Activate, re-issue and move your NeoDCP Player license

Activate your license

Activation is a file exchange by email: you create a license request in the player, send it to us and load the license file you receive. The player PC needs no internet connection. Copy the request file to any computer with email, for example on a USB stick, and bring the license file back the same way.

The license is issued for the PC on which you create the license request. For a 1-year license (Starter, Studio or Cinema), please create the request on the computer you plan to use for the whole year: once the license key is issued, the license stays with that computer.

1. Install the current NeoDCP Player on the PC that will use the license. The installer on the download page is the same one used for the trial, so if the 14-day trial is installed, you add the license to it. License requests are accepted only from the current version: check for a newer one under Menu › Help › Check for Updates….
2. Open Menu › Licensing › Request License/Certificate… and fill in the form: the license owner’s name and company, and your shop order number from the order confirmation email (not the invoice number).
3. Click Save to File and save the license request file, a small text file whose name starts with request-.
4. Email the request file to [email protected]. Send one request file per license: for several licenses, create a request on each PC that will use one.
5. Your license arrives by email, generally within 48 hours and in most cases in less than 4 hours after both your payment and your license request file have arrived. With a bank transfer, the license is issued once the payment has arrived.
6. Open Menu › Licensing › Enter License Key… (Ctrl+K), load the license file (.lic) from the email with Load from File… or by dragging it into the window, and restart the player.
7. Check the license under Menu › Licensing › License Information (Ctrl+L). It shows the license type, the expiry date and the functions your license includes.

What the license email contains

The license email contains the license file (.lic) that you load in step 6. With Cinema and Cinema PT, it also contains the player certificate (.cert.sha256.pem) and its certificate chain (.chain.sha256.pem), which content providers need to issue KDMs for your player. Some distributors also ask for the player’s make, model and serial number; you find them in the license email too. How to use the certificate: Encrypted DCPs and KDMs on a Windows PC.

Keep the license email. If you have received several license emails, always use the files and details from the newest one.

Messages you may see

The player is still in trial mode after you loaded the license

The license takes effect after a restart, so close the player, start it again and open License Information (Ctrl+L). If it still shows the trial, load the license file from your newest license email, on the PC on which you created the request. If that doesn’t help, email [email protected] with a screenshot of the License Information window.

The current license has expired on (date)

The license in the player has reached the end date that License Information (Ctrl+L) shows. The 14-day trial ends after 14 days, and a 1-year license runs for 12 months from activation (how renewal works). To keep playing after the trial, choose a license on Licenses and prices. For a 1-year license, write to [email protected] with your shop order number.

The current license does not allow DCP hash verification

Messages that begin with “The current license does not allow” name a function that your license doesn’t include. License Information (Ctrl+L) lists what it includes, and Licenses and prices compares the licenses. Within 4 weeks of activating your license, you can upgrade to a higher license for the price difference: write to [email protected] with your order number.

No license email after 48 hours

The license is issued once both your payment and your license request file have arrived; with a bank transfer, once the payment has arrived. Check your spam folder, then email [email protected] with your shop order number.

Messages when you update from version 5.12 or earlier

If NeoDCP Player 5.12 or earlier is installed, write to [email protected] before you update, and also if the installer says “The installer cannot continue if the player or another installer is already running!” or the player says “Player initialization failed!”. We prepare the PC for the current version in a short remote session (AnyDesk), free of charge. Then you request new license files.

After a Windows reinstall

A Windows reinstall on the same PC invalidates the previous license key. The license key and certificate are re-issued free of charge. The same applies if a Windows System Restore or a Windows upgrade invalidates the license key.

1. Install the current NeoDCP Player.
2. Create a new license request (Menu › Licensing › Request License/Certificate…), select Reinstalled on the same PC in the form and save the request file.
3. Email the request file to [email protected].
4. Load the new license file and restart the player.
5. With Cinema and Cinema PT, send the new certificate chain to your content providers, because the next KDMs must be issued for it (When the certificate changes).

An in-place Windows upgrade, for example from Windows 10 to 11, usually keeps your license. If the player asks for a license afterwards, send a new license request: the license is re-issued free of charge.

Playing encrypted DCPs? Reinstall Windows well before a screening, so that there is time to get new KDMs for the new certificate.

After a hardware change

If you replace a small part of a licensed PC and its main components, including their serial numbers, stay the same, send a new license request: the license is re-issued free of charge.

If main components are replaced, the PC counts as a new computer. Studio PT and Cinema PT licenses can be moved to it with the transfer procedure (Move your license to a new PC); for a 1-year license, write to [email protected] before you replace the PC.

Don’t wait until the PC fails: at the first signs of hardware trouble, write to [email protected]. The same answer is in the FAQ: Can I upgrade or replace hardware in a licensed PC?

Move your license to a new PC

Studio PT and Cinema PT licenses can be moved to a new PC:

1. Install the current NeoDCP Player on the new PC. Create a license request file on the old and on the new PC (Menu › Licensing › Request License/Certificate…).
2. Email the license request data from both PCs to [email protected].
3. You receive a deactivation key. Enter it on the old PC, restart the player, and send back the yellow Confirmation Code shown in the License Information window (Ctrl+L). You can copy the code with a right-click.
4. Your license for the new PC is issued. Load it on the new PC and restart the player.

A transfer normally takes up to 3 days once we have everything we need: both request files and the Confirmation Code. You don’t have to move the license in one go: you can deactivate it on the old PC now and activate it on the new PC later with a new license request.

If the old PC no longer starts, write to [email protected] before you replace it. For a license with an older name, write to [email protected] as well.

1-year licenses

The 1-year licenses (Starter, Studio and Cinema) are issued for the PC on which you create the license request, so please create the request on the computer you plan to use for the whole year. Once the license key is issued, the license stays with that computer and can’t be moved to another one. If you may need to change computers, Studio PT and Cinema PT can be moved to a new PC.

When the certificate changes

Cinema and Cinema PT licenses include a player certificate, which content providers need to issue KDMs. Each installation has its own, valid for 10 years. KDMs issued for an earlier certificate don’t ingest: the player shows “Ingest skipped due to dnQualifier mismatch.”

The certificate stays the same:

• when you update NeoDCP Player to a newer version;
• after an in-place Windows upgrade that keeps the license.

The player gets a new certificate:

• when the license is re-issued, for example after a Windows reinstall or a hardware change;
• when you move Cinema PT to a new PC;
• when you update from version 5.12 or earlier and receive new license files.

After a change, send the certificate chain file (.chain.sha256.pem) from your newest license email to your content providers, and ask for new KDMs for the coming screenings. More about certificates and KDMs: Encrypted DCPs and KDMs on a Windows PC.

Next steps

Starter, Studio and Cinema are 1-year licenses for one PC. Studio PT and Cinema PT are one-time purchases that can be moved to a new PC.

More step-by-step help is in the NeoDCP Player guides, for example Set up a Windows PC for DCP screenings. The FAQ answers common questions about licenses.