ANR Tools
Help

Help and questions

Installing, the trial, licences, and the rest. Not answered here? Write to [email protected].

Installing

  1. From the download page, download Install ANR Tools.exe and ANR Tools 1.1.0.anrpack into the same folder.
  2. Close Nuke, then double-click Install ANR Tools.exe.
  3. Accept the licence agreement and choose a folder (C:\ANR Tools by default). The folder needs 16.9 GB free, and its path must be short (70 characters or fewer): Windows limits how long a file's path may be, and the installer checks it for you.
  4. Leave Show ANR Tools in Nuke for this Windows user on. Start Nuke: the tools are under Nodes > ANR.

The installer needs no administrator. It adds the install folder to Nuke's NUKE_PATH and OFX_PLUGIN_PATH for your Windows user, and changes nothing else.

"Windows protected your PC"

Windows shows this the first time you run a new program downloaded from the internet. Choose More info, then Run anyway.

"Another copy of ANR plugins is already given to Nuke"

The installer found ANR plugins Nuke already loads from somewhere else. Two copies of the same plugin confuse Nuke: remove the other copy, or untick the Nuke option and set Nuke up yourself.

"Nuke 16 may not start on this computer"

Another Python 3.11 (Anaconda, Miniconda or Spyder) registered its folders in the Windows registry, under Software\Python\PythonCore\3.11\PythonPath, and Nuke 16's own Python loads them instead of its own, so Nuke 16 does not start (Foundry article Q100716). This is not caused by ANR Tools, and the installer changes nothing there. To fix it, back up that registry key (regedit, File > Export) and delete it, or start Nuke 16 with the environment variable PYTHONHOME set to its install folder, such as C:\Program Files\Nuke16.0v1.

The trial

Every tool runs in full for 7 days from the first time you use an ANR node. Nothing to sign up for, no internet needed. After that, Nuke still opens your scripts, but the output of every ANR node carries a watermark (picture and alpha) and the nodes' buttons are off, until you activate a licence.

Trial output is for trying the tools, not for delivered or paid work.

Subscribing and activating

ANR Tools is a subscription, yearly or monthly: the full pack, a single pack (Trackers, Masking, Simulations, or Comp & Depth), or Studio. Every pack includes GPT Connection and Photoshop Link.

  1. Choose a plan in the pricing section. The checkout is Lemon Squeezy's; your licence key arrives by email with the receipt.
  2. In Nuke, add Nodes > ANR > Essential > ANR License, paste the key into Licence Key and press Activate. The licence for this computer comes from our licence service and is saved. That is all.

Activating a computer without internet: copy its Machine ID (Copy Machine ID on the same node), use the activation page from another computer, and pick the .lic file in Licence File. Lost the licence? Activate the same key on the same computer again: you get it again, without using another activation.

Renewal

The licence lasts until a week after your subscription's renewal date. In the days before it ends, the tools fetch the next one by themselves, in the background, the first time you use them each day. Renew Now on the ANR License node does it at once. Your shots and scripts never leave your computer: only the licence is asked for.

Cancelling

Cancel at any time in your Lemon Squeezy account (the link is in your receipt). The tools keep working to the end of the period you paid for; then their output is watermarked, as after the trial. Subscribe again at any time to carry on.

Without opening Nuke

ANRLicense.exe in the install folder's tools folder does the same from a command prompt:

  • ANRLicense.exe activate <licence key> activates this computer with the key from your email
  • ANRLicense.exe renew fetches the renewed licence now
  • ANRLicense.exe id shows this computer's Machine ID
  • ANRLicense.exe install <licence or .lic file> checks a licence and saves it
  • ANRLicense.exe status shows what is licensed on this computer

Moving to a new computer

A licence works on 1 computer: the one whose Machine ID it was made for. Reinstalling Windows also gives a computer a new Machine ID. To move your licence, write to [email protected] with your licence key and both Machine IDs.

Render farms and studios

The Studio plan is per artist: each artist's computer is activated with its own key, as above. It also gives one render licence for every render machine of the studio: on the activation page, enter a Studio key under "Studio: the render licence" and download it. A render licence works in Nuke rendering without its interface (command-line and farm renders), not in an artist's Nuke.

Put the .lic file in %PROGRAMDATA%\ANR\licenses on each render machine, beside the plugin folders of a shared install, or name it in the ANR_LICENSE environment variable. Render machines with internet renew it by themselves; otherwise download it again after each renewal. Five or more artists: write to [email protected].

SeedVR2 in the AI Upscaler

SeedVR2, the AI Upscaler's generative model, is 7.3 GB, so it is not in the download. The first time you choose SeedVR2 (local GPU) in the AI Upscaler, a window offers to download it once, from its authors' release (Apache 2.0 licence), into the install folder. Each file is checked against its published checksum. You can keep working in Nuke while it downloads, and a stopped download carries on where it stopped. The Real-ESRGAN models are included and need no download.

Research models

Some AI models are published by their authors for non-commercial research only. They are not part of ANR Tools, are not included and are not licensed by us. Options that would use them say "research only, not included". See research models.

Uninstalling

Close Nuke and double-click Uninstall ANR Tools.exe in the install folder. It deletes the folder and takes it out of Nuke. Your licence and your trial are kept: installing again carries on where you were.