Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
(OP)
Posted here because I am looking for input mainly from structural engineers.
In considering upgrade of our computer systems (small structural design firm), we are looking into dual monitors. Any structural engineers out there using a dual configuration. If so, what are the advantages?
Thinking about having multiple drawings open, or maybe drawing on one screen and calculations on another. NOT looking for excuse for email to take even more control of my life by always being on one screen while working on another.
In considering upgrade of our computer systems (small structural design firm), we are looking into dual monitors. Any structural engineers out there using a dual configuration. If so, what are the advantages?
Thinking about having multiple drawings open, or maybe drawing on one screen and calculations on another. NOT looking for excuse for email to take even more control of my life by always being on one screen while working on another.






RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
It was quite useful ...except for when some smarta$$ switched the position of my two monitors and it took me 15 minutes to figure out why my mouse wouldn't move from one monitor to the other!
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
One wide screen for ACAD or Revit and the other for the design software. Be sure and have enough "power" to be able to run these types of programs at the same time.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
I have three computers with three monitors, two dogs and a cat.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
msquared
Sounds like you have a cat problem over there..... better take care of that soon.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
At my current job I have one, but there is no design.
I highly recommend getting two monitors. As JoshPlum says, the expense will be paid back quickly.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
First tried using adjacent monitors as one big CAD screen, eventually found the 'bar' down the middle too annoying, so evolved to one monitor in landscape for the CAD program, and one monitor in portrait mode for text files and spreadsheets.
Then the company added some mandatory sales support bloatware that interfered with the CAD software to such an extent that I demanded and got a second computer just for running that and their email program.
At which point, I decided that the ideal setup is a single large monitor for CAD (23+" versions with 1080p resolution are getting cheap now), and a separate computer for everything else (small monitor and slow processor are perfectly satisfactory).
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
And as others have noted, the cost is minimal now. 24" Monitors can be had for around $200 and most newer workstations can handle dual monitors.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Spreadsheet and VBA code
- E-mail and attached documents
- Spreadsheet and CAD or pdf drawing file.
- Spreadsheet and FEA model
Considering the low cost of monitors these days I'd say it was about the most cost effective productivity improvement you can get.
Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services
http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
I've used 2 for about a year now and would find it hard to go back to one.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Regards,
![[pipe] pipe](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/pipe.gif)
Qshake
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
MJB
"We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." -WSC
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Also have Ultamon which allows me to spread one screen over the two screens. We also use Photoshop and InDesign as well as read a lot of stuff in Bridge.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
This replaces crappy tables and saw horses that I've been using in this location for 22 years. (Thought I would treat myself and had budgeted $1800 for new furniture). (The truss company guy and his friend even delivered it).
Have to admit that my commute is about 30 feet - back door of house to front entrance of a real building. We're out in the country where I sometimes meet the deer face to face when I walk out of the office.
The problem now is that our area is going to be spoiled with about 1300 homes going in across our non-busy road. Who would have thought this would be happening?
But I just attended a local structural engineering meeting and the county building official was there and said that there's starting to be a lot of activity lately. (And we've hundreds of bank owned homes that originally sold for over a million dollars now going to around $350K.)(Of course a lot of these "million dollar" homes were really poorly planned and built and people used them as a piggy banks, buying their Cadillac pickups and fast speed boats)
I know this isn't about monitors. Sorry.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
I too intially resisted, though found them to signficantly improve my efficiency (consider how may times per day do you have more than one item open and further more use the contents of one of the said open items for another said open item).
Regards,
Lyle
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Juston Fluckey, E.I.
Engineering Consultant
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
JoshPlum??
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Plummer is my favorite. He is always quick to respond and very knowledgeable. I often send models to RISA because they don't behave the way I think they should and he always lets me know why.
Alas, this was the email I received back in 2010 from Michael Olson concerning wanting multiple instances:
I certainly understand your frustration with this. Being in tech support here at RISA I run across your situation all the time.
I believe the biggest problem with this is the memory allocation and temporary files that are created while using the program.
We create files during solution and even pre-solution for your model. If there were multiple instances then we would need to do a lot of coordination of these files.
This is something we have considered, but up until this point hasn't gotten a lot of steam. I will take note of your request and if we get more requests we can hopefully implement this.
Also, the files that store your unique data (saved report settings, custom shapes, etc.) cannot be modified with a text editor. This would be helpful for organizing the shapes or reports into alphabetical order or other grouping. These files (with extension .fil) are protected against my limited hacking ability (as well they should because they are important to the function of the program).
Sorry for being off-topic.
Juston Fluckey, E.I.
Engineering Consultant
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
Re RISA-3D running multiple instances, I was told that it had something to do with licensing. With remote desktop and other sharing it is possible to have several different people access one computer. If multiple instances were allowed, you wouldn't need to buy multiple licenses to have more than one person use RISA... I don't think they plan to change this.
It would be nice if you could have multiple files open in one program instance, like Excel. Then you could work on one while the other is running.
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?
RE: Any structural engineers using dual monitors?