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Introduction to Rhino

Download & Install

Rhino Download for macOS - Free for 90 days.
Purchase: $95 Education License from CU Bookstore.

Rhinoceros will be in your Applications folder after install.

The Basics

Objective: Become familiar with the Rhino interface and workflow in order to create 3d models.

Interface

  • Understanding the User Interface
    • Viewports (Top, Left, Right, Perspective)
    • Coordinates (X, Y, Z). X = Red, Y = Green, Z = Blue
    • Windows (Multiple Windows Open == Multiple Files Open)
    • Render Modes (Wireframe, Ghosted, etc)
    • Toolbars (macOS)
      • Left Sidebar - Command Line, Osnaps
      • Right Sidebar - Layers
    • Buttons = Commands. Almost all buttons are tied to a command you can type in.
    • Menus / Sub-Menus (Little triangle on a button)
    • The Command Line (Top Left) - Just type something...anything. See what happens! ESC to exit command.
      • Repeat last command with Right Mouse Button > Repeat Command.
    • Movement (Zoom (Two-finger pinch), ZS, Pan (Right mouse click), Orbit, Gumball)
      • macOS Tip: Turn off two-finger mouse zooming (but allow pinch zooming) by unchecking "Enable magic mouse gestures" under Rhino > Preferences > Mouse > Magic Mouse.
    • Hiding / Showing objects (Light Bulb on Layers; Hide / Show Commands)
    • Units - Changing Units, Grid (File > Settings > Units)
    • The Grid (File > Settings > Grid to change), Osnaps (Snapping options on bottom half of left sidebar)
  • Working with Layers (Right Sidebar)
    • Layer Name
    • Colors (RGB)
    • Hide/ Show(Light Bulb)
    • Active Layer (Radio Button) - This determines where you are creating new geometry.
    • Other Panels - Object Properties, Display Properties, etc

Geometry

  • Drawing Geometry
    • 2D Geometry - Curves, Surfaces, Polycurves, Text
    • 3D Geometry - Surfaces, Polysurfaces, Solids
    • Isocurves - "Hidden" curves located on / making up surfaces.
    • Object Details (Selection) - See information about a selected object in the lower right sidebar.
    • NURBS (Non-uniform rational B-spline) vs Mesh
    • Turn On/Off points on curve with PointsOn and PointsOff or F10 key.
  • Transform Commands
    • Copy
    • Move
    • Scale
    • Rotate
  • Manipulate Geometry
    • Explode, Join
    • Join vs Group
    • Trim
    • Selection - SelCrv, SelSrf, SelPts
    • Loft
    • Pipe

File Input / Output

  • File types: 3DM, STL, OBJ, EPS, DXF
  • How should you export a file for fabrication?
    • STL or OBJ - 3D Printing, CNC Milling
    • DXF, AI, EPS - Laser Cutting

Additional Commands

There are many commands available in Rhino. Above and below are just a few of the most used commands. Check out the Rhino 6 Command List and Rhino 6 for Windows commands not in Rhino 6 for Mac to learn more.

  • PictureFrame
  • Contour
  • MeshtoNURB
  • Distance
  • Dim
  • Boolean commands
  • Hide / Show
  • Offset
  • DupBorder
  • ExtractWireframe
  • Text
  • TextObject
  • SelDup
  • ExtrudeSrf
  • Make2D

Intro to Rhino Example

This example can be found in the cm-design/rhino/intro-to-rhino folder.

Download the repo as a zip and locate the intro-to-rhino.3dm file. We will work through this together.

Generator or "Factory" Examples

Produce variations of a 3d model from a "generator" or "factory". This means to work iteratively to explore a form making process where the designer changes features of the system to produce a family of different results. This process takes advantage of the History command to associate recorded parameters to each other, which is a characteristic of Parametric Modeling as done naturally in Fusion 360 and further enabled through Grasshopper.

The following examples are in the cm-design/rhino folder.

Example 1: Parametric Loft Generator

  1. Draw two circles and a hexagon on the Top viewport
  2. Goto Perspective and move one circle up and the hexagon into the space between the circles.
  3. Turn on History (Top tool bar)
  4. Loft between the 3 curves starting from the bottom
  5. Turn off History
  6. Manipulate the curves to produce different results. When you change a curve you should see the resulting Lofted form change.
  7. Make a copy of the lofted form to the right.
  8. Repeat until you have several forms

Example 2: Parametric Revolve Generator

  1. Draw an interpolated or straight profile curve in the ZX plane in the Front viewport.
  2. Goto Perspective and select the curve.
  3. Turn on History (Top tool bar)
  4. Revolve a full 360 deg around the center axis (Z Up direction) with the curve. This will produce a 3d form.
  5. Turn off History
  6. Manipulate the control points from the single profile curve to produce different results. To do this, turn on control points with PointsOn (F10) and click to drag. The Gumball feature helps to move objects in a scene. When you change the curve you should see the resulting Revolved form change.
  7. Make a copy of the revolved form to the right.
  8. Repeat until you have several forms

Example 3: Parametric Pipe Generator

  1. Draw a curve in the Front viewport.
  2. Goto Perspective and manipulate the curve using control points (PointsOn).
  3. Turn on History (Top tool bar)
  4. Pipe along the curve, setting different radii along the length of the curve.
  5. Turn off History
  6. Manipulate the curves to produce different results. When you change a curve you should see the resulting Pipe form change.
  7. Make a copy of the form to the right.
  8. Repeat until you have several forms

Example 4: Parametric Surface Generator

  1. Draw a curve on the XY plane seen from the Top viewport
  2. Goto Perspective viewport and select curve, use PlanarSrf to create a surface.
  3. Select the surface and enter Rebuild. Use a U and V division of 10 for each. This will create a dense grid of points on the surface, increasing the number of isocurves.
  4. History is enabled by default with this type of surface. Manipulate the control points (PointsOn) to make new forms.
  5. Make a copy of the form to the right.
  6. Repeat until you have several forms

Student Examples