Multisim and Ultiboard Idea Exchange

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A dark mode in Multisim would be great, not only in sheet, but also in all the other elements like toolbar, because sometimes my eyes hurt because of default setting.

I have worked as a contractor/consultant for many companies, many years and the number one reason there has been no demand for library of symbols, footprints, 3D models is because your potential customers have resorted to other competitors software that use Ultra Librarian. This is the first time I have ever used Multisim and Ultiboard because of that very reason which is hard to believe knowing I am a contractor/consultant.

 

At our company, Multisim and Ultiboard was recommended by an engineer who used this as an instructor at a University which is good for student education purposes only to learn how to make symbols, footprints, 3D models but in the real world… why not save time and money by using already existing libraries?

 

You should not only take note of insufficient demand… but why there is insufficient demand and why potential customers have resorted to competitors software.

We have been asking for this for several years now and there is never a response.  It makes us loyal users start thinking about changing design package vendors and it must be limiting new sales.  

 

When will these symbol and footprint libraries be supported!?

Unfortunately there seems no way to upload an existing circuit design to multisim live. The only file extension accepted is .msjs. Trying to upload any .ms14 design is simply ignored (not even an error or warning is displayed)!

I posted the following in the main Multisim - Ultiboard forum but it was suggested I post it here.  Sorry for the duplicate posting.

 

Digi-key and other distributors are providing schematic symbols and footprints via Ultra Librarian in many formats (e.g. OrCad, Altium, Cadence, even Eagle!!) but NOT for Multisim or Ultiboard.  I have asked the Ultra Librarian people why this is and they say they have tools to support it but are having trouble getting required information from NI to complete the work and make a release.  

 

What does it take to get Ultra Librarian the information they need?  Who is the right NI contact?  Why do we MS/UB users not have the same tools as the other package users?  

 

Hi,

Multisim Live allows for the export of .ms14 files but will not import them.

 

Multisim will not export .msjs files

 

So there is no way for the tools to be used interchangeably.  

 

This topic has been on the forum for several years(10-25-2017) so clearly there is a strong argument for not implementing it.

 

Proposal:Could you either:

  • Add MAC OS support 

OR

  • Allow Multisim Live & Multisim to work interchangeably by importing/exporting of suitable data files.

 

Thanks & regards...

 

 

 

Multisim is a very powerful tool and suitable for educational purposes in first courses of Engineering careers. Howevers lacks of a very simple and useful flexibility that other simulators like PSPICE or QUCS have. Is not possible to modify the variable presented in the x-axis of the Graph View!

 

If you perform a DC Sweep, AC Sweep or Parameter Sweep analysis is very easy to change the variable presented in the y-axis. However, there is not a way to modify the magnitude used for the x-axis. Thus, for example to plot the IV curve of a diode is not straightforward. In a circuit with a battery, resistor and a diode in series the user typically perform a DC sweep of the battery bias and plot the current vs the battery bias. However, is not possible to change the variable plotted in the x-axis to the voltage drop in the diode to visualize the IV (and threshold) of the diode.

 

Of course one can extract the results to an EXCEL sheet or use the IV analyzer instruments but this is not useful for educational purposes where you want to show the students similarities with the experiment performed in the breadboard of the laboratory.

In more advanced simulations sometimes the user also is interested to visualize some magnitude of the circuit vs different kind of magnitudes (voltaje, current, ...).

 

Therefore is required to have the possibility to allow the user to modify the variable of the x-axis for more flexibility of the simulations. 

We are a user of Multisim and Ultiboard and have been for many years.  We have appreciated that there are user fields in the data base that we can populate with our company specific information including Part Numbers and descriptions. 

 

Here is the Good idea . . . We would like to be able to have our Part Numbers display on schematics and appear in BOM reports and also transfer to Ultiboard.   Transferring to Ultiboard is important so that the Part Numbers appear on the Centroid Output.  Currently this can be done in Multisim by copying and pasting the PN into the Label field however, this a very tedious task and it leads to errors especially on large schematic designs.  As for BOM reports, it is also a very tedious task that takes a long time.  

 

With Ultiboard, this is also a manual process of copying the Part Numbers from the schematic to the Centroid output for our machine machine programs.  (SMT)  

 

This seems like these would be very useful tools for an operation who is using your software for both design and manufacturing.  Please consider adding this feature to the next update. 

This is a great circuit simulator especially for those on tight budget, but 25 components seem low and really limits the usefulness to the free version. Some other web based simulators do not have this restriction and some have no limit on components at all. Please consider making the free version with less restrictions with this I suspect you would bring along more interest in NI in general.

Thank You 

Thomas Zaprzalka

The default settings for an LED in Multisim Live don't match normal LED characteristics. I appreciate the ability to adjust the parameters for a given exploratory circuit. But the default should be what is most commonly seen in real life, not something that is not likely to exist.
When my students use a physical LED, the knee voltage is always around 1.5V. The takeaway is, that although it is a diode, not every diode has a .7V knee voltage. In Multisim 14 it is easy for them to see this.
When they use Multisim Live, unless they are given specific instructions on the parameters to change, they will come to the conclusion that all diodes use .7V.
It would be much better to set the default for real life and let the engineers adjust it if needed. 

