Skip to content

Desktop license and demo

This page covers the desktop version, on macOS and on Windows. For iPhone and iPad, see free tier and unlock.

Demo behavior

Without a license, the desktop plug-ins and standalone app run in demo mode:

  • Every mode and every control works.
  • After every 60 seconds of audio, the output goes silent for 1 second. The silence is short fades down and up with 960 ms of true silence between them. It mutes the dry signal and the effect together.
  • The 60 seconds are counted in audio actually processed, not by the clock, and they keep counting whether or not your host transport is rolling. Each copy of Bent Spool has its own count. Playing, stopping and changing sample rate do not restart it.
  • A banner along the bottom of the face and back panel reads DEMO · CLICK TO ACTIVATE OR BUY BENT SPOOL. It stays there for as long as the copy is unlicensed.
  • The Save preset... menu item is not shown. See Presets.

Activate

  1. Click the demo banner. A window opens with the title Bent Spool. Until you activate, it reads Demo: a brief silence after each minute of audio. Activate once to remove the interruption.
  2. Click the key field, which reads Click to paste your license key, and paste your key.
  3. Click ACTIVATE. The status line reads Activating..., then Activated on this computer. The window text changes to Licensed. Thank you for making mischief.
  4. Click CLOSE.

If you click ACTIVATE with an empty field, the status line reads Please enter your license key.

Activation needs an internet connection once. The same window has BUY A LICENSE, which opens plasticfactory.com/pricing, and IMPORT OFFLINE LICENSE, which opens a file picker for a .pflicense file. A successful import reads Offline license activated.

An activation covers the computer, not the format. The window footer reads 3 computers · AU / VST3 / AAX / standalone: one license can be active on three computers, and on each of them every installed format shares the activation: AU, VST3, AAX and the standalone app on a Mac, VST3 and the standalone app on Windows.

Copies of Bent Spool that were already open when you activated keep running in demo mode. Reopen them, or open a new one, and they start licensed.

When the license is active the banner is gone. A small LICENSE button sits at the bottom of the back panel. It opens the same window.

One license, Mac and Windows

The same license key works on macOS and on Windows. Use the key from your purchase email in either. Activations are counted together, so a license has three in total, however you split them between Macs and Windows PCs. On Windows, enter the whole key. Version 1.0.1 accepts keys up to 128 characters in the key field.

If activation fails

The status line shows the license server's own message. If Bent Spool can't reach the server it says so and adds that your key was not used. Check your firewall or VPN, or activate once in the standalone app. If your three computers are used up, or you need to move the license, see Support. There is no deactivate button in the plug-in.

Staying licensed

The plug-in checks with the license server every 30 days. It does this when you open a copy of Bent Spool, and at most once an hour after that. If the server can't be reached, your existing activation stays valid and the plug-in keeps working. If the server replies that the license has expired or been suspended, the plug-in goes back to demo mode.

The license is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/Plastic Factory/Bent Spool/license.json on macOS and in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plastic Factory\Bent Spool\license.json on Windows. It is not part of your host project or presets.

Not covered here

The price and terms of the desktop license are on plasticfactory.com, not in the plug-in.