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CS5 Color Finesse Serial Number caution

New Here ,
May 03, 2010 May 03, 2010

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Adobe supplied me with the wrong serial number for Color Finesse 3 in CS5.

I started a case with Tech Support but after exchanging emails this weekend then an hour and a half phone conversation with 2 reps today, they were unable to assist me. In fact neither representative knew what Color Finesse is.

I contacted Synthetic Aperture via their web forum and they said I'd been given a PC serial number that won't work on a Mac.

At noon today the Adobe tech said they'd call back within 2 hours with a solution, its now been 5 hours and no call. I'm not impressed.

In case anyone else has this problem the PC serial numbers begin with CFLEP and the Mac ones CFLEM. I tried changing the letter prefix and it seemed to work, however while it got me through the Synthetic Aperture registration process, I now have the dreaded pink grid on layers that have CF applied, indicating it is unregistered... Synthetic Aperture says I have to reinstall After Effects again. Oh joy ;/

CF Trial.png

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Engaged , May 03, 2010 May 03, 2010

You'll need to also delete the Color Finesse prefs.

That's the file "~/Library/Preferences/Color Finesse 3 UI Preferences.plist". Just drag it to the trash, restart AE and apply Color Finesse to a layer and you'll be prompted for the serial number.

I just tested the whole process out here using the CS5 DVDs and it works fine. Sorry for forgetting that step.

Bob Currier

Synthetic Aperture

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New Here ,
May 03, 2010 May 03, 2010

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I uninstalled and re-intstalled.

I guess the CF registration info is installed outside the Adobe Preferences, I deleted the Adobe Prefs and did an Adobe Uninstall checking the delete preferences option as well. No joy.

What next?? There's no option to enter a valid registration once I get the correct SN.

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Engaged ,
May 03, 2010 May 03, 2010

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You'll need to also delete the Color Finesse prefs.

That's the file "~/Library/Preferences/Color Finesse 3 UI Preferences.plist". Just drag it to the trash, restart AE and apply Color Finesse to a layer and you'll be prompted for the serial number.

I just tested the whole process out here using the CS5 DVDs and it works fine. Sorry for forgetting that step.

Bob Currier

Synthetic Aperture

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New Here ,
May 03, 2010 May 03, 2010

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Bob;

Many many thanks. It works.

Still waiting for a real SN though...

Synthetic Aperture has terrific tech support.

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Adobe Employee ,
May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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mograph_bc:

I am sorry to hear about this.

If you purchased direct from Adobe, please send me a PM with your order number. If you do not have it, please send me a PM with the e-mail address you used when you purchased and I will look it up that way.

I will make sure you get a serial number that will work for you.

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New Here ,
May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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I'm reluctant to provide either my email address or purchase order number on a public forum.  Who are you MrKlub?

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New Here ,
May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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BTW, Its now been several days since I contacted Tech support, and the case is still not resolved. Adobe's tech support is awful. I've been an Adobe customer since Illustrator 88, never seen it this bad.

Though I've rarely needed their help, when I finally do I learn they are appallingly inept.

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May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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> Adobe's tech support is awful.

I hope that you'll reconsider that judgment in light of the fact that there are multiple Adobe employees helping out on this thread.

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New Here ,
May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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I'm happy to report that a few moments ago I received an email containing the appropriate serial number. Tested and it works.

I do appreciate all the employees that have helped.

What was particularly frustrating in this case was the phone call to Tech support – a route suggested by an email from Adobe – that was lengthy and pointless. I was repeatedly asked for my serial number and case number. Surely once you have these it should be a simple matter to locate the required information in an online database. When I explained the problem with the Color Finesse serial number they seemed to have no idea what I was referring to.

I was told by the tech support person that they needed time to resolve the issue and he would call me back or contact me with in a few hours. He took my phone number and email address (again... sigh).

Had he told me to wait several days instead of hours I could have accepted that, a commitment was made and not delivered on. That is poor service.

In contrast, Synthetic Aperture, a smaller company with far fewer resources, responded in minutes to each email.

I'm very grateful to Aldolfo, Todd and all the other Adobe employees who support this and other forums. I don't intend to malign them in anyway, they are real assets to Adobe and the user community, providing helpful support with a plethora of issues.

However basic customer service and support doesn't meet the standard.

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Adobe Employee ,
May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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mograph_bc-

My name is Carey. I'm part of Adobe's tech support team. (As a side note, I recently reset my account here to test an issue, and as part of this had picked the name MrKlub, but I have now changed my screen name back.)

Just letting you know that I'm not phishing to get your information.

Also, I am sorry to hear that there was an obvious lack of information being passed through when you spoke to our support reps, and that we did not meet our commitment to you. The last person you spoke to actually contacted me to get you a proper serial number, which it sounds like you did get, but they failed to follow up with you as they should have. FYI, I will be speaking to him tomorrow to ensure that he does not neglect his duties again.

Have fun using CF and AE!

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New Here ,
May 05, 2010 May 05, 2010

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Carey;

Thanks for your concern. I appreciate your assistance in this regard and I'm pleased the issue is resolved.

