Rhinoceros: Academic Year 2010/2011

Rhinoceros 4.
0
Academic Year 2010/2011
Institut 4 - Institut for design og kommunikation

www.karch.dk | inst4@karch.dk
Content
Introduction
The Interface
3d Model
11
Selections and Workspace
15
Manipulating Objects
19
Precision
25
Structures: Group - Block
28
Solid Modeling
32
Tietgen Dormitories
37
Print to PDF
43
Curves
44
Edit 2D Curves
45
Side Chair
46
Cantilever Chair
48
Control Point Editing
50
Alto Vase
51
Surfaces
53
Wine Glass
54
Loft and Unroll
55
Campo Volantin Footbridge
56
Sweep
61
Sweep2
62
Juicy Salif
63
Escher Tower
65
Modeling Aids
68
Introduction
This course material is intended for students who have 3D modeling skills at the level of the first year course in SketchUp.
Comparisons to SketchUp and AutoCAD will occur as many operations are very similar in one or the other program. Some students will be familiar with
AutoCAD from other schools and can benefit greatly from the identity of command shortcuts.
Rhino overview
Rhino is a very versatile program that can take the place of several other programs performing different funtions.
The tools for 2D drawing and precision modeling can take the place of most CAD programs
Freeform modeling in 3D space is advanced to the level of the vey best modelers, and as accessible as sketch programs.
Precision modeling
Modeling in Rhino supports any degree of precision in 2D or 3D as needed. You can organize drawings on layers and assign line widths and colors in the
manner of standard CAD programs.
Surface modeling
Rhino is a sketching tool as you can build virtually any shape on the basis of curves with no regard to scale and units.
Rhino is NOT parametric in the sense that you cannot step back in the modeling process and change dimensions of object.
One exception is the case where you temporarily turn on the Record History feature. Another is the use of the Grasshopper plug-in.
In any other case, the only way to trace back your steps is to undo the previous operation one by one, very similar to Adobes undo et. al.
But Rhino has plenty of ways to go around these issues.
The major strength of the program is to build surfaces from curves. The underlying curves are the moldable basis of virtually any geometry.
MESH versus NURBS

SketchUp, for example, uses only mesh to show and calculate geometry. This is apparent from the fact that all shapes are built from planar polygons,
often triangles.
Mesh is the fast and efficient method if there is no need for shaping of single and double curved surfaces. Rhino handles import and export of meshes and
some editing, but the major strength is in Rhinos focus on NURBS.
Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines are mathematical representations able to define any shape of object; straight lines, boxes, and curves surfaces. NURBS
objects are moldable and are shown smooth and without edges as the perfect mathematical models they are.
Solid modeling
In Rhino, solids are made from closed surfaces. They are either a single surface with edges meeting, or from two or more surfaces joined together, i.e.
surfaces or polysurfaces.
Editing and deformation of surfaces happens one surface at a time. Meaning that polysurfaces cannot be deformed in union. They must be separated,
deformed and joined (explode, edit, join). One exception is via UDT (uniform editig technology) allowing for the deformation of polysurfaces.
2D and 3D Renderings
2D rendering of 3D models are crucial to the presentation of architectural projects. Rhino makes 2D plans, sections and elevations from 3D objects that
can be exported to any format.
3D rendering with lights and materials are expandable with plug-ins to all major render engines. Most used are V-Ray, 3D studio Max Mental Ray, Maxwell
and Flamingo. Rhino has a basic built-in render with lights and basic materials (No ray tracing).
RHINOCEROS 4.0, KUNSTAKADEMIETS ARKITEKTSKOLE, INSTITUT FOR DESIGN OG KOMMUNIKATION 20 0 9
Exercise 1
THE INTERFACE
Menu Bar
Command History Window
Command Prompt
Standard Toolbar
Graphics Area with 4 Viewports
World Axes Ikon

Viewport Title
Main 1 & 2 Toolbars
Status Bar
Welcome to this course. In the first exercise the interface
of Rhino will be explained. The above illustration shows
all the names of the different elements of the standard
Rhino Screen.
Open a new file:
______________________________________________________________
Start Rhino.
The Rhino Screen opens with all the elements of the standard screen except the 4 Viewports.
You are asked to select a Model Size and a Unit.
Click on some of the choices, and see the recommended sizes.
Also notice the Absolute Tolerance. That is the smallest value, Rhino uses for certain calculations.
Select Small Objects: Meters, and click Open.
______________________________________________________________
FLOATING WINDOWS
All elements on Screen except the Menu Bar and the Status
Bar can be moved.
Resizing and moving Viewports:
______________________________________________________________
Place the Cursor on one of the inner Edges of a Viewport.

Hold down the Left Mouse Button and Drag the Edge to a new position.
Try it with one of the others.
Place the Cursor on one of the Viewport Titles.
Hold down the Left Mouse Button and Drag the Viewport to a new position.
Double Click on a Viewport Title, and the Viewport turns Full Screen.
Double Click the Viewport Title again, and the Viewport returns to its original size.
______________________________________________________________
RHINO- BASIC MODELLING, V 0.1 DRAFT, KUNSTAKADEMIETS ARKITEKTSKOLE, INSTITUT FOR DESIGN OG KOMMUNIKATION 2009
HELP
Rhino has two very efficient Help systems. When the F1 key
is pressed you get the big full screen complete Help; but
even better, there is the Command Context window, that
gives help, while one is working.
Open and dock the Command Context window:
______________________________________________________________
Select Help/Command Help, and the Command Help Window is opened.

If the Window is floating, move it to the left of the Screen until it Docks.
If you find it too broad, it can be made smaller by Draging its Frame.
______________________________________________________________
COMMANDS
The basis of Rhino is a written Command Language, which
makes it possible to write Scripts i.e. programmes that
automates series of commands.
Commands can be executed in three different ways, and it
depends on temperament, which is the best. They can be
found on the Menu and the Toolbars or they can be written.
Command Prompt and Command History

When a command is executed a conversation starts At the
Command Prompt. For each following steps taken, the contents of the Command Prompt will be scrolled up in the
Command History Window, where you can follow what you
have done.
In the following commands will be presented like this:
Command: Polyline
Menu:
Curve/Polylline/Polyline
Now you are going to make a polyline, while you notice,the
Command Prompt.
Start a Polyline in the Top Viewport:
______________________________________________________________
Double click the Viewport Title of the Top Viewport, so it becomes full screen.
Select Curve/Polyline/Polyline from the Menu Bar.
Study the Command Help window:
______________________________________________________________
Now the command is described in the Command Help Window.

Press the Arrow Button on the Illustration, and play the animation.
Start Polyline from Menu:
______________________________________________________________
Notice that the Command Prompt is waiting for a command:

Command:
Notice the Command History Window and the Command Prompt:
Command: _Polyline
Start of polyline
Pick two points, and a Line Segment appears.
Pick another point, and you have a Polyline of two Segment.
The Command Prompt shows:
Next point of polyline. Press Enter when done (Close Mode=Line Helpers=No Length Undo)
______________________________________________________________
RHINO- BASIC MODELLING, V 0.1 DRAFT, V 0.9 UDKAST, KUNSTAKADEMIETS ARKITEKTSKOLE, INSTITUT FOR DESIGN OG KOMMUNIKATION 2009
Enter
The Command Prompt tells you to Press Enter to finish the
Polyline. This can be done in three different ways. One
can press the Enter-key or the Space-bar, which are the
ways to separate Commands, when scripting. When you
works interactive, one use the Right Mouse Button, which
is the fastest.
In the following, when you are asked to press ENTER, you
must press the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON.
Enter repeats last command

Enter is used in several connections. When a command has
been finished, a press on Enter (Right Mouse Button) will
repeat the Command.
Finish the Polyline and repeat the Command:
______________________________________________________________
The Command Prompt shows:

Press Enter (Right Mouse Button) to finish the Polyline
Command:
Press Enter (Right Mouse Button) to repeat the command.
Pick some points, and finish with Enter.
______________________________________________________________
Command Options
When drawing the Polyline a series of Options are shown in
parentheses at the Command Prompt. They can be activated
with a Click or by their Underlined Keyboard Shortcut. Notice especially Close and Undo.
Draw a closed Polyline:
______________________________________________________________
Press Enter to repeat the Polyline command.

Pick 3 points.
Click Close on Command Prompt, and the Polyline is Closed and Finished.
______________________________________________________________
Write Command
Commands can also be written. When one starts to write a
Command, a list of choices appears. The more letters one
writes the narrower the list becomes.
Write the Polyline Command:
______________________________________________________________
Command:
Write Pol at the Command Prompt. Now you have a List of 3 choices.
Select Polyline and draw it.
______________________________________________________________
TOOLS ON TOOLBARS
Many commands can also be found on Buttons on Toolbars. A
Button can contain two different Tools. They will be shown
on a Tool Tip, when the Cursor rests on it. The Polyline Button also cover the _Lines Command. The two functions are
activated by the Left or the Right Mouse Button.
Start a Polyline using the button:
______________________________________________________________
The Polyline Button is at the top of the Main 1 Toolbar.

Place the Cursor on the Polyline Button, and keep it still.
The Tool Tip shows the Left and Right options.
Make a Polyline.
______________________________________________________________
Flyout and Pulloff Toolbars

The Polyline Button has a small white arrow in the corner.
That shows it has a Linked Toolbar. Linked Toolbars can also
have Linked Toolbars.
Fly out the Lines Toolbar and Pull it off:
______________________________________________________________
Place the Cursor on the Polyline Button.

Hold down the Mouse Button and the Lines Toolbar flies out.
Place the Cursor on its Title Bar, and drag it off.
______________________________________________________________
The Buttons with grey background at the top of the two

Main Toolbars contain 2d graphic functions. You can try some
of them. In the Command Help Window you will often find
a description of their function and where to find them on
the Menu Bar.
Complete List of Toolbars:

______________________________________________________________
Right Click in the Grey Aria under the two Main Toolbars,
and a Complete List of Rhinos Toolbars pops up.
Scroll Down until you see Lines, Main 1, and Main 2. They are all Checked.
Uncheck Lines, and the Lines Toolbar disappears.
Check it again, and the Toolbar appears again.
______________________________________________________________
UNDO REDO
In Rhino one can Undo and Redo both single steps and multiple.
Undo and Redo:
______________________________________________________________
Left and Right Click the Undo Button up on the Standard Toolbar.
Now you are Undoing and Redoing.
Select the Edit Menu and try Undo and Redo Multiple.
Finish with everything undone.
______________________________________________________________
NUMERIC INPUT
Instead of Picking Points with the mouse, they can be entered numerically in several ways.
The Coordinate System

The Red and Green Lines represent the X and Y Axis of the
Coordinate System, and they meet in its Origin 0,0.
Coordinates are separated by a coma, e.g. 1,2,3.
The Grid
You also see a grid of lines. They are spaced by 1 meter,
as you chose to work in meters. Every fifth line is marked
heavy. They are Major lines and represent 5 meters.
Decimal Numbers
In decimal numbers the number and its decimals are separated by a period, like: 5.55.
Absolute Coordinates
Polar
Relative
Absolute Coordinates places points in the Coordinate System

relative to the Origin.
Absolute
The result of the next exercises must look like the illustration, if they are done right.
Relative Polar
Draw Polyline with Absolute Coordinates:

______________________________________________________________
Start a Polyline.
Type 0 (a single zero defines the Origin) and press Enter (Right Mouse Button).
Type 5,3 and press Enter.
Press Enter to finish the Polyline.
______________________________________________________________
Relative Coordinates
Relative Coordinates places points in the Coordinate System
relative to last entered point.
Draw Polyline with Relative Coordinates:
______________________________________________________________
Repeat the Polyline Command with Enter.

