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Install and activate

What you need
macOS 11 Big Sur or later. Apple Silicon and Intel
Windows 64-bit

HotPunch bundles its own media tools (FFmpeg) for reading audio and video. Nothing else has to be installed.

Installing

macOS — beta builds ship as a signed and notarised .dmg. Open it and drag HotPunch into Applications. Run it from Applications, not from the mounted disk image.

Windows — beta builds ship as a folder. Keep the folder together: HotPunch.exe needs the files next to it, and moving the executable on its own breaks media handling.

Note

There is no auto-update in the beta. New builds arrive as new downloads; replace the old one. The project file carries a format version, and a build that does not recognise it refuses to open the file rather than opening it partially. Downgrading is therefore not always possible: keep the build you shot the show with until the show is delivered.

First launch

HotPunch opens on a welcome window: New Project, Open Project..., and a list of recent projects. Closing that window quits the application — it is the front door, not a dialog you dismiss.

Two permissions may come up, and both have a reason:

  • Microphone. Asked the first time you open an audio input device, not at launch. HotPunch reads LTC timecode from an audio input; without this permission LTC sync cannot work. See Timecode sync.
  • Incoming network connections. When a project opens, HotPunch starts its local tally server on ports 8080 (HTTP) and 8081 (WebSocket). If your firewall asks, allow it, otherwise no browser on the network can reach the operator views. See Web tally.

Activating your licence

Without a key, HotPunch runs in Demo: you can build and edit a full show, but the project stays in memory — no saving, no exporting. The welcome window and the window title say DEMO so you cannot mistake it for a working install. What each plan unlocks is in Licensing.

To activate: open Settings (Cmd+,, or Window > Settings) and go to the License tab. Paste the key from your purchase email and click Activate. HotPunch contacts the licence server and stores a signed activation locally.

If the machine has no internet

The License tab has an Offline activation section:

  1. Enter your key, then click Generate request.
  2. On a connected device, submit that text at hotpunch.app/activate (or email support) and get a response back.
  3. Return here, click Import response, and paste it.

The response is signed; a mangled copy-paste is rejected rather than half-applied.

One activation, one machine

An activation is bound to the machine it was made on — HotPunch derives a fingerprint from the device and the installation. Consequences worth knowing before show day:

  • Copying the application, or the settings, to another machine does not carry the licence. HotPunch detects the mismatch and clears the activation.
  • Reinstalling the operating system, or restoring onto new hardware, counts as a different machine.
  • Before you retire or reimage a machine, click Deactivate in the License tab. That frees the activation slot. If you skip it, the slot stays used.

Warning

On a redundant pair, each machine needs its own activation, and both need to be able to go live. See Redundancy.

HotPunch re-checks the licence with the server once, when the application starts — never during a show. It keeps working for a period without reaching the server; the exact rules, and what happens when that period runs out, are in Working without the internet.

You are installed and licensed. Next: Your first timeline.