I've recently switched from using RS Design Spark to the NI Circuit Design Suite. In Design Spark, I used component models from componentsearchengine.com and imported them using a piece of software called Library Loader by SamecSys.


I was more than a little disappointed to learn that NI Multisim/Ultiboard is one of the few EDA's with which it is not compatible, and it's made me question whether switching to Multisim was the right choice for me.


I've contacted SamecSys to ask if there are any plans for compatibility with Multisim, and had a reply from Mark saying that he would love to make Library Loader compatible with Multisim/Ultiboard. He is ready to go with the project, but requires the co-operation of NI.

 

I've also contacted NI Technical Support and received the following response:

 

The best way for you to further this issue would be for yourself to post on the MultiSim/Ultiboard Ideas board which allows for our R&D department to see the requests of our customers. I believe a few people may have already posted about this issue but the more people that post the more likely it is for the issue to get raised!

 

I'm posting this request here in hope that it is seen by the right person.

 

Mark at SamecSys is ready to get to work with making Library Loader compatible with Multisim, he's just waiting for somebody at NI to get in touch with him and co-operate.

Our company has used Multisim/Ultiboard for about seventeen years now.  I wouldn't know how to calculate the opportunity cost for developing our corporate library of components, but it's safe to say it has been substantial.

 

Since importing component libraries would save time, I asked NI Technical Support about importing ECAD libraries.  

 

               "Unfortunately there is nothing on the roadmap for this feature right now. ECAD is certainly a requested feature and we are interested in                    potentially working it into the product. However, there is no any plan for a soon release."

 

I recommend to anyone considering purchasing PCB CAD software to consider this.

I would like the option to change the color of the PCB. This feature allows a versatile look before sending file to manufacturing.

Red, blue, purple, etc please 🙂

 

Thanks.

bits4bots@gmail.com 

 

 

Bits4Bots | Nibble MC DevBits4Bots | Nibble MC Dev

In instance where goal is to move a part a specific number of grid steps, it is useful to 

 

  1. select part by mouse click  Left arrow
  2. hold mouse button down
  3. press arrow key to move in direction of arrow

Ultiboard appears with Win 10 to require several pressings before the part moves one grid.  Seems that the queue for the keyboard is not flushed when left mouse button is depressed to choose part.  Or interupt does not response to first buttom push.

 

After part moves, Ultiboard accepts the next keyboard button press.  Hence, if moved say right to a location and then desire to move up.  Simply press the up arrow and instantly happens.

 

Simple request -  user interface issues of this sort make Ultiboard look like an unpolished program.  Bet fix does not take many lines of code, why not make Ultiboard super intuitive, and then a state of the art tool.

 

John E Kimura, Ph.D. Cantab

Sensorium, Inc.

President and CEO

MK Design, Inc.

President and Chief Scientist

We're using Multisim 13 here at the college and I'm using it to create schematics for an engineering text. I would love the following:

 

1. Ability to export schematics in .svg (structured vector graphics) for publication quality results. Screen captures are low res and produce larger files even when reduced to b&w.

 

2. Schematic text able to use subscripts. Perhaps a special character could be used to signal this (like in TeX). For example R_f means "R" with subscripted "f". Currently, I do this with two different text boxes using different font sizes and manually align them. Very inefficient.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim Fiore, Professor

Mohawk Valley CC

 

I am a university lexcturer and have  alarge number of Multisim 14 files that I use in teaching. I try to encourage students to install Mutisim on their own computers (it is available under our site licence), but most are not happy to do this for many reason including different OSes, lack of disk space etc. etc. . However, Multisim Live is the answer - but i need to be able to transfer my design across to it.

 

It would also be useful for me personally as I use a Mac for most things and have to revert to a PC for MS 14 😞

 

Please add an import function - you already have an export function 

It would be hugely beneficial to be able to print/export an Ultiboard silkscreen design, where the output is a searchable PDF.

 

Currently Multisim when printed to PDF is searchable. However Ultiboard draws the text differently and therefore it does not get recognized as text in the PDF output.

Currently, there is no way the save/export the paths under Options>Global Options to another computer. It will be useful to export the settings and paths of a certain setup more easily to have, for example, all the computers on a teaching Lab with the same Settings.

Exporting on as .png file is limiting in the sense that you actually have to crop the exported figure to have it fit nicely in a word document. Scaling of the figure also leads to a loss of quality. The grid in the background should also be removed on request.

 

As Microsoft word is largely used to create documents for students, the possibility to export as metafile would be useful to teachers.

 

p.s. Word does not fully support svg files but "export as .svg" would still be a nice option.

Hello,

 

I am missing a functionality which is common to few other design tools.

 

Description:

 

1) Select component

2) Type on keyboard: srx 30

3) Result: Selected component is moved relatively 30 units in x direction 

 

This is very efficient way how to position components on the board. You do not have to watch coordinates and carefully = slowly operate with mouse to place component in correct position. 

 

Best regards,

Jirkus