Type 0 and press Enter.
Type R10.5,0 and press Enter.
This line was drawn relatively to the point 5,5.
______________________________________________________________
Polar Coordinates
Polar Coordinates places points in the Coordinate System,
by a distance and an angle relative to the Origin.
Draw Polyline with Polar Coordinates:
______________________________________________________________
Repeat the Polyline Command.

Type 8<60 and press Enter.
Type 8<120 and press Enter.
______________________________________________________________
Relative Polar Coordinates
Relative Polar Coordinates places points in the Coordinate
System, by a distance and an angle relative to last entered
point.
Draw Polyline with Relative Polar Coordinates:
______________________________________________________________
Repeat the Polyline Command.

Type 0,-7 and press Enter.
Type R8<30 and press Enter.
______________________________________________________________
Distance Constraint
Instead of writing Coordinates one can write the length of
the line one intend to draw. This is called Distance Constraints.
Draw Polyline with Distance Constraints:
______________________________________________________________
Start a Polyline.
Pick at Point to start a Polyline.
Write 6 and press Enter (Right Mouse Button).
Move the Cursor freely around the point. You are rotating a line arround the Starting Point.
Click somewhere to fix the line.
Try it again with the next segment of the Polyline.
______________________________________________________________
ORTHO
A lot of architects drawings are rectangular and parallel to
the Axes of the Coordinate System. To draw parallel to the
Coordinate System Ortho (Orthographical) can be turned on.
Draw Polyline with Ortho and Distance Constraints:
______________________________________________________________
Start a Polyline.
Pick at Point to start a Polyline.
Hold Down the Shift-key, and Move the Cursor around.
Now you can only Point parallel to the Axes of the Coordinate System. Ortho is On.
Pick a Point.
Release the Shift-key and Ortho is Off. You have Toggled Ortho On and Off.
Turn On Permanent Ortho:
______________________________________________________________
Click Ortho Marked down on the Status Bar. Now Ortho is Permanently On.
Draw a few Segments, and End the Polyline.

Draw Polyline with Ortho and Distance Constraints:
______________________________________________________________
Start a Polyline.
Write a Length of a line and press Enter. Click the line in place.
Write another Length and place it perpendicular to the first.
End the Polyline.
Click Ortho Unmarked down on the Status Bar. Now Ortho is Off.
______________________________________________________________
The combination of Ortho and Distance Constraint is very

similar to working with Ruler and Triangle.
Settings of Ortho
Ortho can be set to follow any angle. In the appendix of
this compendium you can read, how to do that.
SNAP TO GRID
In the Graphical Area the Construction Plane contains a
Grid of Lines. Every tenth line are marked a little darker.
By Snapping to the Grid one can work precisely without
writing Coordinates.
Turn On Snap to Grid and Draw a Polyline:
______________________________________________________________
Click Snap Marked down on the Status Bar. Now Snap is On.
Start a Polyline and Draw some Segments.

Notice that all the points are placed in the intersection of the Grid Lines.
End the Polyline.
______________________________________________________________
10
3D MODEL
Exercise 2
This exercise takes a look on and inside a 3d model, how to

display it, and how to manipulate both views and objects.
For this you need the model of the Temple at Siliconos.
File of the exercise:

______________________________________________________________
Close the Command Help Window.

Select File/Open and open the file 2 Temple.3dm from the Rhino Course folder.
______________________________________________________________
DISPLAY MODEL
In the three planar views the model is shown as Wireframe,
while the perspective is Shaded. On the Viewport Title Menu
you will find several choices for displaying the model. On
the Standard Toolbar there are even more, including tools
for making animations.
Try the different ways to display a model:
______________________________________________________________
Right Click the Viewport Title of the Perspective Viewport.

Try the choices Wireframe, Shaded, Rendered and X-Ray.
______________________________________________________________
Remember that you can always check the function of a
command in the Command Help Window.
11
VIEWS - VIEWING THE MODEL

In the Graphic Area you have four Viewports displaying the
model in Four different projections, the Viewport Title tells
you which projections.
Set and save views

From the Standard Toolbar the Set View Toolbar can be
fetched. From this the projections in the viewports can
be changed.
It is also possible to Save a view. This is especially useful
for saving perspectives for presentation.
Command:
NamedView
Menu:
View/Set View/Named Views
Viewport Title Menu: Set View/Named Views
Save the Perspective View:
______________________________________________________________
Right Click the Title of the Perspective Viewport.

Select Set View/Named Views, and the Named Views Window pops up.
Click Save, and the Save Views Window appears.
Save the current View settings as: My View, and click OK.
Close the Named Views Window.
Later you will see, how to Restore a Saved View.
______________________________________________________________
Pan, Zoom and Orbit
By using the Wheel of the Mouse, its Right Button, and
Shift+Right Button, one can manipulate the Views in the
Viewports.
Zoom, Pan and Orbit:
______________________________________________________________
Activate the different Viewports and Roll the Wheel of the Mouse. You are Zooming.
Notice that you are Zooming around the Position of the Cursor.
Try the Right Mouse Button in the Viewports.
The Planner Viewports Pan, The Perspective Orbits around the Target of the Camera.
Pan the Perspective by Shift+Right Mouse Button.
______________________________________________________________
Manipulation of views with Buttons
On the Standard Toolbar there are several buttons for manipulating Viewports and their contents.
Zoom Extents - Undo View Change:
______________________________________________________________
Rest the Cursor on the Zoom Extents Button and read the Tool Tip.
Try the Button with both Mouse Buttons.
Also try Undo View Change.
______________________________________________________________
12
Restoring a saved view

If you look at the Title of the Perspective Viewport, you will
see, that it is still named My View, even though you have
changed the view several times.
That is a bug in the programme. The title of the Viewport
should have changed Perspective, the first time you changed
the view. It is not My View you are looking at. You will see
that, when you restore the view.
Restore My View:
______________________________________________________________
Right Click the Title of the Viewport with the Perspective.

Open the Set View Menu.
Now you can either select Named Views, or directly restore My View from the bottom of the Menu.
______________________________________________________________
PROPERTIES
Everything from Viewports to Objects has their properties,
they are shown and manipulated in the Properties Window.
Therefore it is a good idea, to have it open all the time.
Command: Properties
Menu:
Edit/Object Properties
Keyboard: F3
Open the Properties Window:
______________________________________________________________
Open the Properties Window.

Dock it to the Right of the Graphics Area.
______________________________________________________________
Command:
Menu:
Keyboard:
Viewport Title:
Camera
View/Set Camera/Show Camera
F6
Set Camera/Show Camera
Show the Camera:

______________________________________________________________
Click the Perspective Viewport active.

Press F6 to get the Camera shown in the other Viewports.
______________________________________________________________
The Camera and its Properties
Now you see a representation of the Camera in the three
Viewports with planner views. In the Properties window the
settings og the Camera is listed.
Lift the Camera:
______________________________________________________________
Change the Z Location of the Camera form 1.70 to 5 in the Properties Window.
Now the Camera was lifted.
______________________________________________________________
13
OBJECT PROPERTIES
When an object is selected, its properties are shown in the
Properties Window.
See the Properties of the objects of the model:
______________________________________________________________
Click on the objects of the model.

In the Properties Window you see their Name and the Layer they are on.
______________________________________________________________
LAYERS
The model is structured on layers. Rhino works with a hierarchical structure of layers.
Open the Layer Window and unfold the Layer Hierarchy:

______________________________________________________________
Click the Edit Layer button on the Standard Toolbar, and the Layer Window opens.
Dock it under the Properties Window.
Click the + button in front of the Model Layer, and it opens.
Open all the Layers in the hierarchy.
Turn Layers On and Off:
______________________________________________________________
Click the Light Bulbs and study how the model is structured on the layers.
The Padlock locks the Layers.
______________________________________________________________
Changing Layer
The Flyout menu of the Edit Layer button contains several
ways of manipulating Objects and Layers; but if one wants
to put an Object to a different Layer, it is done very easy
in the Properties Window.
Move a Column to the Plate Layer:
______________________________________________________________
Click a Column Selected.

In the Properties Window click Columns in the Layer Field.
Select Plate from the List of Layers. The Column turns green.
______________________________________________________________
14
SELECTIONS and WORK SPACE
Exercise 3
IN the next exercise you will manipulate the objects of the

model; but first you must learn how to Select objects, and
at the end of the exercise you will see how Units, Grid,
and Snap are set.
______________________________________________________________
Open the file 3 Selecting Objects.3dm (the same as the previous).
______________________________________________________________
SELECTING OBJECTS
In the last exercise you tried to select single objects,but
there are many different ways to select more than one
object.
Selecting several objects one by one

When holding down the Shift key, one can select more objects one by one by clicking on them. In Wireframe one
must hit one of its visible edges.
Deselecting objects
By clicking in a viewport where one does not hit an object,
all selected objects are deselected.
Holding down the Ctrl key one can deselect single selected
objects by clikking on them.
Selection Menu
If one points at several objects covering each other, a Selection Menu pops up. From this the wanted object can be
selected.
15
Select and deselect one by one:

______________________________________________________________
Hold down the Shift Key and select several Objects.

Hold down the Ctrl Key and deselect several Objects.
Click a place where you do not hit any objects, and all selected objects are deselected.
Selection Menu:
______________________________________________________________
Cilck on a Column in the Right Viewport.

A Selection Menu listing all 4 Columns pops up.
Move the Cursor over the List and see, the different Columns are marked.
Select one of them from the list.
______________________________________________________________
Selecting by frame
Several objects can also be selected by Frame. If the Frame
is drawn from Left To Right one is selecting by Window, i.e.
all objects inside the frame are selected.
If the Frame is drawn from Right To Left one is selecting
by Crossing, and all objects inside and crossing the frame
are selected.
Select by Window and Crossing:
______________________________________________________________
Drag out a Frame from Left to Right around the Temple Building, and the Building is selected.
Drag out a Frame from Right to Left around the Temple Building.
This time everything inside and crossing the Frame are selected.
Deselect all.
______________________________________________________________
The Select Flyout
All, Previous, by Layer
From the Standard Tool one can get the Select Toolbar, where especially four buttons are commonly
used.
Select Previous:
______________________________________________________________
Pull off the Select Toolbar from the Standard Toolbar.

Click Select Previous Selection and the previous selection is selected.
Deselect all.
Select All:
______________________________________________________________
Click Select All or press Ctrl+A and All objects are selected.
Deselect all.
Select by Layer:
______________________________________________________________
Click Select by Layer.

Doubleclick Base on the Layer to select list. All objects on the Layer Base are selected.
Deselect all.
______________________________________________________________
16
Select by Name
Objects can also be selected by Name. This gives the possibility build a structure across the structure of Layers. A
model of a building structured on Layers in many ways. E.g.
the windows on the first floor can be placed on the layer
Windows, which is a sublayer of the layer First Floor. Thus all
objects making the windows are placed on different Layers.
Later on when materials has to be assigned to the objects,
it will be quite a job to find all the windowpanes. But if all
names of objects made of glass had a name starting with
G, they would easily be located.
In the Temple model all Names of box shaped objects start
with a B.
Select by Name:
______________________________________________________________
Select a box shaped object. In the Properties Window you see, that its Name starts with a B.
Click Select Object by Name, and the Command Prompt writes:
Object name to select:
Type B* and press Enter. All box shaped objects are selected.
Deselect all.
______________________________________________________________
Selecting from Menu and Command Prompt

As all other commands the Selection Commands can be
found on the Menu Bar or written at the Command Prompt.
Select from Menu:
______________________________________________________________
Select Edit/Select Objects, and you get a Menu of Selection Choices.

