The creators of a software package called D5 Render expressed interest in having their program evaluated by the MIT Architecture group. Their official website is http://www.d5render.com, where you can find download links and features. The authors report that it is fully compatible with Rhino and Revit, as well as other design applications.
Please let STOA know if you would like more information.
All MIT faculty, students, and staff can access the Adobe Creative Cloud suite by entering an @mit.edu address at https://www.adobe.com and authenticating through Touchstone Authentication
Note: If you already have an Adobe Creative Cloud account using your @mit.edu address, you will see two options when you log in to adobe.com:
Personal account - This is your non-MIT licensed account, using your personal email address and password.
Company or school account - This is your Touchstone-enabled MIT account, using your Kerberos credentials.
If your account was provided by MIT, use the Touchstone-enabled “company or school” account. If you paid for your Adobe subscription youself, it will continue working under your personal account as long as your subscription remains current.
More information about MIT's Creative Cloud Offering can be found here: https://ist.mit.edu/adobe/cc
Most all Autodesk applications are available to students free of charge. Please visit:
https://ist.mit.edu/autodesk/suite
DraftSight is a full-featured product, available on all platforms for free:
https://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-software/
Mastercam is available to all members of the MIT community, for educational/teaching purposes only. More info here.
Rhino 7 and 8 licenses are available to all students in the Department of Architecture at no charge. Licenses should not be shared outside the Department.
To download a STOA-issued license (certificates required):
As the STOA license requires a connection to the MIT network (i.e. a VPN connection if off campus), the licensing server may not be available in countries where VPN services are restricted. If this situation applies to you, personal licenses can be purchased here: https://www.rhino3d.com/sales/north-america/United_States
Although V-Ray is perhaps best known as a plug-in for Rhino, it is reported to work well with a variety of host programs including Autodesk 3DS Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Maya, Nuke, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, and Unreal. V-Ray licenses are available to students in the Department of Architecture at no charge. Licenses should not be shared outside the Department.
To install V-Ray for Rhino, click here to access the installer. The vendor, Chaos Group, may require you to create an account in order to access the installer.
Important: The above link to the license requires valid MIT certificates. Please test the validity of your certificate here, if you are having trouble accessing the above link. If your certificate is not valid, please download Certaid to configure your certificates. If you need guest access to the license, and you are taking a course with the Department of Architecture, please provide your course number and instructor. As the STOA license requires a connection to the MIT network (i.e. a VPN connection if off campus), the licensing server may not be available in countries where VPN services are restricted. If this situation applies to you, personal licenses can be purchased here: https://www.rhino3d.com/sales/north-america/United_States
Climate Studio for Rhino [Windows]
Climate Studio for Rhino is available to all students in the School of Architecture and Planning at no charge. Licenses should not be shared outside the School.
To download a STOA-issued license (certificates required):
As the STOA license requires a connection to the MIT network (i.e. a VPN connection if off campus), the licensing server may not be available in countries where VPN services are restricted. If this situation applies to you, personal licenses can be purchased here: https://www.rhino3d.com/sales/north-america/United_States
There are many commercial rendering services students can use for larger projects. Services that we've received information on include:
There are lists of renderfarm services maintained at:
www.rendercore.com
www.renderrocket.com
www.rebusfarm.net
System Requirements
https://www.flow3d.com/supported-platforms/
Downloads [ Windows, Linux ]
FLOW-3D 2022R2 Update 1
Windows https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-sfb85811ee6f04fd6b965c4cad2c6eef1
Linux https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s6af75126beee4ad0848c79529352f504
SILENT https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s0762ec0612db4e8bbb4846628f23c33d
FLOW-3D HYDRO 2022R2 Update 1
Windows https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s7bbb5c82f0c64f4784fff6ada5710429
Linux https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s00d185ffe009499f8a42e62394afc0e1
SILENT https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-sf666d4a37fcc482195ba2117bedccc57
FLOW-3D POST 2022R1
Windows https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s57f7a55fd79240c4b71fb9fdc5108b70
Linux https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s2c76e9a3e98a46a8bf25c2939c6c151e
SILENT https://flow3d.sharefile.com/d-s55d8a0f3f43f4c689c3634172077d3d0
When installing FLOW-3D, it should prompt for a license server. The server name is arch-flow3d.media.mit.edu
To edit the license server on Windows, right-click on the flow3d application icon, choose edit, and change the variable for set F3DTKNUX_LICENSE_FILE=@arch-flow3d.media.mit.edu
FLOW-3D is available for use by all SA+P Students and Faculty for academic use. For the software to launch, it must be able to communicate with the FLOW-3D license server, therefore you must be connected to the MIT VPN (Global Protect Client) or connected to MIT Secure Wireless or ethernet on campus.
