BFD3 Licensing RANT!!!

[James Steele]

I know it's not a "DP thing" per se, but indulge me...

<RANT>

I'd heard about this issue before and it bit me today. I posted on BFD3 forum and sent a support ticket. I know you have to run the BFD License Manager periodically to re-authorize BFD3. I think it stays authorized for 90 days before it needs to be reauthorized.

I'm also in the habit of using BFD License Manager to check for updates. So a few minutes ago I did just that and am greeted by this:

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Server was unable to process request. I don't even have the option to authorize. So all I succeeded in doing just now was disabling my own legitimate licensed copy of BFD3 until they can fix whatever the $%^& is going on with their server. Pardon me but that's just a big pile of steaming #$%^&*(!

According to the BFD forums this is not unusual. There are numerous compalints! I can tell you this... I'm just glad I bought this at a fire sale price. If I actually needed to get some work done in BFD3 today I would be absolutely LIVID!! I opened the standalone and not only did it not pass audio, but when I attempted to load a preset and make a sound, a dialog popped up telling me my (licensed) expansion pack wasn't licensed and it would be removed from the list of instruments and I could add it back later! What the #$%^&?!!! I'm not that good with BFD3, and rather than be given THAT task, I force quit BFD3 standalone.

Seriously... InMusic.... BFD3... you guys need to get your $%^YU together. Maybe I know better now not to check for updates until my 90 days times out. But if I was a for hire enterprise here, I would NOT rely on BFD3 for anything. I have Superior Drummer 3, EZ Drummer 3, Addictive Drums 2, and others. BFD's authorization scheme is ridiculous!

Geez... give me the iLok option... or disc authorization... but this phone home every 90 days is bullcrap. And what happens if they go out of business to BFD purchases if the company goes under and the server is missing. I'm definitely going to avoid using BFD3 in my projects. Can't imagine pulling up a project today and being dead in the water. I guess you could just switch out to a different drum VI if note mapping was same, but still... WTH????

</RANT>

[James Steele]

BTW... just now my mind wandered and I thought to myself: "What would I do if I had some sort of session and I absolutely needed BFD3 working?"

It occurred to me that it might be possible to restore from an APFS snapshot when my boot drive was in whatever state it was when BFD3 was authorized. I'm assuming BFD writes some sort of file (perhaps hidden) that okays use of BFD3 until it's time to reauthorize for another 90 days via their server.

My theory is that by launching BFD License Manager, I jacked up that authorization by attempting to prematurely restart the 90-day clock, even though I was simply checking for updates. So restoring to where I was before that might fix the issue. However, I've installed several updates to apps and plugs today after my last Time Machine backup, so I'm not inclined to have to do all of that again just to test this theory.

However... I know this much. It might be a good strategy to run a Time Machine backup and create a new APFS snapshot of one's boot drive just prior to running BFD License Manager. If BFD's servers are down and it hoses your authorization, restoring might get you back in business. It's still a theory.

[dix]

Sorry to hear all this James! I am a work-for-hire enterprise so this is useful info. I've heard stories of BFD authorization issues but have been lucky enough so far too never have experienced one.

BFD3 is my only dedicated drum kit app. It sounds dramatically better than any Kontakt or Falcon kits so I keep it around. However, the GUI and the app in general seems over designed, cumbersome and bloated to me (and then the authorization issues!). I'd be happy to bail on BFD3 if I thought one of the others sounded better. Why do you bother with BFD3, James? It sounds like you have a few drum plug-ins you could use. Is it better for certain styles? What would you recommend as the best replacement for BFD3? Thx!

[HCMarkus]

Before BFD was finally updated to a Native Apple Silicon app, I sprung for Super Drummer.

I like them both, and could use either as my only drum VI. My perception is BFD is a bit more brash and SD3 a little nicer mannered, but they are both great.

[James Steele]

...I sprung for Super Drummer.

Not familiar with Super Drummer. Is it faster than a speeding hihat? Hehehe... I know what you mean.

I like them both, and could use either as my only drum VI. My perception is BFD is a bit more brash and SD3 a little nicer mannered, but they are both great.

I hear you. I didn't feel like it was brash enough for me until I got their Crush expansion. Of course neither it nor BFD work right now. I'll have to try again and see if their server situation has improved.

I don't like ranting, but this authorization scheme of theirs is totally unacceptable in my book. I can't risk having their own License Manager deauthorizing legitimate software when their server is down. How about they rewrite their License Manager so it might intelligently detect when their server is having issues, and NOT de-authorize a legit, paying customer's software???

Maybe my time just happened to be up and I needed re-authorization anyway. But again... I think it's unacceptable. They go out of business one day and have server issues, kiss it goodbye. I can actually STILL RUN DrumCore 4 despite Sonoma Wireworks pushing up daisies in Rosetta because I have a license on my iLok dongle. Software that can randomly refuse to run and leave a legitimate license holder with no way to get it working is just a bad idea.

[James Steele]

Still broken... this is equine excrement.

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[mikehalloran]

Something to look forward to when I get home.

Before BFD was finally updated to a Native Apple Silicon app, I sprung for Super Drummer.

I like them both, and could use either as my only drum VI. My perception is BFD is a bit more brash and SD3 a little nicer mannered, but they are both great.

I did the same a year or so back.

[James Steele]

Something to look forward to when I get home.

Before BFD was finally updated to a Native Apple Silicon app, I sprung for Super Drummer.

I like them both, and could use either as my only drum VI. My perception is BFD is a bit more brash and SD3 a little nicer mannered, but they are both great.

I did the same a year or so back.

Yep... it's 11:10pm now and BFD License Manager is still telling me that my BFD and expansion are not authorized and no word from support yet.

[James Steele]

Finally heard back from BFD support. They reset my activations and told me to log out of BFD License Manager and then log back in. That worked. If you run into this, try the log out, log in thing. I vaguely remember might have had to do that before. Weird.

[redtapemusic]

I would strongly recommend ditching BFD as soon as possible to save your time and sanity.
I invested when it was just BFD, and moved to BFD2 and then 3.
It was a superb groundbreaking instrument under its original owners FXpansion with expansion kits being released every few months. Since inMusic took over there have been very few new kits, and minimal development The licensing system is a disaster and despite constant complaints from the user groups, there are no indication of getting any better. Only a very casual hobbyist user could tolerate the uncertainty of not knowing whether the app will open or not each time it's required.

BFD 3 is not well technically supported and not a tool for users making music professionally.
As an alternative I switched to Superior Drummer 3 a couple of years ago. It's a far better alternative, and includes BFD3 note mapping profiles, as well as the ability to make your own mapping profiles for any other drum app.
The pattern selection menu is interactive and the samples and dynamics far better. I am often asked "who was the drummer" on tracks Ive used SD3 on, something that rarely happened with BFD3.

S www.redtapemusic.net

[James Steele]

I would strongly recommend ditching BFD as soon as possible to save your time and sanity.

Thanks. Yeah... actually my main drum VI has been Superior Drummer going back to the very first version. I have Superior Drummer 3 and I didn't get BFD3 until it went on a fire sale a year or so ago for something like $49 at Plugin Boutique (I think that's where I got it). I haven't really delved much into and I'm sort of put off by this experience. I do wish I knew about logging out and logging back in. I think that may be a common fix when server strangeness happens.