Cannot get Free Trial to open on Macbook Pro Mavericks

[Anonymous]

Went to NAB.  Was convinced by Autodesk rep to try Smoke to possibly replace all of our current systems with it.  Downloaded free trial.  It installs but won't open.  Support does not allow me to actually contact customer service probably because it's a free trial however in case Autodesk is reading this, that low level of service doesn't bode well for my company switching to Smoke.  If anyone knows a way to get it to work, I'm all ears for the next day or so.  Otherwise looking into other brands of software.  So far, very disappointed that it won't even let me open it OR contact customer service about it.

[Robert.Adam]

Hi Howard.

Do you get any error message?

Does Smoke quit or freeze?

Have you tried restarting your computer?

Even though you are a trial user, you ARE entitled to contact our support team for issues related to installing, licensing and starting the software.

Please give us a call at 1-800-92-LOGIC

Regards,

Robert.

[Anonymous]

No error messages.  It doesn't quit, freeze or anything.  The Icon pops up in my dock and otherwise there is no other indication that Smoke is open.  Only way to find out that it actually is even open is that it appears in the force quit window as an option.

If trial users are able to contact support, then please fix the system because once I selected trial as the version I was using, it said the only support option available to me was the forum.

[Robert.Adam]

Hi again Howard,

If you leave it alone long enough, does it eventually open?

I've seen this occur sometimes when you run Smoke for the first time: the OS checks the application for a few long minutes where it seems like nothing is happening. Afterwards you get a pop-up from Mac OS asking you if you're sure you want to run the application. Once you confirm, Smoke opens fine afterwards.

Regards,

Robert.

[Anonymous]

Ha.  No.  Even if that were the case, by business cannot just sit and wait in the hopes that it might eventually work.  What business could do that?   I have spoken to support and they said that for no real reason, the trial actualy is a version that is not Mavericks compatible.  After having awful experiences with Autodesk Combustion For Mac in the past, I vowed never to use an Autodesk compositing solution again but the booth at NAB made it look good so I thought I'd give smoke a try for my business but with the lack of support (they only found out that the trial version isn't compatible with Mavericks - the OS that's been out for 6 months - after several back and forths.)  I give up.  My company will not be using Smoke so thank you anyone who replied but this thread is over.

[Robert.Adam]

Hi again Howard.

I apologize for the conflicting information you have received.

The trial DOES run on Mavericks. (see attached screenshot, I just double checked it on my Mac).

When starting Smoke did you ever get to the below window, or did it not even make it to that?

Would you have time tomorrow for a TeamViewer session?

I could log into your Mac and try to figure out what's going on.

Best regards,

Robert.

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  No.  Never got that window.  I have already done a teamviewer session with a tech who then after looking into the trial version number I was using (the only one that seems to be available for direct download) followed up via email and said

"That makes sense then, 2013. 2. 53 is the build number of that version, and that won’t launch properly. The one that is compatible with MacOS 10.9.x is build 2013. 2. 54 (2013 Ext1 SP1). I’ll have to try and get the trial version links for that since those were only available through the NAB promotion for early access.

The trial links for the new SP1 haven’t went public, so I don’t have direct access to those links. I’ll contact our Beta team if I can get you a valid trial link so you’ll be able to try out the product."

That was the last email I recieved on the subject.  I do not want to set up a teamviewer session.  Based on all of this my company will not be using Smoke and are actively looking at other options.  I unfortunately do not have the luxury of telling a client that we can't finish their job because tech support can't agree on the facts.  I had spent some time going through your surprisingly well put together tutorial site but I cannot dedicate anymore time to this for a product that simply doesn't work and doesn't seem to have a tech support department that can deliver support in a quick and accurate way.

When I test a trial of a product, I'm not only testing the actual product but also how their tech suport responds to any issues that arise and unfortunately I have not had what I would consider a good experience with Autodesk and Smoke in these areas.

Sorry.

[Robert.Adam]

Hi Howard.

Again, my apologies for the experience you've had. I know I'm biased when I say this, but I can assure you that my colleagues are top notch. What happened here unfortunately was a bit of a mixup.

While it's true that the licensed version of Smoke 2013 Ext1 (build 2013.2.53) won't even start on Mavericks because it can't activate its license, this does not affect the trial, as there's no license to activate. Both the trial and the full version shared the same build number and I assume that's where my colleague got a bit confused. I will definitely make sure to clarify this issue with the team, to prevent such confusion in the future.

I'm sorry to hear you have decided to not try Smoke anymore. I am sure we could have sorted out this technical issue rather quickly and I can assure you that the issue you have run into is an exception, not the rule. I've only got a few reports of similar issues over the years.

We have announced the new Smoke 2015 at NAB and there will likely be a trial of that available in the near future. It greatly improves upon previous versions, packs some awesome new features and it fully supports Mavericks. I'll post a reply here when the new trial is available and I hope that you will consider giving it a try.

Please feel free to contact me directly over private message or e-mail (robert dot adam at autodesk dot com) if you have any questions, or if you decide to give Smoke another go and need help getting it up and running.

All the best,

Robert.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

It never did get resolved. Someone from autodesk called my office today while I was in a meeting, said they couldn't leave a number because they were in a call center but would call back within an hour. Never did.

[Robert.Adam]

Hi Howard.

I just wanted to let you know that we have released the trial version of the new Smoke 2015.

I recommend downloading it from http://www.autodesk.com/products/smoke/free-trial and giving it a try! 🙂

Regards,

Robert.

[jblatenite]

I am experiencing the same issue in Mavericks after installing trial for Smoke 2015. The AotoCad 2015 icon never appeared on my desktop &

the app doen't open. This isn't good for your biz! Help