• Your name
• The email address to which you would like the reply sent
• A phone number and the best hours to call you
• Your BiteFX serial number (this is important as it helps us track your questions)
• A detailed description of your question or problem

If you prefer you can send a fax containing the above information to (+1) 530-579-3237

Step 4 - If the above steps do not work for you, please call us at:
1-877-2BiteFX (1-877-224-8339)
International (+1) 530-582-1189
Note that we currently have a limited call capacity so we ask that you use the phone judiciously (i.e. call when you need to, but use email or fax when it's not urgent).

Step 5 - Our support representative may ask you to give him access to your computer. To do this, click on the following link and select 'Run'. Begin remote support now.

Step 6 - In exceptional circumstances our support representative may ask you to click on the following link and select 'Run' (You will be given a username and password). Run the emergency program.


FAQ

1. Installing BiteFX
2. Registering BiteFX
3. Using BiteFX - Problems
4. Using BiteFX - "How to" questions
5. QuickTime Issues


Installing BiteFX

1. Q. I needed to install QuickTime but it is asking me for my QuickTime Pro serial number. What do I do?

A. Just click "Next". There is no need to purchase QuickTime Pro to use BiteFX. If you do not enter a QuickTime Pro serial number the QuickTime player is installed and that's all you need!

2. Q. At the end of installing QuickTime I receive an error saying there is a problem setting up Mime types. What do I do?

A. We think this problem is caused because an earlier version of QuickTime was installed. Respond "OK" to this error message and the QuickTime installation should finish, but it will likely ask you to reboot (shut down and restart your computer) for the installation to be fully effective. Do the reboot and restart the BiteFX installer (opening and closing the CD drawer should do this, or execute "BiteFXInstall" from the CD). The reboot makes sure QuickTime is fully installed and the BiteFX installer will proceed with the next stage of the installation.

3. Q. I have QuickTime 7.0.3 installed. The BiteFX installer appears to want to install QuickTime 6.5 but that installation fails (because QuickTime is already installed) so I’m stuck.

A. Our tests suggest that QuickTime 7.0.4 works, so the best solution is probably to download QuickTime 7.0.4 (or later) from Apple’s QuickTime page, uninstall QuickTime 7.0.3 and install 7.0.4.

4. Q. I have QuickTime 7.4 or 7.4.1 installed and BiteFX V1.1 is telling me I need to uninstall it. Why is that?

A. See "QuickTime Issues" below.

Registering BiteFX

5 . Q. Why do I have to register BiteFX?

A. To ensure that BiteFX is not used illegally it has an inbuilt license registration system. Registration is the process by which your software is enabled to work on a particular computer. We ask you for name and email address so that we can:
a) Confirm that you are the person or company that ordered the software.
b) We are able to contact you if ever there is the need, such as sorting out licensing problems or communicating news of important updates to you.

6 . Q. What do you do with the information requested in the registration process?

A. We store the data in a secure database for use only by D2Effects (the company that created BiteFX) for the purpose of communicating with you. We do not give or sell this information to anyone outside D2Effects.

7 . Q. Every time I invoke BiteFX the "Welcome to BiteFX" Product Registration window appears. Why is that?

A. This dialog is displayed if your product has not been registered or has been unregistered. As soon as your product has been registered, it will stop appearing.
- If you have not registered your product, find your BiteFX serial number and register it.
- If you believe you have registered, answer the following questions:
a) Did you register on this computer? If not, you need to register USING A DIFFERENT SERIAL NUMBER on this computer. If you do not have an unused serial number, you need to purchase additional licenses.
b) Might you have used the Unregister function? As long as you have not used your serial number on another computer, you can reregister on this computer by clicking the Register button.

8 . Q. I tried to register over the Internet but received a message saying that the Server was unavailable. How do I register?

A. The registration server should be available all the time so there could be a problem with your connection, or in some part of the Internet between you and our server. If you are sure your Internet connection is good, then you can do one of the following:
(i) Click on the "Register Later" button and try registering at another time.
(ii) Click on the "Register by email" button that will create an email note to send to us, and we will respond within 1 business day with your activation code.
(iii) Follow the instructions for registering by telephone in the extended Registration Dialog that is displayed when registering by Internet has not been successful.
A fuller description of these steps can be found in the User's Guide which can always be accessed by selecting Start>All Programs>BiteFX>BiteFX User Guide from the Windows Start menu.

9 . Q. I tried to unregister over the Internet but received a message saying that the Server was unavailable. How do I unregister?

A. Unregistration will always disable your BiteFX product. If the unregistration process has been unable to connect to our registration server we will think you are still using your BiteFX license on that machine, so you must complete the unregistration process so that your serial number is reactivated. You can complete the unregistration process by communicating the unregister code (displayed when unregister has not been able to connect to the server) to us by:
(i) Email
(ii) Phone
Instructions for doing this are displayed on the Registration Dialog.

Using BiteFX - Problems

10 . I recently installed BiteFX on a new computer. When I invoke BiteFX it opens up but starts beeping, does not respond, and (possibly) displays a message saying that there has been an access violation. Why is this, and what do I do?