Select from Command Prompt:
______________________________________________________________
Write Sel at the Command Prompt. Here you get a complete list of Selection Command.
______________________________________________________________
THE WORK SPACE

The model are shown in four Viewports. In each Viewport
the Construction Plane is marked by the Grid. You have 3
Construction Planes, that intersect in the Origin of the coordinate system (0,0,0). The Origin of the Grids are marked
by a Red and Green Axis. The Origin is placed at the the
lower left corner of the Plateau of the Temple.
All creation and manipulation of objects are carried out in
relation to the Construction Plane of the active Viewport.
DOCUMENT PROPERTIES
When a new project is started some of its Properties are already set by selecting units for either a big or small object.
17
Units
When you work with Rhino you cannot see what a unit
represent.
Rhino Options:
______________________________________________________________
Click the Golden Gear Wheel at the right end of the Standard Menu.
The Rhino Options Window pops up.
______________________________________________________________
See Units and Tolerances:
______________________________________________________________
In the Document Properties part click Units.

- The Units are set to Meters.
- Absolute tolerance is the smallest value, Rhino uses for certain calculations.
______________________________________________________________
Grid and Snap

All the objects of the model are placed exactly in the Grid,
and to make them stay there when moved, one Snaps to
the grid.
Setting of Grid and Snap:
______________________________________________________________
Click Grid in the Document Properties.

- The Grid Extents 40 meters in all directions from the Origin.
- There is a Grid Line for every 1 meter.
- Every 10th Grid Line is a Major Line, and thus marks every 1 meter.
- Notice how Grid and Axes are Turned On and Off.
- Notice that the Grid and the Snap are set separately.
- The Snap is set to 0.5 metres.
Close the Rhino Options Window.
F7-key toggles the Grid On and Off:

______________________________________________________________
Click the Top Viewport Active.
Click the F7-key and the Grid is turned Off.
Click F7 again to turn the Grid back On again.
______________________________________________________________
18
MANIPULATING OBJECTS
Exercise 4
In this exercise you will learn how to Move, Copy, Rotate,

Scale, Mirror, and Delete objects.
______________________________________________________________
Open the file 4 Manipulations.3dm (the same as the previous).
______________________________________________________________
Grid and Snap

Now you are nearly ready to do your first move Move, but
to be sure that the objects stays in the Grid, you must turn
on the Snap.
Turn Snap to Grid On, and study the model:
______________________________________________________________
Click Snap ON down on the Status Bar.

Study how the Model is placed in the grid.
- The Model is drawn in a 0.5 meter module.
- Remember that the snap is set to 0.5 meters equal to the module of the model.
______________________________________________________________
DRAGGING OBJECTS
When no command is activated, objects can be dragged to
a new position by the Cursor. Several selected objects can
be dragged too.
When moving objects it is always done parallel to the Construction Plane of the active Viewport.
19
Drag the Roof down on the Plate:

______________________________________________________________
Place the Cursor on one of the Edges of the Roof down in the Right Viewport.
Hold down the Right Mouse Button and Drag the Roof down on the Plate in front of the Temple.
In the Top Viewport Drag the Roof to a new position on the Plate.
- Notice how the Roof jumps in the Grid.
Drag the rest of the Building down on the Plate:
______________________________________________________________
Select the rest of the Building, and Drag it from the Plateau down on the Plate.
______________________________________________________________
TRANSFORMS
In Rhino tools for manipulating objects are listed under
Transform.
their buttons are found at the bottom of the Main Toolbars,
and on the Move Flyout Toolbar.
Command: Move Copy Rotate Scale Mirror Array

Menu:
Transform
To use a Transform Command one need to select the objects
one wants to transform. Objects can be selected before
one enters the Command. If no objects are selected when
a Command is entered, one will be asked to select objects,
Move:
______________________________________________________________
Select the Roof.
Start the Move Command by Writing, from Menu or Toolbar.
Point to move from ( Vertical=No ):
Click a point in the Top Viewport.
Point to move to <1.00>:
Move the Roof to its new position.
Repeat the Command:
______________________________________________________________
Click the Right Mouse Button (Enter) and Move is restarted.

Move the Roof to its new position.
Repeat the Command a couple of times to get the feeling of repeating a Command.
Move Vertical to the Construction Plane:
______________________________________________________________
Repeat the Move Command.

Click ( Vertical=No ) at the Command Prompt.
Point to move from ( Vertical=Yes ):
Make the move in the Top Viewport. Now you are moving perpendicular to the Construction Plane.
_____________________________________________________________
20
Move Without a Preselected Object:

______________________________________________________________
Deselect the Roof.

Repeat the Move Command.
Select objects to move:
Select the Roof or several Objects by Frame.
Select objects to move. Press Enter when done:
Click the Right Mouse Button (Enter).
Make your Move.
____________________________________________________________________
Copy
The Copy Command is very similar to Move. Instead of moving Objects, one is moving Copies.
Copy:
______________________________________________________________
Select one or more Objects.

Start the Copy Command.
Point to copy from ( Vertical=No InPlace ):
- Vertical=No you know.
- InPlace makes a Copy on top of the original.
Click a Point.
Point to copy to:
Click a new Point.
Make as many Copies you want. Finish with Enter from the Mouse (RMB).
_____________________________________________________________
Deleting Objects
Now you have probably made far to many copies, so you
must delete the unwanted ones.
Delete unwanted Objects:
______________________________________________________________
Select the Objects, that you want to Delete.

Press the Delete Key on the Keyboard.
_____________________________________________________________
Copies On Line
The Copy Command has three more Options. Here you will
use them to place the Copies on a line with the same distance.
Delete unwanted Objects:
______________________________________________________________
Select an Object, and start the Copy Command.

Place a Copy close to the first. At the Command Prompt you see:
Point to copy to ( FromLastPoint=No UseLastDistance=No UseLastDirection=No ):
Click the three choices to change No to Yes:
Point to copy to ( FromLastPoint=Yes UseLastDistance=Yes UseLastDirection=Yes ):
Click in the Viewport to place the Copies.
- Notice that it is of importance, where you point in the important.
_____________________________________________________________
21
Copy by Drag + Alt

Earlier you have seen that you can Move an Object by dragging it. You can also make Copies by dragging without activating the Copy Command.
Copy by Dragging:
______________________________________________________________
Select one or more Objects.

Start to Drag.
Hold down the Alt-key, when you Stop the Drag. Now the Objest(s) are Copied.
_____________________________________________________________
Array
Copies can also be created in Arrays. There are two kinds of
Arrays. Rectangular, where the Copies are placed on rows
inside a Box, and Polar, where the Copies are placed in a
circle.
Rectangular Array:
______________________________________________________________
In the Top Viewport, Zoom In on the Spy on the Plate. Not too close.
Select the Spy, and Activate the Rectangular Array Command.
Number in X direction <1>:
Write 3, and press Enter.
Number in Y direction <1>:
Number in Z direction <1>:
Press Enter to Accept the Value in Brackets.
Unit cell or X spacing:
Now you have the Choice of entering the Spacing in the X-Direction or a Unit Cell.
Pick a Point as the first Corner of a Unit Cell.
Other corner or length:
Pick the Opposite Corner of the Unit Cell. A Single Grid Square will be suitable.
Press Enter to accept ( XNumber=3 XSpacing YNumber=5 YSpacing ):
Press Enter to Accept your Input. Now you have a Regiment of Soldiers.
______________________________________________________________
Polar Array:
______________________________________________________________
Drag a Copy (+Alt) of one of the Spies away from the Regiment.
Select the Copy, and Activate the Polar Array Command.
Center of polar array:
Pick a Point about 2 Grid Lines away from the Selected Spy.
Number of items <1>:
Write 9 and press Enter.
Angle to fill or first reference point <360> ( StepAngle ):
Press Enter to Accept <360> to fill a Full Circle.
Now you got a Spy Ring.
Notice in the Perspective Viewport, that all the Spies look different, because they are Rotated.
______________________________________________________________
22
Fix Point, Handle, and Action.

To Rotate and Scale one must define three points to complete the action:
- Select a Fix Point to Rotate around or Scale from.
- Select a Handle.
- Make the Action.
Rotate:
______________________________________________________________
Select a Roof, and Start the Rotate Command.
Center of rotation ( Copy ):
Click at one of the Corners of the Roof (Fix Point).
Angle or first reference point ( Copy ):
Here you have three Options:
- Write the Angle of Rotation.
- Select to make a Copy.
- Pick a Handle and make the Rotation.
______________________________________________________________
Rotate With Handle:
______________________________________________________________
Click another Corner of the Roof (Handle).

Second reference point ( Copy ):
Now you have a Handle, and can finish the Rotation.
____________________________________________________________________
Scale
The Scale Command comes in four different versions. Here
you will try three of them.
Scale 3D
______________________________________________________________
Select the Roof, and Start the Scale Command.

Origin point ( Copy ):
Click a Corner of a Roof.
Scale factor or first reference point <1.00> ( Copy ):
The Options are similar to those of the Scale.
Click another Corners of the Roof (Handle).
Finish the Scaling.
______________________________________________________________
Scale 2D and 1D
______________________________________________________________
Try Scale 2D and Scale 1D
____________________________________________________________________
23
Mirror
______________________________________________________________
Select some Objects.
Start the Mirror Command.
Start of mirror plane ( 3Point Copy=Yes ):
Notice that the mirrored objects will be copies.
Define the Mirror Plane with 2 Points.
____________________________________________________________________
MANIPULATING
THE CAMERA
______________________________________________________________
Click the Perspective Viewport active and press the F6-key.
Now you see its Cone of Vision in the other Viewports.
____________________________________________________________________
On the Cone of vision you find five handles, which can be
handled by dragging:
Rotate
- Sight Line moves both Camera and Target.

- Camera moves the Camera,
- Target moves the Target.
- Rotate rotates the Camera around the Sight Line.
- Zoom changes the Lens Length of the Camera.
Zoom
Target
Notice that you can always make the final adjustments in

the Properties Window of the Viewport.
Placing of the Camera

Perspectives are used to give an impression of, how a building will look. Therefore it is important to place the Camera
in probable way. I.e. In the height of a human eye e.g. 1.70
meter, or in a window across the street.
Viewing Angle - Zooming

When you are zooming you change between Wide Angle and
Tele Lens. Be very careful with Wide Angle Lenses (short
Lens Lengths), as they distort the model. As a rule, do not
use Lenses with a Length shorter than 36 mm; but as you
know, every rule is made to break.
24
Camera
Sight Line
Precision
Exercise 5
When 3d-modelling it is important to be able to place objects precisely in relation to other objects. In the last exercise you used Snap to grid. In this exercise you will learn
to Move with Coordinates and Object Snap. Afterwards you
will learn how to work with structures of Groups and Blocks.
______________________________________________________________
Open the File 4 Precision.3dm.
______________________________________________________________
MOVING WITH COORDINATES

In the model the Roof is placed on the Plate 2 meters from
the Plateau and 4 from the Ramp. Now you shall move the
Roof so its corner is placed at the top of the Ramp where
it meets the Plateau.
Relative Coordinates
So it is easy to see, that the Roof must be moved relatively
4 meters along the X-axis, 2 along Y, and 1 up of Z.
Move the Roof with Relative Coordinates:
______________________________________________________________
Select the Roof and start the Move Command.

Click a Point anywhere in the Top Viewport.
Write R4,2,1, and the corner of the Roof is moved up in the corner between the Ramp and the Plateau.
______________________________________________________________
25
Absolute Coordinates
To move the Roof with Absolute Coordinates is more complicated, because both First and Second Point must be defined
in the World Coordinate System which has its Origin in the
lower left corner of the Plateau.
The First Point, the Corner of the Roof, is not a problem,
as it is easily pointed out. For the Second Point one must
first find out its coordinates. As all the Objects are placed
in the Grid, the Coordinates must be whole numbers.
Move the Roof with Absolute Coordinates:
______________________________________________________________
Undo the Roof back on the Plate.

