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• All users of C4D have to buy C4D cmdline licenses to render on a 3rd-party (non-Maxon) farm.  These licenses are served by the MAXON license server.
• If you already have a floating copy of C4D, you already own a license server.  
• If you don't own a MAXON license server, you can buy one on a sliding scale.
• To convert one or more stand-alone C4D interactive licenses to floats, you just buy the license server
  
  • 1-4 seats, $995
  • 5-10 seats, $495
  • 11+, it's free.

For C4D R16 and earlier:

• The minimum order for cmdline licenses is 100 seats.
• The cmdline licenses are $1.95 a seat, no price breaks on larger volumes.
• Optional at $0.50/seat is a Maxon Service Agreement, entitles users to newer versions of the cmdline licenses.

• Command Line licenses were sold in bundles of 100 for $195.
• Additional seats were possible. Pricing varied per region.

For R17 and onwards:

• Every floating license of C4D entitles you to 10 cmdline licenses at no extra charge.
• Every cmdline license in excess of the 10 free ones is $95 USD.

Summary

At the end of the day, the cost for all of this depends on the number of C4D seats you already own:

R16 and earlier:

• 1-4 C4D seats is $1,190: $195 for the cmdline licenses and $995 for the MAXON license server
• 5-10 C4D seats is $690: $195 for the cmdline licenses and $495 for the MAXON license server
• 11+ C4D seats is $195: $195 for the cmdline licenses and the MAXON license server is free

R17 and later:

• If your render farm machine count is less than 10 times the number of C4D licenses, your entitlement of 10 cmdlines per C4D license means you won't need to purchase additional cmdline licenses.
• If your render farm machine count exceeds (10 times the number of C4D licenses), you would need a cmdline license for every machine in excess of that 10x number.
• Examples: 
  • 2 C4D licenses and a 25-node render farm: $1470 - $475 for 5 cmdline licenses (already entitled to 20) + $995 for the MAXON license server
  • 5 C4D licenses and a 25-node render farm: $995 - just need to purchase the MAXON license server (already entitled to 50 cmdline licenses)
  • 6 C4D licenses and a 75-node render farm: $1920 - $1425 for 15 cmdline licenses (already entitled to 60) + $495 for the MAXON license server
  • 11 C4D licenses and a 100-node render farm: No charge - you're already entitled to 110 cmdline licenses and the MAXON license server at no charge.

• Command Line pricing in general is $95 per node. However, pricing varies per region. Contact your local Maxon office or reseller for details.