Academic Resources
QGIS : Open Source GIS
Download latest version here: http://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
ESR ArcGISI
Note: ESRI products are Windows only. If a Macintosh user, you can run them either under BootCamp or VMware, or over a Citrix connection.
Windows users can download and configure ArcGIS from this page: http://ist.mit.edu/arcgis/license. After downloading, please follow instructions found on same page.
As the STOA license requires a connection to the MIT network (i.e. a VPN connection if off campus), the licensing server may not be available in countries where VPN services are restricted.
Mac OS X & Windows
Students can download and install MATLAB to their personal computers, following the instructions found here: MATLAB
More information, including troubleshooting steps, can be found here: MATLAB Landing Page
Linux:
When through:
Procurement
Every MIT student is entitled to install Microsoft Office on one personally owned machine. Students can download the software from the Microsoft Campus Agreement for Office download site: https://msca.mit.edu/cgi-bin/msoffice (certificates required).
Troubleshooting
If the Activation Wizard stalls or continues popping up after installation, make sure that your computer is configured properly for MIT and you're connected to the MIT VPN if you are off campus.
Mac OS X
MIT does not distribute macOS licenses to students. Apple distributes its operating system completely FREE of charge through the 'AppStore' (found on your Macintosh in the Applications folder).
Windows
MIT provides licenses to students for Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise. We ask that you use Windows 10 64-bit if possible.
To register for a license and download the installer:
If you are connected to the MIT network either on campus or on the MIT VPN, Windows will connect to Microsoft to activate itself automatically, when first installed and every 6 months thereafter. This activation is necessary for Windows to continue functioning. Upon graduation, you'll receive an email about how to convert your Windows license to a permanent license.
If you have trouble with Windows activation, please follow IS&T's guidelines here.
Requirements
Boot Camp / VM
Boot Camp allows one to boot the computer into either Windows or the Macintosh OS. Under virtualization, the computer is always booted into the Macintosh OS, which then (with the aid of virtualization software) runs the Windows OS inside of a Macintosh window. Please see below for advantages and disadvantages of each.
If one needs compatibility for Windows programs and high performance, then Boot Camp is your friend.
If convenience is more important than raw performance, virtualization is more convenient.
Boot Camp Installation
Bootcamp Installation How-to from Apple - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201468
Windows 10 Enterprise licensing information, please select the 64-bit version - http://ist.mit.edu/windows/10/enterprise
VMWare Installation
Now that you've installed VMware Fusion, downloaded IS&T's VM, or created one from scratch, it is time to configure it. See below:
VM Backup: Omit the VM from your current Macintosh backups (Time Machine, CrashPlan etc). Follow instructions for your specific backup solution to *omit* the ~/Virtual Machines directory from the backup set. If you do not do this, the backup software will attempt to backup your VM every time-- leaving all your other files on computer without backup (as well as filling up your backup devince in no time). As we shall see later, the files you create when using the VM will be saved outside the VM to either the Desktop or Documents folder on your Mac. As a result, they *will* be backed up even thought the VM itself is not.