In the Top Viewport place the Cursor in the Corner between the Ramp and the Plateau.
Down on the Status Bar to the left you see the Coordinates.
Rounded up the Coordinates of the Corner is 16,0,0.
As the Roof must be lifted 1 meter the Point to move to must be 16,0,1.
Be sure that Snap is on.
Click the Upper Right Corner of the Roof in the Top Viewport.
Write 16,0,1, and the corner of the Roof is moved up in the corner between the Ramp and the Plateau.
______________________________________________________________
OBJECT SNAP
Object Snap is a strong tool for precision. The most commonly used is Snap to Endpoint, which can be used to make
the same Move, as you did with coordinates.
Fetch the Osnap Window and dock it:
______________________________________________________________
Click the Osnap Button down on the Status Bar, and the Osnap Window is opened.
Dock the Osnap Window over the Status Bar.
Click End marked.
Snap to Endpoint:
______________________________________________________________
Undo the Roof back on the Plate.
In the Perspective Viewport point at the Corner of the Roof.
When you hit the Corner Point a Sign tells you End. Click the Point.
Point at the Corner between Ramp and Plateau, and the Sign tells you End.
Look at the Coordinates down on the Status Bar: 16,0,1 - You are up in the air.
Click the Roof in place.
______________________________________________________________
26
Snap to Endpoint and to Grid.

When you have turned an Object Snap on the cursor can
climb on objects. In this case the cursor will jump to an Endpoint, when you get near one, else it is down on the Grid.
Move the Roof down on the Plate:
______________________________________________________________

In the Perspective Viewport point at one Corner of the Roof.
Notice that the Z-Coordinate is 1.
Pick a Corner Point of the Roof.
Notice that the Z-Coordinate is 1.
Move the Cursor out on the plate. Notice that the Z-Coordinate is 0.
Click the Roof in place down on the plate.
______________________________________________________________
The combination of End and Grid can also be used to place
an astray object back in the Grid. In front of the Temple is
another Roof, that has been both Moved and Rotated out
of the Grid. This is the only way to get it back in the Grid:
Move and Rotate the Roof back in the Grid:
______________________________________________________________
Use the Mouse Wheel and Right Button to Zoom In on the Rotated Roof in the Top Viewport.
Select the Roof, and start the Move Command.
With Endpoint Snap ON select one of the Corners of the Roof.
Move the Roof and the Corner Snaps to the Grid. Place it.
Start the Rotate Command.
Center of rotation ( Copy ):
Pick the Corner in the Grid.
Angle or first reference point ( Copy ):
Pick the Endpoint of one of the adjoining Sides as Handle.
Click the Roof in place when its Sides is in the Grid.
______________________________________________________________
Other Osnaps
Rhino has a lot of different Object Snaps, and they are
found in the docked Osnap Window, on the Flyout of
the Object Snaps Button on the Standard Toolbar, or
in the Menu Tools/Object Snap. For a start you must
know four of them:
-
Endpoint.
Midpoint.
Center (of circles).
Intersection.
27
Exercise 6
STRUCTURES: GROUP - BLOCK
STRUCTURES
Earlier you saw, how Objects are organised on Layers. Now
you shall see how they can be Grouped and made to Blocks.
File of the Exercise:
______________________________________________________________
Open the file 4 Structures.3dm. It contains a model of a Table, a Chair standing on a Plate.
Study the Models Structure of Layers.
Select some of the Boxes, and see, that they are all Singular Objects.
______________________________________________________________
Command: Group
Menu:
Edit/Groups
In the model you have two Complete Objects, but they are
only boxes. They can be Grouped into single Objects. You
find the Group Tools on the Main 1 & 2 Toolbars.
Group the Table:

______________________________________________________________
Select the 5 Boxes, that makes the Table.

Activate the Group Command, and the Boxes are Grouped.
Try to Move the Table, and see, that the Boxes has been glued together.
Ungroup the Table:

______________________________________________________________
Activate Ungroup and pick the Table.

Check and see, the Table has turned into Boxes again.
______________________________________________________________
28
Command:
Block, Insert, Blockmanager
Menu:
Edit/Blocks
______________________________________________________________
Right Click in the Grey Area under the Main Toolbars or next to the Standard Toolbar.
Check Block on the List of Toolbars, that popped up, and you get the Block Toolbar.
______________________________________________________________
Make the Block Table:
______________________________________________________________
Activate the Block Command.

Select the 5 Boxes, that makes the Table, and press Enter.
Block base point:
Block: Table
Pick the Lover Left Corner of the Table in the Top Viewport.
Now the Block Definition Properties Window pops up.
Name the Block Table and click OK.
Check the Table, and see, it has become One Object.
Make the Block Chair:
______________________________________________________________
Activate the Block Command.

Select the 6 Boxes, that makes the Chair, and press Enter.
Block: Chair
Block base point:

Pick the Lover Left Corner of the Chair in the Top Viewport.
Now the Block Definition Properties Window pops up.
Name the Block Chair and click OK.
_______________________________________________________________
Database
Now, the Blocks Table and Chair seems very much like the
Grouped Boxes; but they are very different. They have become an Objects in a Database. Take a look at it.
Block Manager:
______________________________________________________________
Select the Table and look in the Properties Window:
Object type
block instance
Activate Blockmanager Command and the Block Manager Window pops up.
______________________________________________________________
29
The Block Manager shows the Blocks in the Models Database,

which contains recipes on how to construct the Objects of
the Database.
Instances
The Table and the Chair in the model are instances of the
objects in the Database. That means, that the Instance
knows how it is placed, and how big it is.
Insert:
______________________________________________________________
Activate the Insert Command, and the Insert Window materialises.
______________________________________________________________
In the middle section of the Insert Window, you see the

Data needed for Inserting a Block:
- You will be Prompted for an Insertion Point.
- It will not be Scaled.
- It will not be Rotated
Insert a Table:
______________________________________________________________
Select Table from the Name Drop Down Menu, and click OK.
Place the Table in front of the other Table.
______________________________________________________________
Always Use Blocks for Objects that are Copied
Blocks has two great qualities. The first is, that it can make
files smaller. Take a look at the Table:
-
1 Point is defined by 3 Coordinates.

1 Face is defined by 4 Points = 12 Coordinates.
1 Box is defined by 6 Faces = 72 Coordinates.
1 Table is defined by 5 Boxes = 360 Coordinates.
So as you can see, a Copy of 5 Grouped Boxes will add 360

coordinates to the File, While a Copy of Instance only adds
the Name, the Insertion Point, the Scale, and Rotation.
30
Redefining Blocks
The other very great quality is the ability to redefine Blocks.
Now you shall make the Block Furniture containing the Table.
Make the Block Furniture:
______________________________________________________________
Activate Block, and Select the Block Table in front on the Plate.
Name the new Block Furniture.
Scale the Block Furniture and Put it on the Block Table:
______________________________________________________________
Use Scale 3-D and scale Furniture 0.5.

Place it on the Table.
______________________________________________________________
You now have the 3 Blocks, the Table, the Chair and the
Block Furniture, that contains the Block Table:
Table ==> Furniture
Chair
Block: Furniture
Block: Table
Redefine Block Furniture:

______________________________________________________________
Activate Block, and Select the Block Chair.

Name the new Block Furniture.
Now you get a Question Window saying:
A block definition named Furniture already exists.
Do you want to replace it?
Click Yes.
______________________________________________________________
Like magic the small Table changed to a small Chair. It is

because the Block Furniture now contains the Block Chair.
The structure of your blocks now looks like this:
Block: Furniture
Block: Chair
Table
Chair ==> Furniture
The technique of Redefining Blocks are widely used at the
architects offices.
Imagine that you have a project, that has become to expensive, but it you change the windows to cheaper ones, the
price will be OK. Then you redefine all the windows with
the cheaper model.
Command: Explode
Menu:
Edit/Explode
With the Command Explode Blocks can be exploded into
their original objects. A Polysurface like a Box is exploded
into its Surfaces.
Redefine Block Furniture:
______________________________________________________________
Activate Explode, Select the Block Furniture on the Table, and press Enter.
Select it again, and see, that it is still one Object. Now Chair.
Explode again, and Deselect.
Select it again, and see, that the Chair is Exploded into Boxes.
Explode one of the Boxes, and see, that it is Exploded into Surfaces.
______________________________________________________________
31
Exercise 7
SOLID MODELLING
Solid Modelling also called Geometry of Volumes builds on

the Boolean Mathematics of Sets. In this exercise you will
create some Solids and try the Boolean Operators:
- Union melts volumes together.
- Difference subtracts volumes from another.
- Intersection makes the intersecting object from volumes
- Split cuts sets of volumes.
File of the Exercise:
______________________________________________________________
Open the file 5 Solid Modelling.3dm.
______________________________________________________________
SOLIDS
A Solid is a volume completely inclosed by surfaces. Later
in this course you will learn to construct complex Solids in
free form. Here you will learn how to extrude a Solid from
a closed Polyline, and you will try to construct some of
Rhinos predefined Solids. On the Main 1 Toolbar you find
the Solid Toolbar.
All the commands are found on the Solid Menu.
Extrude Polyline:
______________________________________________________________
Pull off the Solid Toolbar from Main 1 Toolbar.

Select the Triangular Closed Polyline in the Front Viewport.
Click the Extrude Closed Planar Curve on the Solid Toolbar.
Extrude the Triangle to a Solid.
Move the extruded Prism and see, that the original Triangle has been preserved.
______________________________________________________________
32
Make More Solids:

______________________________________________________________
Try some more of the Tools from the Solids Toolbar.

Notice that several of the Buttons has Flyouts.
______________________________________________________________
Current Layer
New objects are created on the Current Layer, and looking
at Layers Window you will see, that you have been working
on the Layer Solids.
Now you are going to work on the Layer Union. As the Current Layer cannot be turned off, you must make Layer Union
the Current Layer first.
Turn On the Union Layer, and Turn Off the Solids Layer:
______________________________________________________________
Click the Check Mark to the Layer Union, and it is turnned On.
Turn Off the Layer Solid.
______________________________________________________________
On the Union Layer you find three objects, a box, and two
Extruded triangles.
SOLID TOOLS
Now you will try the Boolean Operators. You find them on
a Flyout from the Main 2 Toolbar. In the following examples
you will work with Roof Shapes.
Union:
______________________________________________________________
Tear Off the Solid Tools Toolbar.
Select the 3 Objects.
Click the Union Tool, and they melts together to one Roof.
______________________________________________________________
Difference:
______________________________________________________________
Click the Check Mark to the Layer Difference.
Now you got 3 more Objects intersecting the one on Layer Union.
Click Difference.
Select first set of surfaces or polysurfaces:
Select the Roof on Layer Union. This is the one you want to subtract from.
Select first set of surfaces or polysurfaces. Press Enter for second set:
Press Enter.
Select second set of surfaces or polysurfaces ( DeleteInput=Yes ):
Select the 3 Green Objects. They are the ones, you want to subtract.
Select second set of surfaces or polysurfaces. Press Enter when done ( DeleteInput=Yes
):
Notice that you have the choice of not deleting the Input.
Press Enter.
33
______________________________________________________________
Intersection:
________________________________________________________
Make the Layer Intersection the Current Layer.
Turn Off the Layer Union and Difference.
Zoom in on the Objects.
Click the Intersection Tool.
Select first set of surfaces or polysurfaces:
Select one of the objects.
Select first set of surfaces or polysurfaces. Press Enter for second set:
Press Enter.
Select second set of surfaces or polysurfaces:
Select the other object.
Select second set of surfaces or polysurfaces. Press Enter when done:
Press Enter.
______________________________________________________________
Intersection
Split
Split:
________________________________________________________
Undo back to the 2 original Objects.
Click the Split Tool.
Select surfaces or polysurfaces to split:
Select the Low object.
Select surfaces or polysurfaces to split. Press Enter when done:
Press Enter.
Select cutting surfaces or polysurfaces:
Select the other object.
Select cutting surfaces or polysurfaces. Press Enter when done:
Press Enter.
Use Move to study the 4 resulting Objects.
______________________________________________________________
34
EDITING OF SOLIDS
There are several tools for Editing Solids. Here you will try
to work with Faces and Holes.
Get Wall and Tools:
________________________________________________________
Make the Layer Editing the Current Layer.

