OnTheAir CG Designer vs OnTheAir CG Server differences and how to use licenses

When you download OnTheAir CG and unzip the file, you will see that you will have 2 different applications, very quickly here is how they differentiate:

• OnTheAir CG Designer: this is the application that you use to create and edit your projects, add items, etc... 
• OnTheAir CG Server: this is the application that you use to play your projects out. It can be controlled by AppleScripts and a REST API. IF you integrate with OnTheAir Node you will use OnTheAir CG Server. 

Below are some more detailed explanations.

Differences between OnTheAir CG Designer and OnTheAir CG Server

OnTheAir CG Designer

Here are the specifics of OnTheAir CG Designer:

• Create and edit projects: add items, delete, modify animations, etc...
• Only one project at a time can be previewed (the one that is selected in the project list area)
• It is possible to output to a video card (mainly for preview purposes)
• It can be controlled remotely (AppleScript or REST API)
• An unlicensed demo version of OnTheAir CG Designer can create projects, have on-screen previews, but there will be blue frames if you configure an output to a device.

OnTheAir CG Server

And the specifics of OnTheAir CG Server:

• Play the projects that have been created in CG Designer. If a project is modified in CG Designer and saved (they are regular files), the project is updated automatically in CG Server. Note that when it is updated, it starts again at the beginning.
• Can play multiple projects at once.
• Projects can be looped.
• It can of course output to a video card
• It can be controlled remotely (AppleScript or REST API)

Licensing OnTheAir CG Designer and OnTheAir CG Server

Both applications can output to a video card. However, when you order a license, you will be able to use the serial number (or dongle) only on one application at a time. So either OnTheAir CG Designer or OnTheAir CG Server will be licensed and one of them will be able to output to a video card without the blue demo frames.

In general you will use the license for the OnTheAir CG Server application, and leave OnTheAir CG Designer in demo mode. When in demo mode an application will output demo blue frames every few seconds own the video card output. This means that OnTheAir CG Designer can be used in demo mode to create projects and you can install as many instances of the application on as many computers as you want.

Some customers prefer to use the license on OnTheAir CG Designer because they want to do quick changes and have only one project playing at a time, but that would be pretty rare...