Magic Music Visuals

Hi everyone, I've created this topic to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about Magic V2, especially the ones we get emailed often. I'll continue to update them regularly. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know and I'll incorporate your ideas, although I reserve the right to edit your words for clarity/correctness .

Please see the sections below.

General/Technical Questions

Does Magic have [xxx] feature? How do I use [xxx] feature?
If you haven't purchased Magic yet, please make sure to download the free Magic Demo before doing anything else. I'm always surprised at how many people seem to purchase the full version before trying the Demo . The Demo requires no registration, costs nothing, and has 99% of the functionality of the full version.

After that, if you still have questions, your first stop should always be the official User's Guide. It's one big web page, so it's really easy to do a keyword search in your browser, and there's also a handy Table of Contents.

If you can't find the answer in the User's Guide, do a quick search here on the forums. There are about 1000 questions answered here .

There are also some really helpful topics in the Tutorials forum, including several tutorial video collections.

Do I own the content I create with Magic?
Yes, absolutely. And we don't charge you any additional fees to use Magic for commercial purposes. However, we aren't responsible for any content you import into your Magic projects (videos, images, songs, shaders, etc.) -- you should check with the owner(s) of that content.

After I upload my Magic movies to YouTube/Vimeo/etc., they don't look as good. Why?
Unfortunately, the data rate (bandwidth) of YouTube/Vimeo/etc. is much more limited than what Magic creates, and your video will always be re-compressed, potentially causing artifacts. Most video streaming sites are designed for natural camera footage, not animation. There's not much you can do except upload your video at the highest quality possible.

Does Magic run on a Hackintosh?
Usually it does, but we don't officially support Hackintosh due to numerous hardware incompatibilities, and there's not much support we can give you for any problems you might encounter. If you have a PC, we strongly recommend you install Windows and run Magic from there.

I want to learn more about GLSL shaders. Where should I start?
We have found that https://thebookofshaders.com/ is a good introductory resource. Also make sure to check out https://www.shadertoy.com/ and https://www.interactiveshaderformat.com/ so you can play with examples directly in your web browser.

Magic crashes when I do [xxx]. Is that normal?
No, absolutely not! Our goal is no crashes, ever. We test Magic exhaustively on many different computers with many different configurations, and Magic is extremely stable at this point. However, there are some things we simply can't prevent, such as:
- Crashes in your graphics driver
- Crashes due to effects plugins, especially FFGL
- Crashes due to running out of regular memory (RAM) or video memory (VRAM)
- Crashes due to third-party utilities you have installed on your system that interfere with normal system operation (mouse, keyboard, video, audio, virus protection, firewalls, etc.)

If you do encounter a crash, our strong recommendation is for you to run your operating system in safe mode and disable every program that is unnecessary. Also, disable all the third-party effects you have added to Magic. If the crash still happens, post a new topic with as much information as you can, including screenshots, hardware/OS config, etc. Fixing crashes is always our #1 top priority.

Magic seems to behave strangely or improperly when I do [xxx]. Is that normal?
If you think something isn't working the way it should in the latest version of Magic, it could be a bug. Please post a new topic and let us know!

How can I get the latest full version of Magic?
You can either download it directly in the application by selecting Help > Check For New Version Now in the main menu, or you can go to our Full Version Download Page.

License/Activation Questions

I bought a new computer. Can I transfer my Magic license to it?
Yes. On your old computer, use the Help > Deactivate command in Magic's main menu. It will reset your license so you can activate on a different computer. You can do this up to 4 times per year.

Can I transfer my Magic license between Mac and PC?
Yes. If you want to transfer your license from one computer to another (see above), it doesn't matter what operating system you transfer to. Magic licenses are not tied to an OS.

Can I use the same license on two computers at the same time?
Only if you purchased two activations on that license. We want to be able to offer one activation for a very reasonable price, because the majority of users don't need more than one activation. If we included two activations in the basic license, we would be forced to raise the price.

Why do I have a limited number of deactivations?
Basically for the same reason as above. Magic has a per-computer license rather than a per-user license. Most Magic users have only one computer, and they don't need to deactivate very often. By limiting the number of times Magic can be transferred to different computers, we can offer it for a lower price.

I can't find my license key. Can you send it to me again?
Use this form: https://magicmusicvisuals.com/resend

I upgraded my computer's software or hardware (operating system, hard drive, motherboard, etc.), and Magic no longer recognizes the activation. What should I do?
We've tried to make Magic as resistant as possible to software/hardware upgrades, but sometimes it doesn't work. Please visit our license deactivation page.

My computer was stolen/damaged, and I can't use the Help > Deactivate command. What can I do?
Please visit our license deactivation page.

Purchase/Payment Questions

Can I get a discount for adding an activation to an existing license?
No, unfortunately not. We have certain fixed costs per transaction, so we can only provide discounts when two or more activations are purchased in the same transaction.

If I purchase Magic now, how long can I use it for?
Forever! We don't charge monthly or yearly subscription fees, and we only charge for major upgrades (for example, V2 -> V3). But each major version is designed to last 3-4 years, and you don't have to upgrade if you don't want to. However, we do reserve the right to stop providing support for older versions of Magic at a certain point.

My PayPal payment was declined. What's going on?
We require you to have a "verified" PayPal account. Go to your PayPal Wallet (https://www.paypal.com/myaccount/money) and make sure a bank account or credit card is fully linked and confirmed.