Turn Off the Layer Intersection.
Zoom in on the 3 Boxes.
Use Difference to subtract the two small Boxes from the big.
Now you have a Wall with a Door and a Window.
Get the Solid Editing Toolbar from the Solids Tools Toolbar.
Get the Holes Toolbar from the Solids Editing Toolbar.
______________________________________________________________
Moving Faces
Moving Faces is the basic function for editing Solids.
New Proportions of the Door and Window:
________________________________________________________
Be sure that Snap and Ortho are turned on down on the Status Bar.
Click Move Face on the Solid Editing Toolbar.
Select surfaces to move:
Select the Left Face of the Window Hole by Window.
Point to move from ( DirectionConstraint=None ToBoundary ):
Move the Face to the Left.
______________________________________________________________
Edge Editing
Notice that you also have the possibilities to Move, Scale,
and Rotate Edges.
Hole Editing
If you think, that there are too few holes in the Wall, then
it is good you have the Holes Toolbar.
Move Hole:
________________________________________________________
Work in the Front Viewport.
Undo until the Door and the Window has their Original Sizes.
Click the Move Hole Tool (Tool 4).
Select One ore Both of the Borders of the Window Hole, and press Enter.
Move the Hole close to the Left Edge of the Wall.
______________________________________________________________
35
Copy Hole:
________________________________________________________
Right Click the Copy Hole Tool (Tool 4).
Select One or Both of the Borders of the Window Hole, and press Enter.
Move a Copy of the Hole close to the Left Edge of the Wall.
_____________________________________________________________
Delete Hole:
________________________________________________________
Click the Delete Hole Tool (Tool 8).
Select One ore Both of the Borders of the Window Hole.
Press Enter, and the Hole has gone.
______________________________________________________________
Array of Holes:
________________________________________________________
Click the Array Hole Tool (Tool 7).
Select hole in a planar surface to array:
Select One ore Both of the Borders of the Window Hole.
Number of holes in A direction <2> ( Rectangular=Yes ):
Number of holes in B direction <1> ( Rectangular=Yes ):
Base point ( Rectangular=Yes ):
Pick the Lower Left Corner of the Window Hole.
A direction and distance ( Rectangular=Yes ):
Move the Cursor to the Right of the Window Hole, and Pick a Suitable Position.
B direction and distance ( Rectangular=Yes UseASpacing=No ):
Move the Cursor to the Above of the Window Hole, and Pick a Suitable Position.
Press Enter to accept
( ANumber=3 ASpacing=2.05 ADirection BNumber=2 BSpacing=2.4 Rectangular=Yes
):
Now you have the possibility to Change your Input.
Press Enter to Accept.
_____________________________________________________________
Rotate Hole:
________________________________________________________
Click the Rotate Hole Tool (Tool 5).
Select One ore Both of the Borders of 1 of the Window Holes, and press Enter.
Rotate the Hole as you Rotate an Object..
______________________________________________________________
! BOOLEAN OBJECTS AND POINT EDITING !

Later in this course you will learn how to edit with Points. Be
very carefull to Point Edit on an Object, which is the result
of a Boolean Operation. The result can be unpredictable.
BOOLEAN AND SURFACES

Later in the course, you will work with Surfaces. The
Boolean Operators also works on Planar surfaces.
36
Exercise
Tietgen Dormitories
In this exercise you will build a

sketch of Lundgaard&Tranbergs
Tietgen Dormitories using solids and
transform commands.
End the exercise by saving and
printing a view.
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________
Open a new file and select large objects in meters.
______________________________________________________________
Make 2 Polygons with 42 sides
______________________________________________________________
To define the shape of the building we draw the footprint with 2 Polygons in Top View:
Choose a Circumscribed Polygon with 42 sides. Remember to select the options
NumSides=42 and Circumscribed in the polygon command.
Place the center in (0,0) and the midpoint of polygon edge in (0,25)
The second Polygon also centered in 0 and midpoint of edge in (0,20)
Define the edges of a dorm unit
______________________________________________________________
To define the shape of a single unit we trace it from endpoint to endpoint of two opposite polygon sides:
With Endpoint Snap on draw a closed Polyline in top view
Extrude the polyline into a solid Box

______________________________________________________________
In Perspective View, pick the closed polyline and extrude it into a 3 meters tall box.
37
Alternative way of making the Box

______________________________________________________________
You can draw a Box approximately in place and the move the edges to snap to the correct endpoints.
Move the top edges or the top face in the Grid to make the box 3 meters tall.
Make the Unit into a Block

______________________________________________________________
To open the Block toolbar, right-click on an

empty toolbar area and scroll through the
list. Create a new Block Definition:
Object to define the block is the Box
Block base point is the midpoint of the
smallest side (0,20)
Name it e.g. Unit and hit OK.
The important thing here is to remember the
location of the base point.
Polar Array to 3rd of circle

______________________________________________________________
Select the unit, start Polar Array command

Use origo as center 0,0 (equals a radius of 20m)
Number of items should be 15 in 120 degrees.
To make room for the staircases, delete the last three units in the array.
38
Rectangular Array to 5 storeys
______________________________________________________________
Select all boxes in perspective view.
Start the Array command using x:1, y:1, z:5 distance 3m
This copies the arc of boxes four times on top of each other.
2D Scale unit positions
______________________________________________________________
To make the cog wheel look we scale selected units out and others out.
Select small groups of units, e.g. unit groups of 3 in L-shape.
Start the Scale 2D command and use fix point in circle center (0,0) and reference point in midpoint
of the first unit. Pull units outward by 1 meter using the grid snap.
Repeat the procedure and push other units inwards in same way.
first reference point
second reference point
Polar array to full circle
______________________________________________________________
Now we are ready to copy the unit section to make a full circle.
Start the polar arry command and select all units.
Select origo as center (0<enter>) and number of items to 3 in 360 degrees.
39
First floor and court yard from a solid tube
______________________________________________________________
Draw a Tube from the Solids menu centered in 0,0 with 1st radius picked in the middle
of the units and 2nd radius somewhere inside to make a courtyard space.
The height of the Tube can be 19m. Pick direction of tube to end the command.
Select all units and move up 4m using the option Vertical=Yes.
Save a pedestrians view
______________________________________________________________
Select the ghosted shading and set perspective camera to a pedestrians angle.
Deselect all and go to the properties windows and set the Camera Z location to 1.7 m
Select all objects by pressing Ctrl+Alt and go to the Properties windows to turn off the isocurves of
the objects.
Save it as a named view by right-clicking the viewport name or use the button shown to the left.
Change the block Unit
______________________________________________________________
Now we are ready to make a more detailed model of the unit that can substitue the boxes.
First clear the model space by hiding all objects. Select all with Ctrl+A and click the hide button or
type Hide. To show hidden objects (unhide) right-click the hide button or type Show.
Insert an instance of the block Unit from the Insert Block Toolbar or from File/Insert..
Choose origo (0,0) as insertion point.
The Unit is a block instance and should be exploded into a Polysurface to be edited as a solid.
Using the Move Face command from the Solid Editing Tools we can shrink the Unit on all sides except
the outer facade.
Move the walls inwards 10 cm on three sides (NOT the facade wall)
Move the floor and ceiling inwards 20 cm using DirectionConstraint=Normal
40
Create the new Unit with Boolean Difference
______________________________________________________________
Insert a new block instance in the same insertion point to substract the shrinked unit from.
Explode the block instance into a Polysurface (=solid)
Substract the smaller fra the larger with the Boolean Diffence:
First Set is the larger unit, Second Set is the smaller.
The result should look like this:
If you have additional time and inspiration, add more details to the model:
Redefine the block Unit
______________________________________________________________
Now its time for the magic trick where the original boxes are replaced with the new units:
Make a new block and select all the object of the new unit.
Select same insertion point as the first time (0,0) and overwrite the existing block Unit.
Say OK to replace existing.
Show hidden objects and the boxes should be replaced with the new block.
41
Output: Print image to PDF
______________________________________________________________
Make your saved view active in the Perspective Viewport
Press Ctrl+P, press the Print button or go to File/Print..
1. In Destination select Adobe PDF and Landscape
2. In Printer output: Raster
3. In View and Output Scale select Viewport
4. Print.
Output: Export 2D vector drawing to Illustrator
______________________________________________________________
Make your saved view active in the Perspective Viewport
Start the Make2D command by typing in the command prompt or from the CurveFromObject Toolbar.
Select all the objects with Ctrl+A
In the dialog box, choose Current View as the Drawing layout.
Press OK and the program will be working on drawing your view as a new 2D drawing in the Top
Viewport. This can take a minute. Maximize the Top Viewport.
The 2D drawing is on a new layer called Make2D visible lines. Make this layer the current layer
and turn off all others.
To export the drawing to Illustrator, select all with Ctrl+A and hit Zoom Selected.
Go to File/Export Selected or right-click the Save button (=Export).
Choose Filetype: Adobe Illustrator (*.ai) from the roll-out menu in the dialog box and name the file.
Save it on the desktop or on your own file space on the server.
In the scaling dialog, choose Snapshot of Current View.
To see the result, find the AI file and open it (double-click)
In Illustrator change Stroke Weight to 0,25 pt and zoom in on details.
Note: the Rhino Origo (0,0) is allways exported as the lower left corner in Illustrator.
42
Print to PDF
Go to the top menu: file/print
Destination
Destination of the print: choose Adobe PDF in the roll down menu
Size: are the preset paper sizes of the Adobe PDF writer.
Portrait/Landscape: Do you want your print lying down or standing up?
Copies: default is 1. You dont want more than one pdf.
Printer output: Vector is lines only. Scalable and editable in e.g.
illustrator. Raster is bitmap image and most likely what you want.
Output color: Print color i cmyk, display color i rgb.
View and output scale

View: select the viewport that you want to print from. With the button you can choose the exact print area and zoom of the viewport.
Press Move to drag the print area in the viewport.
Margins and position

Margins are areas like a frame on the print area where nothing is
printed. Default is 0 all around.
The position of the print on the paper can be set also.
Linetypes and line widths

