|
|
Multiframe FAQ list
Multiframe is a highly efficient program and does not
require state of the art computers to run smoothly. Basically any computer that can run Windows XP or Vista can
run Multiframe. That said, the larger the designs you are working with,
the more computationally intensive the analyses - so if you're dealing with
large models then you need to scale accordingly. Generally though, RAM is more important than
CPU speed - so it's better to have larger amounts of memory than a faster
processor. We'd recommend at least 1GB
of RAM for most users, and 2GB or more if possible. Multiframe is not multi-processor capable yet, so does
not really benefit much from dual core or quad core machines at all. Installing all of the Multiframe applications and
documents requires a maximum of 100 Mb of disk space. Note that - as with any design program - the use of a
large (17" or more) monitor is recommended and to increase rendering speed
for larger models we also suggest a dedicated video card that supports Open GL
1.2 ( recommended - not required). We've typically found ATI or nVidia cards are ideal as
they generally have excellent driver support and are readily available. When installing Multiframe 11 On XP\2000 systems you must copy LoadLibrary.llb and SectionsLibrary.slb from c:\program files\multiframe10\ to c:\program files\multiframe11\. On Vista systems you must copy LoadLibrary.llb and SectionsLibrary.slb from c:\Users\Public\Documents\Multiframe\Multiframe10 to c:\Users\Public\Documents\Multiframe\Multiframe11 If you updated an earlier version of Mulitframe to version 10.04 using a patch, the uninstall button may be missing from add/remove programs, when multiframe 10 is selected. This problem is caused by a change in our installer program. To uninstall the following must be run from the command line. MsiExec.exe /uninstall {AA3A4386-9F99-45D8-B109-2D3F7B40BC5D} This will remove Multifame 10 from your system. Currently there is a problem when installing on Windows Server 2003 machines. You may get an "Error 131. There is a problem with this Windows Inst...." message towards the end of the installation process. To get around this problem you must install the InstallShield update manager. Then install Multiframe again.
I have a network installation. When I update my software from 9.53 to version 10, do I also need to update the server? Yes, with the version 10 release all the dongle drivers and license manager software has been updated in order to support our software on Windows Vista. This means that - even if you are not using Vista - you have to run the installer on the server also. See Installation Guide for more information. Formation Design Systems fully supports
Windows Vista, including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions from Maxsurf
version 13 onwards, and Multiframe version 10 onwards. Click here to find out the current shipping version for Multiframe.
I have not updated Multiframe for a while, do I need to install all the patches or just the last one? Our patches include the fixes and enhancements from the previous patch as
well, so you can simply install the latest patch to update your
software. You do have to make sure that the update patch can be applied to the version you have currently installed; i.e. the major version number needs to be the same. Yes, as of Maxsurf version 13, and
Multiframe version 10, our software will now install and run correctly
on 64-bit versions of Windows, including Windows XP 64-bit and Windows
Vista 64-bit. Versions of our software prior to those listed above do not support 64-bit Windows. Update: Formation Design Systems no longer develops or supports software running under the Macintosh OS or OS X. However, with Apple's announcement of Macintosh computers based on Intel processors, it is now possible to run the latest Windows versions of Formation Design Systems software natively on a Macintosh. While it has always been possible to use Virtual PC to run Windows programs on a Mac, this is generally relatively slow and can have occasional compatibility problems. It is in fact not officially supported by us as we are unable to test this configuration sufficiently well. The new Intel-based Macs allow you to use a tool called BootCamp to install and run Windows on your Mac, alongside your Macintosh OS. While it doesn't provide the live switching between the two that VirtualPC does, (it requires a reboot to switch) it does give you very fast Windows performance on the same machine you use from day to day. More details on BootCamp can be found on Apple's web site. A third party also has a product named Parallels that offers a similar switching between OSX and Windows but without re-booting. Info on that can be found at www.parallels.com. We have not had an opportunity to test Parallel's compatibility with our software. Given the very low cost of high performance Windows machines, and the increasing additional functionality of the Windows versions of our software, we recommend adding a Windows machine to your network and gradually moving over to it. If you would like to cross-grade your Mac versions to Windows, please contact us for a quotation.
I want to model a cable as a tension only member. How come I get Shear forces and Bending Moments in these tension only members? After you have defined a member as tension only, you have to look at the joint restraints of those members and make them pinned rather than fixed or rigid. That way bending moments or shear forces can not be transferred into the member. The default behavior of Multiframe in regards to pinned
and fixed joints and members is that all members and all
joints are initially fully rigid. This means that there is
complete moment transfer across each joint. If you wish to make a joint pinned for a truss situation, then you can use the Joint Type command to do so. This releases the moments and torsion at
the ends of all the members attached to that joint. It also
sets the rotations of that joint to zero. If however you only wish to
release the moments at the ends of some of the members connected to a joint, then you should use the Member
Type command. In the Member Type dialogue you have an
option of which moments and torsion to release. In general you will
want to use a pinned joint when analyzing a truss structure
and you will want to use the releases at the end of a member
when you want to have a frame where a part of the
frame is pinned and the remainder is rigid. This is common when you have a continuous top and bottom chord in a truss, and you just wish to apply member releases to the bracing members between the chords. You should not pin a
joint and also pin the end of a member attached to that
joint. Multiframe automatically looks for a file named
"Sections Library" in the same folder as the program. If it
finds a file with this name, this library will be used. If
you want Multiframe to use a different library (like the
wood library), you need to rename the standard Section
Library to say "Steel Library". Then, when the program
starts up, it will not find a library with the standard name
("Sections Library") and it will prompt you to locate the
library you wish to use. Note that you can also use this
technique to have a number of sections libraries (for
example one per project) available for use. Multiframe,
Section Maker and Steel Designer are set up to use the same
utilities disk you received with your original order, and
thus the same sections libraries. See also the Training manual for tips on Section Library management. |
Copyright © - Formation Design Systems Pty Ltd trading as FormSys 
you may see the following message. This is caused by an issue when patching to 10.04.