Which NI Vision Software Requires a License?

Primary Software: Vision Development Module
Primary Software Version: 8.6
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: N/A

Problem:
With all the different types of vision systems, it is a bit unclear when a license for NI Vision software is required and when a license is not required. What products require licenses?

Solution:
There are three primary software packages for NI Vision: Vision Acquisition Software, Vision Development Module, and Vision Builder for Automated Inspection. Please note that as of August 2009 with the release of Vision Development Module 2009, the licensing of Vision products has changed significantly (details below).

Vision Acquisition Software - Acquire, save, and display images from thousands of different cameras. It includes drivers to be able to acquire from all NI frame grabbers, Firewire (IEEE 1394) cameras, and GigE Vision cameras.

NI-IMAQ – The IMAQ driver is can be installed without purchasing a license. When installing the Vision Acquisition Software, only installing support for NI IMAQ, a license will not be required. The IMAQ driver is used to acquire from Analog, Parallel Digital, and Camera Link cameras which require frame grabbers.

NI-IMAQdx (includes legacy IEEE 1394) – The IMAQdx driver requires a Vision Acquisition Software license. When installing the Vision Activation Software, you will be able to use the IMAQdx driver for 30 days in evaluation mode before being required to activate it to continue using IMAQdx. The IMAQdx driver is used to acquire from Firewire (IEEE 1394), GigE Vision and USB cameras which do not necessarily require any additional hardware. As of 2009, the legacy IEEE 1394 driver will no longer be automatically included with the IMAQdx drivers, but can be downloaded from our website.

NOTE: Before 2009, if including NI-IMAQdx as an additional installer for deploying executables on other computers, a Vision Acquisition license will be required for each deployment instance to be able to acquire from GigE Vision, Firewire (IEEE 1394 devices) or USB cameras on deployment systems. As of August 2009, however, this Vision Acquisition License will be included with the Vision Development Module Run-time Engine.

NI-IMAQ I/O – The IMAQ I/O diver does not require a license. Similar to the IMAQ driver, it can be installed individually when installing the Vision Acquisition Software and will not require a license. The IMAQ I/O driver is used for controlling the digital I/O on IEEE 1394 hardware.

Vision Development Module (VDM) - Includes Vision Acquisition Software in addition to machine vision functions, image processing functions, and comprehensive suite of software tools to locate, count measure, identify, and classify objects.

VDM – Vision Development Module requires a license. A full VDM license includes a license for Vision Acquisition Software, which includes full access to the NI-IMAQ, NI-IMAQdx (includes legacy IEEE 1394) and NI-IMAQ I/O drivers. VDM provides high level machine vision and images processing functionality as well as a comprehensive suite of software tools to locate, count, measure, identify, and classify objects within LabVIEW.

Run-Time Engine – If building an executable that uses VDM, the NI Vision Run-Time Engine will be needed. If included the NI Vision Run-Time Engine as an additional installer for deploying executables on other computers, a NI Vision Run-Time license will be required for each deployment instance.

NOTE: Before 2009, if you were using the NI-IMAQdx driver to acquire from your camera, you needed an additional Vision Acquisition license for each deployment instance of your executable in addition to the NI-Vision Run-Time license. As of August 2009, the IMAQdx drivers are included with this NI-Vision Run-Time license, so no additional Vision Acquisition Software needs to be purchased.

Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (VBAI) - A stand alone application that includes Vision Acquisition Software. Allows users to locate, count, measure, identify, and classify objects in an interactive menu-driven environment.

VBAI – VBAI requires a license. A full VBAI license includes a license for Vision Acquisition Software, which includes full access to the NI-IMAQ, NI-IMAQdx, and NI-IMAQ I/O drivers. VBAI is a standalone application that allows the development of machine vision applications in an interactive menu driven environment.

Run-Time Engine – If wishing to deploy a VBAI inspection to additional computers a license of the VBAI Run-Time Engine will be required.

NOTE: Again, before August 2009 if you were acquiring from a Firewire (IEEE 1394), USB, or a GigE Vision camera on deployment systems, a license for the Vision Acquisition Software was required for each deployment instance in addition to the VBAI Run-Time license. As of August 2009, the IMAQdx drivers that are used to acquire from Firewire, USB, and GigE cameras will be bundled with the VBAI Run-Time Engine. Therefore, another copy of Vision Acquisition License will no longer be required for deployed executables.

Report Date: 04/24/2009
Last Updated: 08/20/2009
Document ID: 4WN975TK

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