Linetype: choose whether the pdf line should look like the ones on
the screen or on the paper.
Line width: choose an option to override line widths set by object
or by layer. Select No Print to use line widths set by object or layer.
Visibility
Show: Check boxes to add grid lines etc. to the print.
Printer details
Self explanatory
43
Curves
The number one key to modeling in Rhino is to be familiar with and control the use of curves. In freeform
modeling they define surfaces and when you have your curves in order, you can adjust and recreate your
surfaces in an instant.
Now we will examine most commonly used types of curves and ways to draw them.
Lines
Line
Draws a single straight line segment
Polyline
Draws a series of straight joined segments: A single linear curve with multible segments
Curve
Curve
Draws free-form curves
InterpCrv
Interpolate points curve draws a curve through the points you pick
Parabola
Draws a parabolic curve from the focus or vertex locations
Helix
Draws a helical curve
Arc
Draws an arc from specified points on the arc and construction geometry
Shapes
44
Circle
Creates a circle from center, radius, diameter, points on perimeter, tangents etc
Ellipse
Draws a closed elliptical curve from center, diamenter, foci, points or corners
Rectangle
Creates a rectangle corner to corner, or center, points etc
Polygon
Creates a polygon with a given number of sides, from center, radius, edge or corner etc
Exercise
Edit 2D Curves
In this exercise you will be introduced to the most common

curve tools.
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________
Select Edit 2D curves.3dm
______________________________________________________________
Extend
______________________________________________________________
Make the layer Extend active and turn off the rest.
Start the Extend command from the Curve Tools menu, the Curve menu in the menu bar or by typing.
Try Natural, Arc and line options.
Fillet
______________________________________________________________
Make the layer Fillet active and turn off the rest.
Start the Fillet command from the Curve Tools menu, the Curve menu in the menu bar or by typing.
Fillet radius 10.
Pick the curves in those ends that you want to keep. Try picking different ends.
Fillet Corners
______________________________________________________________
Make the layer Fillet Corners active and turn off the rest.
Start Fillet Corners from the Curve menu in the menu bar or by typing.
Zig-zag polyline use radius 15.
Draw a polygon with 7 corners.
The fillet radius should match the size of your polygon. Try 2.
Chamfer
______________________________________________________________
Make the layer Chamfer active and turn off the rest.
Draw a triangle from the polygon command.
Chamfer the corners in three ways using different distances, e.g. 8,15.
Connect
______________________________________________________________
Make the layer Connect active and turn off the rest.
Connect is a combination of Extend and Trim in one command.
Select curves on the parts you want to keep.
Blend
______________________________________________________________
Make the layer Blend active and turn off the rest.
Blend command adjusts to the continuity and direction of the curves.
Select the curves in the ends that you want to blend together.
45
Exercise
Cardboard Chair
In this exercise you will train using relative polar coordinates to draw the profile of a chair. Then we will extrude
the curve into a 3D object.
We wil use these important commands:
Polyline
Offset Curve
Fillet Curves
Explode
Join
Trim
Split
Extrude
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________
Select small objects millimeters.
______________________________________________________________
Prepare the grid
______________________________________________________________
To make use of the grid later on, we need to extend it.

Maximize the Right viewport. Go to Tool/Options/Grid and
set grid extents to 1000 mm, minor lines every 10 and major
lines every 10.
Now we have the working area ready.
Polyline from lengths and angles
______________________________________________________________
The measures you need are shown on the drawing to the

right. Start in the bottom right corner and move your way
along the line to the top of the back seat using the relative
polar coordinates: @length<angle, enter
500
If you have grave difficulty use the procedure below:

Start a Polyline in 0,0 (press 0 <enter>)
and use these polar coordinates to draw the line:
400<80, then
@370<185
@367<260
@130<180
@435<80
@500<100
370
435
367
130
46
400
Make the line into a profile

______________________________________________________________
Offset the polyline 50 mm upwards/inwards to set the thickness of the chair.

Draw horizontal lines from the start of the first line to the
start of the offset line with ortho and intersection osnap on.
Do the same in the other end and trim away extends.
Then explode both curves to allow fillet on the corners as
shown to the right.
seat: fillet radius 40 mm
back leg each of two corners: fillet radius 14 mm
back both corners: fillet radius 300 mm
300
40
40
Select all lines and join to one curve

Select the curve to make sure it is in fact one curve.
14
Measuring Distance and Angle
______________________________________________________________
Two very useful commands to measure up your model:
Distance
pick two points in space and get the distance
Angle
pick start and end of two lines and get the angle
Type in the command prompt and try both of them on the profile.
Dimensions
______________________________________________________________
Dimensions are arrows and numbers describing the size of

the drawing.
Find Dimension in the Menu Bar or as a separate toolbar.
To activate the toolbar, right-click in the toolbar areas and
scroll to Dimensions.
In Dimension Properties, set Global dimension scale to 20.0
Try linear, aligned and angle dimension as shown to the
right.
In object properties, set Print Width to 0.50
Print a PDF in scale 1:5
Extrude into a chair

______________________________________________________________
Change to Perspective view and Extrude curve 450 mm.

The options are:
Direction
BothSides
Cap
DeleteInput
If you dont want to extrude straight, pick another direction

Yes means extrusion in two directions at the same time, No means one direction
Yes will make a closed surface, No will leave ends open
Yes will delete the curve you are extruding, No will not.
47
Exercise
Cantilever Chair
The pipe chair is inspired by 1926 Mart Stam designs W1 and

S33.
This is a tricky exercise where we will draw a curve in 3D
using all viewports except perspective. This is possible using
the modeling aid Elevator Mode.
ELEVATOR MODE
Elevator Mode lets you pick points that are off the construction plane. The marker is constrained to a tracking line perpendicular to the construction plane that passes through the
base point.
Requires two point picks to completely define the point:
The first specifies the base point.
The second specifies how far the final point is above or below
the base point.
Open a new file and make two Layers:

______________________________________________________________
Select small object millimeter

Name one layer Curves and another layer Surfaces. Make the Curves layer active.
Polyline
______________________________________________________________
The difficult part of this exercise is to draw the frame of the chair as one continuous polyline.
We begin in Top view with OSnap: Point and End activated
Top
Start a polyline in origo (0,0) and draw the three lines along the floor. Use Shift key to toggle Ortho on:
440 mm along the negative part of the x-axis, 450 mm down the y-axis and back 440 mm along the x-axis.
It is necessary to zoom out in the viewports to keep track of where you are.
450
Front
Now move to the Front Viewport to draw the right

side of the chair.
80
430 mm up the z-axis, 390 mm down the x-axis
last line in Front view is the head piece 80 mm down the x-axis
48
420
and then for the angled back seat, type:

@420<100 (seat angle)
Zoom and orbit in the Perspective View to make sure the

geometry is correct so far. You down have to abort the Polyline to do this.
Top
Return to Top Viewport to draw the 450 mm and 80 mm lines at the head piece.
Front
Now for Elevator mode: In the Front Viewport (point osnap on)
hold down the Ctrl button while you click the point where the
seat meets the back. This constrains the cursor to a line
perpendicuar to this point. Try to orbit in Perspective.
390
430
Start
45
0
Perspective
440
Right
In Right Viewport you can track how far you want to go out this line by pointing and clicking on
another point. Or you can type the distance: 450
Repeat the Elevator procedure once more for the other point of the seat.
Perspective
End the Polyline in the same point you started it. If you drew with just one polyline, click the Close
option in the command prompt.
Draw a new line between the two front legs to use as support beam. Use Perspective and Osnap:
Near and Perpendicular to help draw a straight line.
FilletCorners and Arc for the seat

______________________________________________________________
Select the frame. Type FilletCorners, radius 30 mm.
Use the Arc: Start, End, Point on Arc.

In Perspective Viewport: Snap to end points of the curve between seat and legs.
Go to Right Viewport to pick the point on arc, or
pick option radius to 550 and for orientation pick upwards in Right view.
If you have difficulty getting a plane arc, turn on the Planar option.
Planar will constrain all geometry you draw on to a plane that passes through the last point you
created before turning on Planar.
Pipe the frame
__________________________________
Now change the current layer to Surfaces.
Then the pipes will be in the correct layer.
From Solid menu, click Pipe.
Start and End radius type 10, and press enter.
Pipe the support beam with radius 5.
Extrude the seat
________________________________________________
Extrude Curve Straight to end of seat.

Copy seat to back and rotate in place.
Scale 1D in Right View to best fit.

Select All and turn off isocurves in properties window.
______________________________________________________________
49
Control Point Editing

The number one key to modeling in Rhino is to control the curves. In freeform modeling they define
surfaces and when you have your curves in order, you can adjust and recreate your surfaces in an instant.
The shape of curves and surface are edited with control points. Turn them on with F10 and off with F11.
Control Points
______________________________________________________________
Control points are the mathematical basis of NURBS objects. Sometimes also called control vertex or node.
Control points are markers or grips on objects such as curves, surfaces, lights, and dimensions and
cannot be separated from their objects.
Move, drag or nudge
In practice, control points can be moved and thereby altering the shape of an object.
Moving one control point only changes the shape of the curve in a sub region, not the entire curve.
move,
insert,
remove,
delete
Insert or Remove
Control points can be inserted or removed via the curve tools menu, but this chances the shape of the
curve/surface. Use edit points to maintain shapes.
Delete a ctrlpt simply by selecting it and pressing the delete key.
Linked to knots and edit points
When you add or delete knots and editpoints the number and placing of control points automatically
change to fit.
Edit Points
______________________________________________________________
Edit points are representations of control points and always located ON a curve. They only exist in curve
geometry, not on surfaces.
They are used to move a curve to meet in a specific point.
Moving one edit point generally changes the shape of the entire curve and not only in a sub region.
move,
More edit points can be inserted, but they cannot be deleted directly, only via remove knot, delete
control point or rebuild.
insert
Inserting edit points does not affect curve shape as when inserting a control point.
snap to point
Edit points are most useful when you need a point on the interior of a curve to pass exactly through a
certain location.
Control point editing is preferred when you need to change the look of a curve and maintaining fairness is important.
Knots
______________________________________________________________
Knots are places on curves where the mathematical expression of the curve changes from one polynomia
to another. On surfaces knots are expressed as curves.
Knots are on the curve and on the surface. The number of knots affect the number of control points.
In practice, knots are snap-able and it is possible add and delete knots, but not to move them.
insert,
remove,
Adding knots to a curve is useful when you need more bends in the shape.
In surfaces, isolines are displayed through knots.
snap to knot
Kinks
______________________________________________________________
A kink is a point where a curve dramatically changes direction. E.g. a corner or when a curve passes
from being straight to being an arc.
insert,
remove,
Kinks can be inserted with InsertKink which adds a knot and control points.
To delete a kink use RemoveKnot or delete the kinky control point.
snap to knot
snap to point
50
Exercise
Alto Vase
In this exercise you will practice drawing planar control

point curves.
We use two different set of tools to draw and edit control
point curves: Control Points and Edit Points.
We will use the Alto vase as an example of a free form
curve.
Then we will learn four different kinds of planar extrusions.
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________
Select small objects millimeters.
______________________________________________________________
Place the backgroundbitmap Alto vase.jpg in the Top viewport.
Turn off the grid lines in tools/options/grid.
Disable the Object snap and turn off the Snap to grid button.
Change the layer color to red in the Layers window.
Control Point Curve

______________________________________________________________
Curve
Control point curve draws free-form curves from picked control points
Draw the outer curve of the profile with a contol point curve.
Use one or two points for each bend in the vase perimeter.
The minimum number of points needed is 18 but use more to begin with.
Adjust the curve using control points (F10 on/ F11 off) and make the best fit you can.
To delete points select them at press delete.
To add point use InsertKnot.
Consult the Control Point Editing page to get an overview of editing tools.
Rebuild
______________________________________________________________
Type Rebuild and select the curve to get a point count.

Try changing the number of points and see that the curve is redrawn, somewhat out of shape with
the new number of point distributed evenly.
Undo the rebuild command to get your curve back.
Offset
______________________________________________________________
offset the curve inwards and pick the distance on the bitmap image with Near object snap on.
Turn on the control points and see that Rhino has interpolated the curve with a large number of
control points.
This is done to make the offset as precise as possible. But in our case the new presice curve does
not fit well with the image.
51
Rebuild to get a point count. Try to reduce the number of control points to the same number you
used for the control point curve.
Now it would be possible to edit the curve to fit, but delete it and we will draw an interpolated
curve instead.
Interpolate Points Curve
______________________________________________________________
InterpCrv
Interpolate points curve draws a curve through the points you pick
Using the interpolate points curve to draw a control point curve has benefits and drawbacks:
The curve is forced through the points you pick which gives an initial degree of control that you
dont get from using the control point curve.
But generally you end up with a lot more control points than is necessary if you trace along an image.
Now draw the inner curve of the profile with an interpolate points curve.
Make sure the object snap and the grid snap is disabled.
Watch the curve bend and place the points as far apart as possible while maintaining the right fit.
Turn on the control points and see how many points you ended up with. Get a point count with
Rebuild.
The points you pick when drawing an InterpCrv are actually Knots and they are the basis of edit
points. Now turn on the edit points and move them the same way that you moved the control
points earlier.
Try inserting edit points (left click) to get the feel of how this works.
Lastly try inserting Knots (right click) to see that there is a close connection between the number
of knots and edit points.
Extrude the curves

______________________________________________________________
Open the Extrude toolbar from the Surface or Solid toolbars.