A. This error occurs with certain NVIDIA graphics cards (so far we have seen this on 8000 series cards such as GeForce 8400). We believe it is because of an incompatibility between QuickTime and the graphics card but have not yet established whether the problem is with QuickTime or the card.
To "kill" BiteFX you bring up the Windows Task Manager by hitting the keys Ctrl + Alt + Del at the same time. Select Task Manager, select the Applications tab, select BiteFX in the list of running applications, and click on End Task. If a dialog displays saying that BiteFX is not responding, click on the End Task button in that dialog.
To stop this problem happening you need to lower the hardware acceleration setting for the card. To do this:
a) On your desktop right click and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
b) In the Display Properties dialog select the Settings tab.
c) On the Settings tab click the Advanced button.
d) In the advanced dialog that opens, click on the Troubleshoot tab.
e) On the Troubleshoot tab, slide the Hardware acceleration control so that it is on the third notch from the left (the one that is described with text starting "Disable all DirectDraw and Direct3D accelerations".
f) Click "OK" in each dialog until you return to the desktop. BiteFX will now work as you expect.


11 . Q. BiteFX recently stopped working. We start BiteFX but no animations display. What has happened and how do we fix it?

A. Unfortunately recent versions of QuickTime (e.g. 7.4 and 7.4.1) have broken the support on which BiteFX relies. It is likely that you have upgraded to one of these versions and this has stopped BiteFX working. We are awaiting an indication from Apple on when the problem will be fixed. In the meantime you have to uninstall the recent version of QuickTime and install a slightly older version. To do this follow the instructions under "QuickTime Issues" below.


12 . Q. When I invoke BiteFX I see a message from QuickTime asking if I want to upgrade to the latest version and then everything freezes. How can I stop this happening?

A. Some versions of QuickTime will do this. You need to "kill" BiteFX (stop the unresponsive application) and then uninstall the problem version of QuickTime and install a good version of QuickTime.
To "kill" BiteFX you bring up the Windows Task Manager by hitting the keys Ctrl + Alt + Del at the same time. Select Task Manager, select the Applications tab, select BiteFX in the list of running applications, and click on End Task. If a dialog displays saying that BiteFX is not responding, click on the End Task button in that dialog.
To uninstall QuickTime and install a good version of QuickTime follow the instructions under "QuickTime Issues" below.


13 . Q. I don't have the minimize/maximize/restore/close buttons at the top right corner of the BiteFX window.

A. It may be possible to get into a situation where the minimize/maximize/restore/close buttons are not visible if BiteFX thinks the screen resolution is different from what it actually is (for example, if another program has changed the screen resolution and BiteFX has not detected the change). If this does happen, click on the "e" icon at the top left of the BiteFX window - this displays the standard window control menu that includes the minimize/maximize/restore/close functions that should enable you to recover control of the window.

14 . Q. When I start BiteFX and click 'Next Animation' nothing happens.

A. You have to change the sequence away from 'Welcome and Help', which only contains a single animation, to one of the other sequences such as "All - Numeric Order" that contains several animations.

Using BiteFX - "How to" questions

15. Q. Can I use my own pictures with BiteFX?

A. Not with Version 1.0. We expect to provide this ability in a future release.

16. Q. What is a System Sequence, and why can't I edit it?

A. A System Sequence is one of the preset sequences provided with BiteFX that we consider should not be edited as that would affect the successful operation of the product. The system sequences are:
All - Alphabetic Order
All - Numeric Order
BiteFX Welcome and Help
If you feel you would rather have your own version of one of the system sequences, you can create a new sequence with a similar name (e.g. "My All Numeric Order") and include just those animations you want in.

17. Q. How can I use BiteFX when giving a PowerPoint presentation?

A. We recommend that you run BiteFX and PowerPoint at the same time and switch between the two programs using the "Alt + Tab" keystroke. This provides a smooth transition between your slide show and the animations, and lets you use the BiteFX interface that is designed for presenting the animations. (You can invoke BiteFX from PowerPoint but that is a more complicated process, can cause messages to be displayed, and takes a few seconds while BiteFX starts, so we don't recommend using that technique.)

Make sure that your Slide Show Setup has the Slide Show resolution set to "Use Current Resolution" - otherwise PowerPoint changes the screen resolution so that switching to BiteFX, or other software, displays BiteFX at the wrong screen resolution (for example you may only see part of the BiteFX window). You access the Slide Show resolution by selecting, from the PowerPoint menu: Slide Show, Set Up Show and finding the slide show resolution item in the dialog.

QuickTime Issues
We have experienced some problems with recent versions of QuickTime which we are hoping will be resolved in a future release of QuickTime. We will update this page when that happens. Until then you need to take the actions described in this section to avoid the problems.
 
The Issues
 

18. When you start BiteFX QuickTime displays a message asking if you want to upgrade to the latest version and then everything freezes.
 
A. Fix: Start QuickTime and go to Help, Update Existing Software and make sure that the box Check for Updates Automatically is NOT checked.


19. You start BiteFX but no animation displays.
 
A. Uninstall the current version of QuickTime and install a version of QuickTime that works. To do this:
 
a) Check that this is the problem by invoking QuickTime and checking the version number by selecting Help, About QuickTime Player.
b) Uninstall QuickTime 7.4 or 7.4.1 just go to the QuickTime menu on the Start, All Programs menu, and select Uninstall QuickTime.
c) Go to: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime716forwindows.html
and install the 7.1.6 build of QuickTime (click on the down arrow by "19.1 MB") and run the 7.1.6 QuickTime installer.
d) When installing you may be asked if you want QuickTime to automatically check for updates say you do NOT want it to do that.
e) After installing QuickTime, invoke QuickTime again and go to Help, Update Existing Software and make sure that the box "Check for Updates Automatically" is NOT checked.
Not checking automatically for updates makes it less likely that this will happen again.