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Explorer ,
Oct 20, 2011 Oct 20, 2011

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i cant find Color Finesse 3 UI Preferences.plist in Lion. I have a same problem and it hasnt solved..

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Adobe Employee ,
Oct 20, 2011 Oct 20, 2011

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Hi, Samuel.

Apple decided to hide the user Library folder in Mac OS 10.7 Lion.

See this article for help in accessing this folder: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/909/cpsid_90947.html

Once you get your user Library open, go to the Preferences folder to find the Color Finesse 3 UI Preferences.plist file.

HTH!

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Explorer ,
Oct 20, 2011 Oct 20, 2011

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Hi, Carey.

I have moved to trash the Color Finesse 3 UI Preferences.plist. And i restart AE and it has no change. The Color Finesse didn't ask me for enter the serial..

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Engaged ,
Oct 21, 2011 Oct 21, 2011

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Did you by any chance run any of the installers from our web site? They disable the plug-in which comes with After Effects and that might be why you're seeing demo mode.

If you apply Color Finesse and click the "About" button in the Effects Control Window, does it show that you are running "Color Finesse 3 LE" or "Color Finesse 3"?

Bob Currier

Synthetic Aperture

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Explorer ,
Oct 21, 2011 Oct 21, 2011

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I dont think so. i just upgraded my AE to 10.0.2.4.

When i click "About" button it shows like this

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/csfi3u742zgcootx016h.png

and when I click the "Option" button, it shows like this

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/y2csdm5pmbs8znq3ieo.png

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Oct 22, 2011 Oct 22, 2011

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Samuel,

Please state exactly what problem you're having. If understand correctly, the only "problem" that you're having is that Color Finesse isn't asking for your serial number. You are using a verison of After Effects for which Color Finesse doesn't require a separate serial number.

So, unless I misunderstand you, there is no real problem to be solved here.

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Explorer ,
Oct 22, 2011 Oct 22, 2011

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Hey Todd.. We meet again

Yes my problem same as you mentioned it. so, So, if my AE Color Finesse doesnt require a separate serial number, where I can find my serial number? What the solution?

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Oct 22, 2011 Oct 22, 2011

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Samuel,

There is no problem. You do not need a separate serial number. That requirement has been removed.

Unless you are unable to use Color Finesse, there is no problem to solve here.

Are you able to use Color Finesse?

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Explorer ,
Oct 22, 2011 Oct 22, 2011

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Im able to use the Color Finesse but when I apply it to my footage, there's a pink grid and it says that my Color Finesse is a demo version..

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Engaged ,
Oct 22, 2011 Oct 22, 2011

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LATEST

The best approach is to eliminate any copies of Color Finesse that might have been installed on your system, then download the latest installer from our website. Run the installer and you'll be up and running.

On the Mac, possible places Color Finesse might have been installed to are:

/Applications/Adobe After Effects CS5/Plug-ins

/Applications/Adobe After Effects CS5/Plug-ins/Effects

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/Plug-ins/CS5/MediaCore

Delete any "Synthetic Aperture" folders you find in any of those locations. That will make sure that you don't end up with duplicate copies installed.

Now download the Color Finesse "LE" installer from our website and run it. Be sure to download the "LE" version. And when you run the installer, be sure to choose the After Effects CS5 Plug-ins folder as the install location; the installer won't automatically install the plug-in in the correct location since it supports many versions of After Effects.

Bob Currier

Synthetic Aperture

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Contributor ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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Hi, I have the same problem (entered the wrong serial, getting the grid, and would like to reenter the correct one). Only I am on a PC. The path as stated above (~\library ...) does not exist here. And I could not locate a .plist file with Color Finesse UI Prefs anywhere on my system.

How can I solve that problem? Does such a file exist on the PC version? Where is it and what is its name?

Kind regards,

Andreas

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Adobe Employee ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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andi_urra -

The equivalent on the PC is stored in the registry in the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synthetic Aperture\Color Finesse 3

If you're not familiar, you can go to Start (or Start > Run on Windows XP), type regedit, and press Enter to open the registry.

If you delete the Color Finesse 3 key, then start After Effects and apply CF, you will again be prompted to enter your serial number.

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Contributor ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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Hi Carey, hi Bob,

thank you VERY MUCH! That solved the problem.

One remark for everybody who runs into the same problem:

1. I actually had the issue with Color Finesse 2 (I use both CS4 and CS5). This results in two groups in the Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synthetic Aperture\Color Finesse 2

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synthetic Aperture\Color Finesse 3

However, Carey's instructions apply to both versions identically.

2. As he stated, you have to really delete the whole key, i.e. group, for the concerning Color Finesse version. I first tried to manipulate only the entry for the Serial (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synthetic Aperture\Color Finesse 2\Plug-in\Settings\Registered Serial Number) by reentering my serial there. That did not help. I then deleted it. But even deleting all three entrys starting with "Registered" did not bring up the serial dialogue in AE. Only deleting the complete "Color Finesse 2" key helped.

Thanks again and best wishes,

Andreas

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Engaged ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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We have a Knowledge Base article covering this issue with step-by-step instructions for both Windows and Mac at:

Reserializing Color Finesse 3 LE as Installed by After Effects CS5

Bob Currier

Synthetic Aperture

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