Note that the same commands are available in the Surface/Extrude Curve menu and the Solid/
Extrude Planar Curve menu.
Copy the curves by dragging them and holding down the Alt key.
From the Extrude menu, click Extrude Straight and choose a distance.
Draw a curve in Front viewport to represent a path or direction to extrude along.
Extrude another copy of the curves using the Extrude Along Curve. Use the front viewport curve
as path curve.
Extrude to Point: Select a pair of curves and press enter. First pick the point in the xy plane to
extrude from point and hold down the Ctrl key simultaneously to enter elevator mode. Then
pick the elevation height in Front or Right viewport.
Extrude Tapered, in the options choose Angle -3. Try other values.
Boolean Difference
______________________________________________________________
To get a vase with a bottom, extrude the curves into two separate solids of different depths and
use boolean difference to substract the inner from the outer.
In object properties, turn off the isolines. Put ghosted shade on the perspective viewport.
52
Surfaces
The surfaces of Rhino are like stretchy fabric, they kan take on many shapes. Depending on your situation
and objective, there will be one or more surface creation tool best suited to your purpose.
Surfaces are bounded by curves called EDGES.To visualize the surface shape Rhino displays a grid on the surface of isoparametric curves called ISOCURVES. The shape of surfaces can be changed by moving their control points. Surfaces can be MESHed i.e. translated from NURBS to triangle geometry.
Surface
SrfPt
Creates a surface by picking three or four points in space for corners
EdgeSrf
Creates a surface by selecting two, three, or four existing curves whose ends meet exactly
PlanarSrf
Creates a surface from planar curves that enclose an area
Patch
Creates a surface that approximates a set of curves and/or point objects
Revolve
Revolves a curve around an axis to create a surface
RailRevolve
Revolves a shape curve holding one end along a rail curve. For end cap on irregular shapes
Sweep1
Surface from shape curves that follow along a rail that defines one edge of the surface
Sweep2
Surface from shape curves that follow along two rails that defines two edges of the surface
Loft
Creates a surface from shape curves; the normal, loose, and thight options make a surface
with no creases as it passes over the shape curves
The Straight sections option creates a surface with creases at each shape curve and
straight sections between the shape curves
Surface Tools
FilletSrf
Creates a fillet or round between two surfaces
BlendSrf
Makes a smooth surface between two existing surfaces
Extrude
ExtrudeCrv
Extrudes a curve perpendicular to the cplane with option to taper with an angle
ExtrudeCrvAlongCrv Extrudes a curve following along a second curve

ExtrudeCrvToPoint Extrudes a curve to a point.
Plane
Plane
Creates a rectangular planar surface parallel to the cplane from two diagonal points
Plane 3point
Creates a rectangular planar surface from 3 points
Plane Vertical
Creates a rectangular planar surface from 3 points that is vertical to the cplane
53
Exercise
Wine Glass
In this exercise we will model a revolvable object, a wine

glass, from a half profile drawn as single control point curve.
Note that if the revolved curve is more than one segment,
the resulting surface will be a non moldable polysurface!
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________
Select small object millimeter
______________________________________________________________
Maximize the Right viewport.
Turn on the grid snap to draw the center and mirror line to which the profile will start and end.
Turn off grid snap.
Start the control point curve by snapping to the center line.
To get a smooth transision across the center, place two vertical control points
close to the center line.
Draw the profile, paying special attention to bends in the shape.
Feel free to design your own glass shape.
End the curve by snapping to the center line.
Record History
______________________________________________________________
On the Status Bar at the bootom of the screen, turn on the Record History
button. With this function activated, all surfaces created rebuild automatically
if you change the curves they were made from.
Revolve
______________________________________________________________
Type Revolve in the command prompt and select the profile to be revolved.
The mirror line is start and end of the center line or start and end of your curve.
It is very important, that the start and end point are on the same vertical axis.
Pick fullturn to make at 360 degree revolve.
Edit curve by control points
______________________________________________________________
Evaluate the result and edit the curve to improve the outcome.
Remember to disable Osnap when dragging control points.
If Record History was active when you did the Revolve, the surface will change
as you edit the control points.
Edit surface by scaling
______________________________________________________________
Select the surface and turn on the control points of the surface. Adjust the shape of the surface by
selecting layers of control points and scaling their position in the top view:
Select control points in Right viewport, start Scale2D command, pick center of scale in 0,0 in the top
viewport. Pick reference point out side glass and drag to scale in or outwards. Monitor the effect in
the perspective viewport.
54
Exercise
Loft and Unroll
To make true freeform modeling with double curved surfaces, you need more than one curve to work with. In this
exercise we will introduce the Loft command. This function
produces a flowing surface between the chosen curves.
Open a new file:
______________________________________________________________
Select Loft.3dm
______________________________________________________________
Use the loft command on each of the three examples.
It is important to pick the curves in the right order and in the same end of each line.
Experiment with different types of loft from the loft menu window.
Try the options closed loft, do not simplify, rebuild and preview.
Make curves on your own and loft them:
Draw contours of a landscape and loft a surface from them.
Extract Wireframe
______________________________________________________________
Adjust the isocurve density on the surfaces and extract them with the command ExtractWireframe.
Re-loft the surfaces from the curves in first one direction and then the other direction.
As you can see, the same surface can be created from curves in either direction.
Remember this technique if you get stuck in creating a surface from curves you cant draw or if the
surface doesnt behave as you intend.
Unroll
______________________________________________________________
For model builders, the Unroll command is very useful: It helps you build models that are hard to
measure or too complex to handle.
Use Unroll on a surface lofted in straight sections (only) and the surface will appear in 2D close to
0,0 ready to be printet or cut on a machine.
Unroll also work on other surfaces that are not curved, like a situation model.
Try the label option on and off.
Unroll
______________________________________________________________
Print the unrolled surfaced to pdf in a desired scale.

Print on paper if you have the time.
55
Exercise
Campo Volantin Footbridge
In this exercise we will model a sketch of the Calatrava

footbridge crossing the Bilbao River.
First go to calatrava.com and find images of the bridge to aquaint yourself with the structure.
As you can see it, we will only draw a sketchy representation of the original.
Look at the plan and elevation pdf found in the campo volantin bridge bitmaps folder.
Open a new file:
______________________________________________________________
Select large objects - meters
______________________________________________________________
Bounding box
Maximise the Top View: Draw a rectangle, midpoint centered in origo 76 m long and 20 m wide.
This represents the span of the bridge and helps us draw the curvatures.
Draw the arcs of the walk way in top view
______________________________________________________________
Still in top view draw Arcs (startpoint arcs) similar to the ones shown on the picture below
y-axis
walkway support
x-axis
walkway edge
walkway edge
walkway support
They are the walk way curves. The rectangle as served its purpose. Delete it.
56
Next are the hyperbola holding the wires and the arc representing the support beam.
Select hyper bola from the Curve menu or Curve Toolbar.
Place center in (0,-12) and focus in (0,-5) and end the hyperbola in (-38,0)
The support beam curve is an arc like this:
Raise the arcs in right view

______________________________________________________________
Select the 4 walkway arcs an turn on the EDIT POINTS. Cross select the middle points and raise 2m.
There are many ways to do it. One is to use the Move command to move them 2m up the z-axis.
Another is to drag them with Gridsnap turned on.
In same fashion, raise the hyperbola 15m and the support beam 2m:
57
Now the trickypat: We are going to lower the support beam in place 2m below its current position
and retain the connection with the hyperbola.
To do this, turn on the control points for the two curves and select all the control points except the
middle of the hyperbola.
Drag or move them 2m down in right view.
In Front view the curves should look similar to this:
+15 m
0m
-2 m
In Perspective view:
5
3
Pipe
______________________________________________________________
Turn the correct curves into pipes:

1 support beam radius 0.5 m (arc 5 above),
1 hyperbola 0.25 m (6)
and the 2 outer walkway curves 0.1m (arcs 3 and 4 above)
NB: the inner walkway curves should not be piped (1 and 2).
Start and end radius is the same and press enter for no other radii. Options: Thick=No, Cap=Round.
Loft in straight sections

______________________________________________________________
Make two straight sections Lofts: one with the two inner walkway curves (1 and 2) and another closed
loft from the two outer walkway curves and the support beam curve (3, 4 and 5).
Pick curves in perspective view. The result will look something like this:
58
Make Contours of the loft into supports

______________________________________________________________
We need to isolate the long three sided loft: Select the polysurface and use the button called Invert
selection and hide object from the Visibility toolbar.
Select the three sided loft and start the Contours command in the prompt.
In Top view select one corner as the base point. Directions should be a line parallel to the loft. Use
ortho or the shift key to pick a parallel point. Distance between contours should be 2 m.
The result is 38 contour lines which are already selected. We dont need the three outermost contours
in each side, so deselect these using cross-selection in top view. Then start the ExtrudeCrv command
right away:
You need to choose Direction in the option and pick in the same parallel direction as above. Then
choose the option Both sides on, and type the distance to 0.1 m.
Delete the contour curves and the original loft. Now you are left with the brackets.
Unhide the rest of the objects.
In rendered view it looks like this:
Make the wiring from isocurves

______________________________________________________________
First we need to isolate a large middle part of the hyperbola curve to define where the wires begin.
Change to Front view and hide the hyperbola pipe surface.
Draw a vertical line at approximately 1/6 of the hyperbola curve. Mirror it in the y-axis:
Trim away the ends of the hyperbola:

It only works if the Option ApparentIntersection=Yes
because the vertical lines and the hyperbola is not actually intersecting.
Delete the vertical lines and when done.
59
Now make a Loft in straight sections using the trimmed hyperbola and one of the outer walkway
curves (3 and 6) (4 and 6).
Select the surface, go to the object properties window and raise the isocurve density to 38 which is
the same as the original number of contour in the three sided loft earlier.
Type the command ExtractWireframe and delete the surface.

You are now left with the isocurves as actual nurbs curves.
In front view cross select all the horizontal curves EXCEPT the top one, and delete them.
Select the first three vertical curves in each end and delete them.
Now each bracket has a wire attached.
Repeat lofting etc on the opposite side.
Unhide All and delete superflous objects.
Print to PDF
______________________________________________________________
Turn off the isocurves of all the objects and save a perspective view.
Print the view to PDF.
Print plan and elevation in scale 1:200 or another scale that you want.
Too easy?
______________________________________________________________
Pipe the wires using Grasshopper. The Definition can look like this:
Render
______________________________________________________________
To render the bridge with the Maxwell render Plug-in look in the kompendium Maxwell for Rhino. The
exercise called HDRI scene explains how to do it.
60
Exercise
Sweep
Sweep commands are used when you want one or more

contours (cross sections) to follow a given route (curve).
It is advisable to place the cross sections on the curve or
the the curve pass through the cross sections to get the
best result.
Open a new file:
______________________________________________________________
Select Sweep 1 and 2 Rails.3dm
______________________________________________________________
Sweep1Rail
______________________________________________________________
With the Sweep1 layer turned on in the Layer window, make the Surfaces layer default.
Start the Sweep1 command by typing in the command prompt.
In the first examble choose curve end points as first and last of the cross sections by selecting Point
in the sweep command line.
Repeat the Sweep1 command on the rest of the examples on the layer
Draw your own curves to sweep.
Sweep2Rail
______________________________________________________________
Turn off the Sweep1 layer and turn on the Sweep2 layer.
Start the Sweep2 command by typing in the command prompt.
Apply the sweep to the first example and repeat the command on the rest of the examples on the layer.
Draw your own curves to sweep.
61
Exercise
Hangar: Sweep2
In this exercise we will sketch the supporting structure of a hangar or warehouse.

