Activate a license
You activate an ArenaDirector subscription on one computer, once per computer. You can do it in the License step of setup on first start, or later in Configuration → License.
To open Configuration → License, select Help → License in the menu bar, the Free plan · Upgrade… button in the top bar, or the license grace chip.
For what each plan includes, see Plans and limits.
Activate in setup
Setup opens on first start. Its License step shows Sign in to ArenaDirector and the plans.
- Select Sign in….
- Sign in in your browser.
- Return to ArenaDirector.
- In Choose a subscription, select one subscription.
- Select Activate and continue.
Once the activation completes, setup moves on to the next step.
If the browser did not open while the step shows Waiting for browser…, select Open browser again. To stop the sign-in, select Cancel.
If every subscription is active on another computer, the step shows No subscription is free for this machine. Select Open my account to release one, then select Try again. To use a different account, select Sign in with another account.
If the computer cannot reach the license server, the step shows No connection to the license server. Select Continue with Free, and activate your subscription in Configuration → License once the computer is back online. See Sign in.
To use the Free plan, select Continue with Free.
Sign in at startup
On a later start, if your license needs attention, the startup screen shows the license card.
- Select Sign in….
- Sign in in your browser.
- Return to ArenaDirector.
- If Choose a subscription appears, select one subscription.
- Select Activate and continue.
The card shows Signed in and your plan, and ArenaDirector carries on starting.
If the browser did not open while the card shows Waiting for browser…, select Open browser again. To stop the sign-in, select Cancel.
If every subscription is active on another computer, the card shows All of yours are active on other machines. Select Open my account to release one, then select Try again. To use a different account, select Sign in with another account.
If the offline period has ended and the computer cannot reach the license server, the card shows No connection to the license server. Connect the computer to the internet, then select Try again.
To start without a subscription, select Continue with Free. To cancel the start, select Quit.
Sign in
You sign in through your browser, not in the app.
- Start ArenaDirector.
- If the startup screen does not show the license card, open Configuration → License and select Sign in….
- In Sign in to ArenaDirector, select Sign in….
- Sign in in your browser.
- Return to ArenaDirector.
- If Choose a subscription appears, select one subscription.
- Select Activate.
On first start, you sign in during setup instead. See Activate in setup.
After step 3, ArenaDirector opens your browser and shows Waiting for browser… until you finish signing in. Choose a subscription appears when your account has a subscription to choose from. When the activation completes, the app carries on starting, and Configuration → License shows your plan.
If the browser did not open, select Open browser again. To stop a sign-in that is waiting for the browser, select Cancel. If the computer cannot reach the license server, the dialog shows No connection to the license server. Connect the computer to the internet, then select Try again.
Choose a subscription
The list has the columns Plan, Started · ID and Ends.
- If you have two subscriptions on the same plan, tell them apart by the start date and the last 4 characters of the ID.
- No end date means the subscription does not end on a set date.
- A dimmed row showing Ended and a date is an ended subscription, and you cannot select it.
- If you have exactly one subscription, the app selects it for you.
Select Activate. The button shows Activating… while the app works, and then the screen shows Subscription activated with the plan now active on this machine. Select Done.
If the activation fails, the screen shows an error. Select Try again to retry the same subscription.
If no subscription is available
If every subscription is active on another computer, the screen shows No subscription is free for this machine. To release one, select Open my account, which opens your account at arenadirector.com in your browser. Release a subscription there, return to ArenaDirector, and select Try again. To carry on without a subscription, select Use Free version, the main button on this screen.
Use the free version
In Sign in to ArenaDirector, select Use Free version or close the dialog. In the License step of setup or on the startup screen, select Continue with Free. You can also select Use Free version on the Choose a subscription screen. Any of these switches the app to the Free plan.
The free version does not expire. On Free and Audio, live canvas output shows a watermark in the center. When Club or a higher plan activates, the watermark disappears immediately, without a restart.
To compare the plans, open Configuration → License. On the Free plan, the Plan card shows the Free, Audio, Club and Pro plans. Select Upgrade to buy a plan.
Check the status
Open Configuration → License. The line below the License title shows the plan and its status:
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Club · renews 2027-03-01 | The license is verified. It renews on the date shown. |
| Club · offline, works until 2026-10-25 | The app could not connect to the licensing service recently. A grace period is in progress, and all features of your plan stay available until the date shown. |
| Free · not signed in | This computer has no active subscription. |
The Plan card shows the plan, Renews, and This machine with the name of this computer.
During a grace period, the Plan card also shows when the app last checked the license. You do not need to do anything: the app verifies the license automatically when the connection is back. To check straight away, select Check now. See Licensing and offline operation.
The About card shows the app's version and build number and has Release notes, Open-source notices… and Documentation, with the copyright and trademark notices below them.
Register a shared venue PC
A venue device is a shared computer at the venue, such as the PC in the control room. It uses a license of your organization without anyone signing in personally. Venue devices need the Pro plan or a custom contract, and each one uses one device activation of the license.
You need an administrator of your organization in the portal.
- On the venue PC, in Sign in to ArenaDirector, select Register as venue device. The same option is in the License step of setup and on the startup license card.
- The PC shows a pairing code, for example K7QM-4XPA, and Waiting for approval in the portal.
- In the portal, the administrator opens Venue devices, selects Add, enters the code, and picks the license and a name for the PC.
- On the PC, the code disappears and the license activates.
The code is valid for 10 minutes, and the time left shows next to Waiting for approval in the portal. When the code shows Code expired, select New code. To stop, select Cancel.
Once registered, the PC licenses itself on every start and nobody signs in on it. The administrator can move the PC to a different license of the organization in the portal, and the PC switches to the new license at its next license check.
Configuration → License shows Pro · venue device of and the name of your organization.
If the venue PC has no license
If the venue PC's license has ended, or its device was deactivated in the portal, the PC switches to the Free plan. Configuration → License shows Free · venue device of, the name of your organization and the reason. The PC stays registered and keeps retrying on its own, so it licenses itself again once the administrator gives it a valid license in the portal. To check straight away, select Check now.
If the PC was removed in the portal
When an administrator removes the PC in the portal, the PC switches to the Free plan at its next license check and shows This PC was removed from and the name of your organization. To use it as a venue device again, register it again with a new code.
Unregister a venue device
- Open Configuration → License.
- Select Unregister venue device….
- Select Unregister.
The PC frees its device activation and switches to the Free plan. To sign in with a personal account on this PC, unregister it first. If the PC cannot reach the license server, it shows Unregister anyway. That removes the registration from the PC, but its device activation stays in use until an administrator removes the PC in the portal.
Move a license to a different computer
- On the computer that has the license now, open Configuration → License.
- Select Sign out of this machine….
- Select Sign out.
- On the new computer, sign in.
After step 3, the computer releases its seat and switches to the Free plan, and the app keeps running.
Sign out before you travel, because a computer you left behind cannot release its activation.
If the sign-out fails
If ArenaDirector cannot free the seat, it shows an error with Sign out anyway. That signs the computer out, but its seat stays in use. To free the seat, connect the computer to the internet, sign in again on the same computer, and select Sign out of this machine… again. If that does not work, contact support.