Get started with FRI3D
FRI3D is a fire modeling and visualization platform that uses industry standard codes like CFAST and FDS to perform advanced fire modeling and Fire probabilistic Risk Analysis
FRI3D runs permanently on all your physical/virtual servers, desktops, cloud deployments. It
currently runs on Windows distributions with no administrator previleges required.
System Requirements
FRI3D is a 64-bit Windows desktop application built with Qt 6. The requirements below cover both the general application (3D modeling and analysis) and the optional NVIDIA-accelerated fire/smoke volume visualization.
At a glance: FRI3D requires 64-bit Windows 10 version 1809 or later (or Windows 11), a 64-bit multi-core processor, 8 GB RAM (16 GB recommended), 3 GB free disk space, and a graphics card supporting OpenGL 4.3 with up-to-date drivers — integrated or dedicated (Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA). A dedicated NVIDIA GPU is required only for 3D fire/smoke visualization.
Minimum System Requirements
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows 10 version 1809 (64-bit) or later, or Windows 11 (64-bit). 32-bit Windows is not supported. |
| Processor | 64-bit Intel or AMD multi-core processor |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM (16 GB recommended) |
| Disk space | 3 GB free for installation |
| Graphics | Graphics card (Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA — integrated or dedicated) supporting OpenGL 4.3, with the latest manufacturer drivers installed |
| Runtime | Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 Redistributable (x64) — included with the FRI3D installer |
Graphics notes
- The 3D viewport requires an OpenGL 4.3-capable GPU with a current driver. This is independent of GPU brand — modern integrated Intel and AMD graphics work as well as dedicated cards.
- Most GPUs released since ~2012 meet the OpenGL 4.3 requirement, including Intel HD/UHD/Iris/Arc, AMD Radeon, and NVIDIA GeForce/Quadro/RTX.
- Keep graphics drivers up to date. Many display problems (blank or non-updating 3D windows) are caused by outdated GPU drivers rather than the hardware itself. Update to the latest driver from Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA before reporting a graphics issue.
Supported Operating Systems
- Microsoft Windows 10, version 1809 or later — 64-bit editions
- Microsoft Windows 11 — 64-bit editions
Recommended System Specifications
- 16 GB RAM
- For 3D fire/smoke volume visualization, a dedicated NVIDIA GPU with:
- CUDA compute capability 5.0 or higher
- NVIDIA Pascal generation or later
- NVIDIA driver version 471.11 or later
- 2 GB or more of GPU memory (visualization memory needs are scene-specific)
Notes
- Windows on ARM (ARM64) is not supported. FRI3D is distributed as a 64-bit x86_64 application; FRI3D and its dependencies are built for x86_64 only.
- The operating-system and runtime floor is set by Qt 6.10 (the framework FRI3D is built on): Windows 10 version 1809 / 64-bit / Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 runtime. A capable GPU does not lift this floor — FRI3D will not launch on Windows 8/8.1 or pre-1809 Windows 10.
References
Request an Evaluation
Install on Windows using a rar/zip package (Evaluation)
✅ Offline Installation:
No internet connection is required for ZIP package installation. The package is completely self-contained with all dependencies included.
If you receive a bundled zip file, this is usually done for evaluation licenses. Unzip locally and run FRI3D.exe from the unzip folder. All required components are included in the package - no additional downloads or internet access needed.
Install on Windows using an exe installer package (Installer)
✅ Offline Installation:
No internet connection is required for the EXE installer. The installer package is completely self-contained with all dependencies, libraries, and components included. You can install FRI3D on systems without internet access.
Run the bundled installer FRI3D_Windows.exe
Follow the prompts. Specify the Installation folder to a custom user folder if you don't have Administrator access or access to <Program Files> folder. The default is C:\Program Files\FRI3D. Select FRI3D component. Accept License Agreement.
After installation please proceed to licensing. Depending on the kind of license, you would have received a FRI3D.ini file embedded in the custom zip/installation. This file contains the licensing information . The following are the kinds of license available in FRI3D
License
Please follow the guidelines in the document FRI3D Licensing Guide for license installation.
Licensing (Evaluation)
- You would have received the Evaluation licence data file (with an extension .ini)
- Download the file and rename it to FRI3D.ini
- Copy FRI3D.ini to FRI3D installation Folder.
- Start FRI3D.
This runs the process as a regular user process
Licensing (Device/User)
- You would have received the Evaluation licence data file (with an extension .ini)
- Download the file and rename it to FRI3D.ini
- Copy FRI3D.ini to FRI3D installation Folder.
- Start FRI3D.
Licensing (Floating/Networked)
- For the floating license. NLicenseD needs to be installed and run first. Please refer to NLicenseD documentation for installing and running it.
- You would have received the Evaluation licence data file (with an extension .ini)
- Download the file and rename it to FRI3D.ini
- Copy FRI3D.ini to FRI3D installation Folder.
- Start FRI3D.
This is the recommended way to install FRI3D on a Windows system.
Licensing
Please refer to the licensing page for obtaining and installing license(s) for FRI3D.