Add VM to VMware Fusion Library: start VMware Fusion then select 'Virtual Machine Library' from 'Window' menu. Drag the VM in ~/Virtual Machines to the Library window. When successful, you will find the VM listed in left hand pane of Virtual Machine Library window
VM Hardware Configuration: we need assign (virtual) hardware properties to the VM before using it. We will set these to not more than 50% of your computer's physical resources. To check your computer's hardware specs: Apple Menu > About this Mac > System Report. Take note of amount of 'Memory' and 'Total Number of Cores'. Now with your VM selected in the left hand panel of the Virtual Machine Library window, click once on the VM to select it, then click on the wrench icon in the upper right corner of window. Click 'Processors & Memory' and set 'Processors' and 'Memory' to 1/2 that of your computer's physical hardware (it is possible that the VM is already properly set). Close window. Consult 'Help' menu for more important details
VM Document Sharing Configuration: though the VM is a completely self-contained Windows environment with its own storage (C: drive, Desktop etc.), we do not want to use this storage for documents created/edited within our VM. Rather we want to use your Macintosh's Desktop and Documents folder for saving files created/edited within your VM. There are 2 reasons for this: 1) these folders are already being backed up using your Macintosh backup software of choice and 2) you would then have access to the files form both Macintosh and Windows VM environments. To share your Macintosh Desktop and Documents folder with the VM, click once on your VM in the Library left panel to select it, then click on wrench icon in upper right corner of window. Click on 'Sharing' then > Enable Shared Folders. Beneath 'Mirrored Folders', click 'Desktop' and 'Documents' (and any others you wish to mirror). You can share any folder on your Macintosh by clicking '+' and specifying the folder. We strongly suggest you share any network folders as well, such as Dropbox or OneDrive, GoogleDrive etc. This way you have access to all these files from within the VM without having to install/configure Dropbox etc inside the VM. Close window when done. Consult 'Help' menu for more important details
VM Snapshot: an extraordinarily powerful feature of VMs is the ability to 'snapshot' them. A snapshot captures the VM's exact state at time of capture. You can store multiple snapshots and restore to any snapshot in seconds. This is particularly useful if you are about to install new software, Windows updates or just have your VM in a state you would like to be able to return to if anything were to go wrong. To create a snapshot: select your VM in the 'Virtual Machine Library' window, then click on the camera icon. You can figure out the rest form there. We recommend you create a snapshot now to preserve the customisations we've made above. Consult 'Help' menu for more important details
VM Run: we are now ready to run the VM. Double-click the VM in the 'Virtual Machine Library' window or click on the 'play' button in upper right of window. Windows will boot and run like a regular PC. Note that we already installed Office 2019 and ArcGIS for you, so you are ready to get to work immediately. Consult 'Help' menu for more important details
Viewing the VM: The VM can be viewed in full-screen mode (control+left-arrow/control+right-arrow to toggle between the VM and your Mac), or as resizebale single window. Slect your preference fomr the 'View' menu. Note: if the VMware Fusion menu is hidden, then simply move your mouse to top of your screen, remove your hand from mouse so cursor reamins perfectly still for couple seconds, then menu will appear
Quitting VMware Fusion: when you are through using your VM, you do not need to shutdown Windows within the VM. Simply select 'Quit VMware Fusion' from the Vmware Fusion menu (or command+q). This will suspend your VM. When you next start the VM it will resume exactly where you left off. Consult 'Help' menu for more important details
Printing, Networking, VPN: by default, all networking, VPN connections, printers on the Mac are passed through to the VM without nay further configuration. So if you need a VPN connection (ArcGIS requires it), simply start the VPN on your mac and then start your VM
Performance Tips: quit all non-essential applications before starting VMware Fusion. Keep from launching inessential Macintosh apps for the time your are running VMware Fusion. Fusion/Windows need a lot of resources to run. So do not cripple it by running Chrome with 20 tabs open (for instance). Similarly, when you no longer need to use your VM, quit VMware Fusion! This will free up resources for your other apps. Consult 'Help' menu for more important details
Note that access to some packages are restricted by faculty and/or department.
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Software
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Group
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Contact
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Link
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Special Instructions
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| Bongo (Rhino plug-in) | Architecture | N/A | link | N/A |
| Karamba | Architecture: Building Technology | N/A | link | Download and run the installer, use Package Manager in Rhino, or download the file and open it in Grasshopper. |
| MATLAB | Architecture | N/A | link | N/A |
| Render Farm (commercial) | Architecture | N/A | N/A | |
| Rhino | Architecture | N/A | link | N/A |
| Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center | Joint venture between BU, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, UMass, and Yale. | link | link | Research Computing at scale for MIT. Unlimited cores, RAM, batch processing and more. Linux/UNIX primarily. Some familiarity with Bash shell helpful. See also the MIT Office of Research Computing and Data: link |
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Stata
For information regarding installation and licensing for Stata, see here.
Enscape3D
Enscape3D offers free educational licenses for students and faculty. For information regarding installation and licensing for Enscape3D, see here.
Unity
Unity offers free educational licenses for students and faculty. For information regarding installation and licensing for Unity, see here.
Twin Motion
Twin Motion offers free educational licenses for students and faculty. For information regarding installation and licensing for Twin Motion, see here.
Lumion
Lumion offers free educational licenses for students and faculty. For information regarding installation and licensing for Lumion, see here.
Bluebeam
Bluebeam offers free educational licenses for students and faculty. For information regarding installation and licensing for Bluebeam, see here.
Blender
Blender is open source and free to use by all. For information regarding installation and licensing for Blender, see here.
CRADLE scSTEAM v14
This software is available to students of Prof Les Norford. To gain access to this software, make a request to Prof Norford, then once it's been granted, click here.
Notes:
DYMOLA
This software is available to students of Prof Les Norford. To gain access to this software, first make a request to Prof Norford, then once it's been granted, click here.
Notes: