RISA 3d v 18 - New format 9

[JAE]

A whole new format/interface coming - looks a lot like Revit.
Here's one video sample. There are several others:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMFPAbHUwEM

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[WEJ83]

Just FYI as far as speed - one of the guys in our office happened to change the settings from multicore to single core processing. I don't know if it's machine specific or not, but it virtually eliminated all the lag he had been experiencing during input. Not sure how it will affect actual number crunching just yet.

 

[johnie134]

risa is good now.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

one of the guys in our office happened to change the settings from multicore to single core processing.

Wow! I'm shocked. RISA has been dabbling in multi-threading for a number of years. Therefore, I wouldn't have thought they would have biffed it on something like this.

I hope you reported this to them. Maybe that will help them identify and fix the issue.

 

[WEJ83]

Josh - Have not reported yet. Waiting a bit to see if it runs the solution okay and to try it out on another machine, but it definitely sped up the input delays on at least one of ours.

 

[phamENG]

Has the general consensus moved more in favor of the new RISA, or is everyone still wrestling with bugs? I loved the old RISA, and I'm looking into 3D analysis software. I've been using SkyCiv - it's really good for a "young" program, but there is a lot of functionality missing that I'm used to being standard/editable background on RISA (stability checks, for instance), and I just noticed the price point is a lot closer than I previously realized.

 

[bones206]

I’ve been using v17 of RISA since my first and only project using v18 was quite a bad experience. The final straw is that v18 is not integrated with RISAFoundation, which really limits its usefulness. For now I’m content with v17 and waiting/hoping that they iron out some of the major issues with their new software platform. I’ve been training on RAM as a hedge in case RISA continues to cause me productivity issues. The other day I ran a RISA3D model and switched over to its foundation model only to find it was completely empty— several hours of modeling work just inexplicably wiped out.

 

[bootlegend]

I'm still using v17 too. I'd jump into v18 again if they get the RISA Foundation integration working.

 

[phamENG]

Thanks. I'll keep holding off. Do you know if v17 is available to new users, or am I out of luck?

 

[JoshPlumSE]

They should allow you to download / install version 17 if you are a new user. Some background:

When I worked for RISA (a few years ago now), they were getting ready to get rid of CDs and manuals and such and go entirely electronic. So, as a part of that they could no longer tell people with old versions, "Sorry, we can't send you an installation routine for that because we no longer have the CD's and we don't post those old installs to our website".

They vowed to always make those older installations available on their website. You might have to contact them, but that they'd always be there. Now, this was when the company was under different (much more customer focused) ownership. Therefore, they may have changed this policy again. I would ask them before you purchase to be 100% certain.

 

[phamENG]

Thanks, Josh. I'll do that.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

I should also mention that (IMHO), RISA is now a company driven by the SALES group. Not the engineering or development groups. As such, if you tell the sales person that you need something particular (like the v17 or v16 installs) to complete the sale and give them your money, my impression is they will bend over backwards to do it. But, if you wait until AFTER they already have your money.... They may not be willing to help.

I don't know anything for certain anymore. After all, I've been gone from there for a few years now. It's a very different company culture than it was during most of my 16 years working there.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Oh yeah.... Since I said something negative about the company, I should have concluded my post with a statement of bias.

My employment with RISA ended with some bad feelings between me and the current management. And, I currently work for one of their competitors now. So, my comments are my opinion only. Understanding that this opinion does not come from a neutral perspective, but may be influenced by my personal biases.

There are still good people who work there (especially in the development group). So, I don't want to say that it's all bad. Just not what it used to be.

 

[phamENG]

Thanks, Josh. Good advice on timing for the request.

Though I've only been active here for about a year, I've been on the site for a bit longer and have witnessed the evolution of your sentiments toward RISA. I appreciate the honesty and openness with which you frame all of your opinions regarding the structural software development market.

 

[Parosh]

Wish I had read this post before I spent quite some time trying to figure out integration issues that would have been simply solved by using an older version of RISA-3D. A recent project required my company to purchase and use RISAFoundation and RISAFloor. I kept trying to integrate between these programs and v18 of RISA-3D and always crashing or running into errors. After some back and forth with support, they finally told me that v18 doesn't support RISA suite integration... Bummer

 

[AFreeM]

I just used the new version .NET v.18.0.4 for the first time this week.
After doing something as simple as changing a member size in the section set spreadsheet, this message pops up while the program churns for 45 seconds and my computer's fan goes on full blast.
It has serious issues with lagging after every click or operation.
A 3 hour job took me all day because I was just waiting 30-50 seconds after each click.
I wanted to throw my computer out the window by the time I finished.
Bruce Bates Founder of RISA Technologies Your program sucks!

Amicus Plato, sed magis amica Veritas

 

[JoshPlumSE]

AFreeM -

Bruce Bates Founder of RISA Technologies Your program sucks!

This isn't Bruce's program anymore. It's not my program anymore. The company known as RISA Technologies no longer exists. This is all Nemetschek who purchased the intellectual property from Bruce. The new company is called RISA Tech, Inc. It's close enough to the old name, but there has been a huge turn over in staff.

If you have complaints, you can probably tell the new CEO (Amber Freund). While she is not good at retaining or developing talented engineers, she is very concerned about quality in their program.... or perhaps customer PERCEPTIONS of quality that might affect their profitability. She will almost certainly respond to you. Similar to the way it worked when Bruce was in charge. That's one thing Amber retained when she took over.


Notes about bias:
I am a former VP of engineering for RISA and had been with the company 16 years. Until I was pushed out when Nemetschek took over. That's about six months after Roger Schumacher (former VP of Development) was pushed out. I still harbor ill feelings towards Ms. Freund for the way things ended, and by association Nemetschek.

Also, after a year fumbling my way through some OSHPD projects, I now work for one of RISA's competitors. Therefore, I certainly have some bias in this case. So, take anything I say with a grain of salt.

 

[bones206]

AFreeM - are you repeating my earlier post from May 17th because you had a similar experience with lagging?

 

[dauwerda]

I saw an add on the back of structure magazine for version 19 which said it includes full integration with floor, connection, and foundation. I just went to the site and don't see that it is available yet, however (the add made it sound like it was). I will be curious to see how the new version fairs once it is released - hopefully most of the major bugs of version 18 will be worked out.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

dauwerda -

Read the add more closely. The one I see says, "RISA offers a comprehensive suite of design software that work together to...".

It never states that version 19 works with the other programs. My guess is that it still does not. Or, else we would have seen lots of advertising from them about the new interfaces for RISAFloor or RISAFoundation or such.