Open a new file:
______________________________________________________________
Select Hangar.3dm
______________________________________________________________
First mirror the rails in front view and join them by pairs to make them go from ground level to
ground level.
Use Sweep2 to shape the H-profile column-beam structure.
Notice how the changing distance between the rails is reflected in the shape of the structure.
Check the maintain height box in the sweep2 options window and press preview.
The height (=width) of the structure is now maintained.
Still the thickness of the H-profile is not maintained, but for illustration purposes this method is
quick and easy.
Now we want to make several copies of the surface:
Select the surface and start the Copy command and read the command line:
start point could be origo: press 0, enter.
point to copy to could be a distance of 2 m along the y-axis:
press 2000, enter, and pick a point along the y axis with the shift key pressed down.
Now read the command line and select yes to use last point, distance and direction.
pick to place copies and fill out the ground area.
Turn off the isolines of the profiles.
Enclose the structure with surfaces
______________________________________________________________
Press the surface from 3 or 4 corner points and select corner points clock wise or counter clock wise.
To make the gable we need to use 5 sides:
draw a line from ground corner at origo to the same spot on the other end of the column.
Press the button surface from planar curves from the Surface fly-out menu. Select the ground line
and the original outer rail curve.
To close the other gable, draw a similar ground line and start the surface from planar curves command. Pick lines from the surfaces.
Delete one gable and save a view inside the hangar.
Too easy?
______________________________________________________________
Model the www.hangar-7.com. Look for wallpapers in the Downloads section.
62
Exercise
Juicy Salif
Squeezer by Phillipe Starck.
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________
Select small objects millimeters
______________________________________________________________
Head of the squeezer
______________________________________________________________
In top view: Star from polygon menu, center (0,0) and number of sides 12,
corner in (0,23) radius 17 mm.
FilletCorners of the star with radius 3.
In front view draw two rectangles as shown to help guide the control point
curve that shapes the profile:
The curve starts in (0,0) and ends in (0,137)
Rail Revolve with the curve as the profile and the star as the rail, axis
of the revolve is the z-axis.
The result should be recognizable.
Hide all objects before continuing.
Leg curves
______________________________________________________________
In Front view: Again to help draw the curves we need two pairs of rectangles.
First pair is 28 by 13 and 49 by 194. Second pair is 36 by 25 and 41 by 215.
Draw 2 times 2 control point curves diagonally as shown to make the rails of the leg:
Move to overlap. Delete the rectangles and you should end up with the leg consisting of four curves.
63
In Top view: Draw a Deformable Circle and move control point to the right to make a long egg shape.
It does not need to be in scale as we will now orient and scale simultaneously.
Orient the section to the rails
______________________________________________________________
Turn on Quad in the object snap.

Type Orient or pick from Transform/Orient/2 points.
In the options select copy=yes and scale=yes, 3D.
In Perspective view pick reference point 1 as the quad point of the pointy end of the section and
reference point 2 as the quad point of the dull end of the section.
Target point 1 is start point of the lower leg curve and target point 2 is the start point of the upper
leg curve.
Repeat orient to place a sections in the bend of the leg curves as shown:
Sweep the leg and array

______________________________________________________________
Use sweep2 twice to finish the leg. Join the two surfaces.
Move the leg so that the start of it is above the origo and touches the z-axis.
Run Polar array command with 3 objects in 360 degrees.
Unhide the squeezer head at mount it on the legs.
Delete other objects if any. Turn off isocurves and orbit the squeezer.
64
Exercise
Escher House
In this exercise we will model a sketch of the high rise

Escher House by BIG studio.
The surface edit tool we use is Blend Surface.
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________

Footprint
______________________________________________________________
In perspective view, draw a square 12 by 12 m beginning in origo.
Copy the square to all four sides of the original.
Move two opposite squares 120 m up in the front viewport.
Extrude footprint
______________________________________________________________
Extrude the curves as follows:
The middle square from origo to corner of square 120 m up.
The two lower squares a little downwards
The two upper squares a little upwards.
Extrude with Cap=No in all three extrusions.
Blend Surfaces to make towers turn quarter way around the middle tower
______________________________________________________________
Start the BlendSrf command by typing or select it in the menu.
Select the segments in same order in each surface going clockwise.
Adjust Blend Bulge to 1.7
Check the Preview box
Press OK when acceptable.
Repeat on opposite side.
Footprint squares
Extrusion directions
BlendSrf directions
Blended Towers
65
Spilt towers an delete interior walls

______________________________________________________________
Delete the four open boxes. They are no longer needed.

Firstly: Split the two turning towers with the middle one.
Secondly: Split the middle tower with the two turning ones.
Select all the outer walls and inverse the selection. Delete.
Zoom thought the interior to make sure there are no walls left inside.
Then join all the surfaces.
Array and Trim the Floor Levels
______________________________________________________________
In top view, draw a plane corner to corner which is bigger than the building.
Use rectangular Array to make 41 copies up the Z axis with a spacing of 3 m.
Trim away the parts of the planes that are outside of the building.
Turn off the isocurves.
Turn on the Ghosted Shade to see the interior.
Render with a transparent surface
______________________________________________________________
Select the outer surface and change the transparentcy of the material to 60.
Set view shade to Rendered.
In top view, put in a Spotlight in origo and pick the area 4 times larger than the building footprint.
Set the direction of the cone to app. 20 degrees in the front viewport.
Experiment with the direction of the light by turning on the control points F10 and moving the points
of the light.
Make Sections from the Tower
______________________________________________________________
2D Sections: Start the Section command by typing.
In Top view select all objects of the tower and place the section line through the middle.
Try different places for the section line and get different results.
3D Section: Start the CutPlane command by typing.
In top view, place the plane through the middle.
Trim away the part of the building facing the camera. Delete the cutplane.
Turn on the light and camera. Move the camera back and zoom with the handles to get an undistorted
shot.
2D Sections
66
3D Section
Ghosted shade
Rendered shade
Exercise
XPO by BIG
In this exercise we will model a sketch of the XPO

project by BIG studio which will house the Little
Mermaid during the World Fair in China.
The exercise will train your ability to construct
free form curves in 3D space.
Open a new file:

______________________________________________________________

Bounding box and curve point editing
______________________________________________________________
20 m x 23 m x 5 m box.
Turn off the isocurves, extract the wireframe and
delete the box surfaces.
In top view, draw closed control point curve inscribed
in the rectangle. No Snaps at all.
Rebuild to 10 points and degree 3.
Turn on control points and make a loop similar to this:
Now move the points upwards in the front view while

keeping track of where you are in the other viewports.
The Right view should look similar to this:
Offset and Rebuild
______________________________________________________________
Offset the curve inwards with a distance of 4 m and rebuild it to 10 points, degree 3.
Turn on the control points and edit it into this:
Profile for sweeping
_______________________________________
In Front view draw a rectangle in origo of 6 m x 3 m
Turn on object snaps and move its corner onto the
outer curve. Scale it 2D to make the other corner snap
to the inner curve.
Sweep2 and view
______________________________________________________________
Sweep2Rails and maintain height. Do not simplify.
If the resulting surface overlaps in the bend, edit the shape of the curves.
Try Record History before Sweeping and adjust the curves afterward if necessary.
Turn off the isocurves, change to ghosted view i perspective and start the command Turntable.
Modeling Aids
Buttons
SNAP
F9
S <ENTER>
grid snap on/off, F7 show/hide grid
ORTHO
F8
<SHIFT>
move 90 degrees
P <ENTER>
draw parallel to cplane
PLANAR
OSNAP
object snap visible/invisible
RECORD HISTORY
on/off to edit input curves of a surface
Object Snaps
END to KNOT
check/uncheck persistent object snaps
PROJECT
forces all picked points onto the cplane
STRACK
smart track with reference lines and points
DISABLE
<ALT>
check box to disable all object snaps
DIRECTION
<TAB>
point in direction and press <TAB>
ELEVATOR
<CTRL>
<ctrl>click to fix axis, then choose height in other view
Constraints
Construction Planes
To set temporary construction plane, type CPLANE, choose 3point and select location
To return to previous cplane repeat CPLANE and choose the Previous option
Function Keys
View or change the function of each F-key in the menu bar Options/Keyboard
F1 HELP
F2 COMMAND HISTORY
F3 PROPERTIES
F6 CAMERA
F7 GRID
F8 ORTHO
F9 SNAP TO GRID
F10 POINTS ON
F11 POINTS OFF F12 DIGITIZER
Nudge
Move selected controlpoints with arrow keys while holding down the Alt key
PageUp and PageDown moves in the Z-direction
In Options/modeling aids/nudge you can set the arrows to work without the Alt key.
Shift : big steps
Ctrl : small steps
Short Cuts / Aliases

View or change the short cuts in the menu bar Options/Aliases
M <ENTER>
MOVE command
TIP! to speed up your drawing process add these aliases and use them:
L for Line, PL for Polyline, C for Circle, CO for Copy, etc.
68

Rhinoceros: Academic Year 2010/2011

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rhinoceros: Academic Year 2010/2011

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rhinoceros 4.

Institut 4 - Institut for design og kommunikation

Selections and Workspace

Structures: Group - Block

Control Point Editing

Loft and Unroll

Campo Volantin Footbridge

MESH versus NURBS

RHINOCEROS 4.0, KUNSTAKADEMIETS ARKITEKTSKOLE, INSTITUT FOR DESIGN OG KOMMUNIKATION 20 0 9

Graphics Area with 4 Viewports

World Axes Ikon

Main 1 & 2 Toolbars

Place the Cursor on one of the inner Edges of a Viewport.

Select Help/Command Help, and the Command Help Window is opened.

Command Prompt and Command History

Now the command is described in the Command Help Window.

Notice that the Command Prompt is waiting for a command:

Enter repeats last command

The Command Prompt shows:

Press Enter to repeat the Polyline command.

The Polyline Button is at the top of the Main 1 Toolbar.

Flyout and Pulloff Toolbars

Place the Cursor on the Polyline Button.

The Buttons with grey background at the top of the two

Complete List of Toolbars:

The Coordinate System

Absolute Coordinates places points in the Coordinate System

Draw Polyline with Absolute Coordinates:

Repeat the Polyline Command with Enter.

Repeat the Polyline Command.

Repeat the Polyline Command.

Draw a few Segments, and End the Polyline.

The combination of Ortho and Distance Constraint is very

Start a Polyline and Draw some Segments.

This exercise takes a look on and inside a 3d model, how to

File of the exercise:

Close the Command Help Window.

Right Click the Viewport Title of the Perspective Viewport.

VIEWS - VIEWING THE MODEL

Set and save views

Right Click the Title of the Perspective Viewport.

Restoring a saved view

Right Click the Title of the Viewport with the Perspective.

Open the Properties Window.

Show the Camera:

Click the Perspective Viewport active.

Click on the objects of the model.

Open the Layer Window and unfold the Layer Hierarchy:

Click a Column Selected.

SELECTIONS and WORK SPACE

IN the next exercise you will manipulate the objects of the

Open the file 3 Selecting Objects.3dm (the same as the previous).

Selecting several objects one by one

Select and deselect one by one:

Hold down the Shift Key and select several Objects.

Cilck on a Column in the Right Viewport.

Pull off the Select Toolbar from the Standard Toolbar.

Click Select by Layer.

Selecting from Menu and Command Prompt

Select Edit/Select Objects, and you get a Menu of Selection Choices.

THE WORK SPACE

In the Document Properties part click Units.

Grid and Snap