SketchUp Licensing

This section describes the licensing procedure for the Standalone Maxwell for SketchUp plugin (SA). If you are using Maxwell Render Suite (RS), no special steps are required, as the plugin will automatically detect your Maxwell Render Suite license (for instructions on licensing Maxwell Render Suite, please see here).

Licensing Procedure

The Standalone plugin (SA) operates in one of two modes:


LicenseDraft ModeProduction ModeMaximum Resolution
Unlicensed
800 x 800 pixels
Licensed
1920 x 1080 pixels


When initially installed, the Standalone plugin runs in Unlicensed mode. After purchase of a license, an email will be sent, which contains a license key. To activate the license on your machine, follow these steps:


1. Start the License Activator

In SketchUp's main menu, go to Plugins > Maxwell and click License Activator:


The License Activator item only appears when the plugin has not already been licensed.

On Windows, the License Activator needs to run as administrator, and as such, cannot be started from this menu item, if SketchUp is not running as administrator. To temporarily run SketchUp as administrator, right-click its icon, and choose Run as administrator.


2. Choose your license type

Here, you should choose Maxwell for SketchUp, then click Next:

3. Choose the activation method

4. Enter your information

Enter your email address, password, and license key, then click the Activate button:

5.a Success

If license validation is successful, you should see a window similar to this:

Checking the plugin's About box, you should see that the license type is now reported as Standalone:

If the Maxwell Fire window was open during this process, it may be necessary to close and re-open it afterward.

5.b Failure

In the event of activation failure, you should see a window similar to this:

If you are unable to rectify the error, please see the Troubleshooting section below. 

Manual License Installation

When installing a license file manually (as opposed to using the License Activator as described above), it is necessary to know that the name of the file should be maxwell_maxwell_sketchup.lic, and that it should be placed in the regular directory for Maxwell licenses:

  • Windows: C:\ProgramData\Next Limit\Maxwell\licenses\maxwell_maxwell_sketchup.lic
  • Mac OSX: /Users/Home/Maxwell/maxwell_maxwell_sketchup.lic

Release License Function

Near the bottom of the plugin's menu, you will find the Release License function, the purpose of which is to allow for using SketchUp without tying up a Maxwell license, and without requiring that the plugin be disabled, and SketchUp restarted. It is not necessary to manually check out a license, because the plugin will automatically attempt to do so, if and when you perform an action that requires a license.

Troubleshooting

Firstly, please see the main Node Locked licensing documentation, here. If that does not help, or for issues reported by the License Activator itself, please contact Next Limit Tech Support, through your portal account, including the exact text of the error, along with information about the machine and operating system you are using.

If, on the other hand, the License Activator appears to work fine, but the plugin is unable to obtain the license when it is started, open Explorer or Finder and locate this file:

  • Windows: C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Maxwell\SketchUp\logs\licensing.log
  • Mac OSX: ~/Maxwell/SketchUp/logs/licensing.log

This is a text file, viewable in notepad, TextEdit, or any other text editor, which is written to by the plugin as it attempts to obtain a license. If a licensing failure should occur, the information in this file may help point to a possible cause. If this does not help you to diagnose the issue yourself, please contact Next Limit Tech Support, through your portal account, and send them the log file, along with a description of the situation, including information about the machine and operating system you are using.

Manual license activation

If your computer does not have an internet connection, or the license activator cannot connect to our servers for some reason, you may also manually activate your license through the Customer Portal. Please log in to the Customer Portal and under the "Licenses" section of links, click "View licenses". You will then see a "License manual activation" section with detailed explanations depending on which version of the Sketchup plugin you are using ( V1/V2 or V3).