tutorials that I see, there is absolutely no mention of this License registration or MAXON account requirement - they all seem to just open straight into the 3d editor. 

Is Cinema 4D Lite no longer included with After Effects in v17? 

EDIT: I restarted the app again, and now when I open a Cinema 4D Lite app, this very confusing screen blocks me from doing anything:

[Brandon Loshe]

Stuck on the same thing. I wonder if this a Maxon issue instead of Adobe. I'm waiting to hear back from Maxon about why this is. In the meantime, we'll see if anyone else has an answer for this. I will share any information I that I can find, but I haven't been able to find any information online, either yet.

[sitit83749968]

Stuck with same problem

[Brandon Loshe]

Were you able to get it figured out?

[HarryHedgehog]

I'm stuck with the same issue- the 'server' box appears and is the only means of activating the license. No other options to log in with my Maxon account or anything, so I have to close. I also don't seem to have .prf files, and have no license files within my Maxon folder. Very fustrating... 

EDIT: I've followed what another user mentioned below and working- close AE and Maxon, head over to maxon.net and download the latest full offline installer. Install as default (so it replaces your current Maxon folder). When you relaunch you can now close the Server box, click the 'account' tab (assuming you have a Maxon account), and an option should appear to activate a 'Lite License'. Hope this helps. 

[NealyArmatureWorks]

This is the same problem I'm having and none of these workarounds have
fixed it because I can't find where you register for Lite on their site.

[HarryHedgehog]

You don't register for Lite specifically; just make a free Maxon account. When you've installed the new version open After Effects, go to New -> Maxon Cinema 4D file, and then when the Maxon window appears it should allow you to log in and show you the Lite license. 

[dianam33220617]

It works! Thank youuuu! Been stuck with this for a few hours...

[master_Diamond5E5D]

Ich habe so ein ähniches Problem, aber bei mir wird kein Lite angezeigt nur Trival. Was mache ich dann? Ich möchte unbedingt die Lite Version verwenden.

[Tatsiana2224641117kd]

Thank You, it works! but was not easy to find out the problem

[garym85960886]

Don't hold your breath while you're waiting for an answer.  I and a large number of others have been asking for Step-by-Step instructions for what needs to be done when running C4D LITE out of After Effects for the first time, getting it licensed correctly, then, when the "trial period" runs out, making sure the LITE version is activated.  FIt''s been 2 YEARS and NOTHING FROM MAXON - NOTHING FROM ADOBE to provide CLEAR, PRECISE, STEP-BY-STEP INFORMATION. 

[Brandon Loshe · Accepted solution]

Hey David,

I believe I have the solution for you. You don't have to do that "Setup License Server" part. This is from Maxon themselves:

"To fix this issue all you have to do is delete the C4D preferences to restore the defaults. Here's how to do that:

Open a Finder window and head to ~/Library/Preferences/MAXON via Finder's Go > Go to Folder command. Next, quit out of Cinema 4D from the Force Quit menu (this is a very important step as this process will not work if the application is running). Once you've done that you will need to select three items: The Cinema 4D folder, the "machines_rb_20.prf" and the "teamrender_rb_20.prf" (you need the last two even if you do not use Team Render as Cinema 4D still stores some preferences data in those files). Once you've selected those items, delete them and then launch Cinema 4D again. You should notice that the files you deleted are re-created when Cinema 4D launches, this is because if Cinema 4D cannot find these files on startup it creates them from scratch with the default settings (this is why you need to quit C4D before deleting them).

Once you do this it should present you with the standard Cinema 4D License Manager and give you the option to activate your Cinema 4D Lite license. Note that to use this you'll need to create a MyMaxon account as well, so just head to My.Maxon.net and create an account there at some point so that you can activate your Lite license via the account login."

For me personally, I didn't see those .prf files. But anyway, after I created an account at My.Maxon.net, I had an option to activate the Lite licence, which should show as unlimited. It all seems to work fine now. Hopefully the same works for you.

 

[Happy Motion]

How can I do the stepts in Windows?

[Brandon Loshe]

Personally, I'm not a Windows user and don't know much about Windows. But since I had a Maxon ticket already open on a similar issue, I went ahead and followed up with your question. Here is the answer from Maxon Tech Support:

On Windows the process is the same, but the filepath is different. You'd go to C:\Users\YourUsername\Appdata\Roaming instead (replace "YourUsername" with your username for the account in which you use Cinema 4D on Windows). You may have to click in the upper portion of the Explorer window and type this path in as some folders may be hidden; there should also be some guides online detailing how to unhide these folders.

[Happy Motion]

Thank you!

[LesterL]

For windows delete the file at the directory below to get it to return to the login screen. Then log in or create an account, and hit activate on the license section.

C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D R21_64C2B3BD\licensetype.prf

[pure2z]

It's great information. Thank you very much.

AfterEffectsからcinema4d lite を起動する際、あやまって「フルスペックバージョンを試すか？」をうっかりYESにしてしまうと、試用期間が過ぎて、cinema4Dが起動しなくなります。

その後、AFをアンインストールして、4D liteを起動しようとしても、Maxonのライセンス認証が出て、そこから進みません。

上記の様に設定ファイルを削除し、再起動することでliteの認証画面が表示されます。

その後、Maxsonにユーザー登録を済ませば、liteが無事起動します。

[jeddo7149510]

This solution does not work. Removing the preferences may get you back to the License Manager home screen but with no license it just fails validation and there is nowhere on the site that allows you to license the lite version.

[Brandon Loshe]

You may need to include some screenshots (blur any sensitive info) so I can see what you've tried so far. Just to make sure, jeddo7149519, are you registering and licensing the Lite version through My.Maxon.net on your web browser before trying to sign in through Cinema 4D? 

[NealyArmatureWorks]

When I went to register on Maxon 4d's site, they didn't have a place to
license lite? Or maybe I wasn't looking in the right place?

-Joy

[Brandon Loshe]

Did you create a free My.Maxon.net account? Or do you already have a free account?

[NealyArmatureWorks]

I created a free account

[jeddo7149510]

Yes I also signed up via the license manager but when I login (on the site or in the license manager) it just says failed, have no licenses... nowhere to register Lite. "Error: Login to Maxon account failed and no offline license found." Furthermore, I never had to register or license Lite to use it before.

[jeddo7149510]

For Mark or anyone else who comes along, I got Maxon on the phone (my support ticket with them was going nowhere fast) and they are aware. It is a bug with the version that Adobe has continued to ship out with After Effects. Assuming you received C4D Lite with AE, the solution is to download the offline installer from the Maxon site (the regular site, not my.maxon.net) and just install the newest version on top of the version Adobe installed, then I was able to activate the Lite license. Sounds like it's an issue with both Windows and Mac. As an added bonus, doing it this way now allows me to fire up C4D Lite without having to run AE in the background, which is great. Hope this helps.

[Brandon Loshe]

That's really cool that you don't need After Effects running to open C4D Lite. Thanks for looking into this further and sharing!