Warka Water: Each drop counts

Water is the source of life. It is so fundamental to our lives that we take it for granted. But in some areas of the world, water shortage is an acute and a real problem. Many rural villages in Africa lack the simple water infrastructure to fulfill basic needs.

Arturo Vittori, from Architecture and Vision, together with a group of international talented collaborators, has developed Warka Water, a structure to capture potable water from the air by collecting rain, harvesting fog and dew for rural communities in Ethiopia. Rhino and Grasshopper were used from the early stages of the project. 

Warka Water is now running a crowd-funding campaign.  

Please support Warka Water on Kickstarter...

Rhino 5 + Grasshopper + V-Ray + VisualARQ + RhinoBIM Presentations

South Florida Road Trip Presentations

Join us for a presentation on Grasshopper, V-Ray, VisualARQ, and RhinoBIM for Rhino 5. In this presentation, we will demonstrate the latest on generative data driven design, rendering, and BIM (Building Information Modeling).

The presentation will be approximately two hours with time for Q&A at the end.

University of Central Florida – UCF  

Tuesday Jan 20th from 9:00 – 11:00 am

1800 S Kirkman Rd, Orlando, FL 32811  - Building 11 Room 106

For more information, please contact: Jason Mayer 

Florida International University – FIU 

Tuesday Jan 20th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm

Room #135 (auditorium) of PCA building (Paul Cejas Architecture building)

More information, please contact: Eric Goldemberg

Miami Dade College – MDC

Wednesday Jan 21st from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Room 3410-5 Miami Dade College - School of Architecture – Wolfson Campus (downtown)

More information, please contact: Maria Zabala 

University of Miami – UM

Thursday Jan 22nd from 9:00 – 11:00 am

Glasgow Hall - Jorge M Perez Architecture Center
More information, please contact: Ju Hong Park

Any additional information, please contact:

McNeel Miami and RhinoFabStudio

Jackie Nasser  T (305) 513 4445

Create Waterman Polyhedra

The Waterman Polyhedra for Rhinoceros 5 for Windows will allow you to create Waterman Polyhedrons.

A Waterman polyhedron is created by packing spheres, according to cubic close packing (CCP), then sweeping away the spheres that are farther from the center than a defined radius, then creating the convex hull of the resulting pack of spheres.

Some Waterman polyhedra create Platonic solids and Archimedean solids.

Waterman Polyhedra supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Rhinoceros 5 for Windows, and it requires SR9 or greater. Waterman Polyhedra does NOT work with Rhinoceros for Mac.

Waterman Polyhedra provides both a Rhino plug-in and a Grasshopper add-on.

Waterman Polyhedra is free!

Download...

Aircraft Geometry Codes - Parametric Models for Optimization, scripted in Python, Rhino and Matlab

AirCONICS (Aircraft CONfiguration through Integrated Cross-Disciplinary Scripting) is a free toolset comprising highly parametric aircraft geometry objects, in particular for generating external surface geometry (i.e., surfaces wetted by the flow).

AirCONICS is used for aircraft design applications and it is backed up by a Wiley book, in which the theory behind the objects (in particular, the aircraft lifting surfaces) is described.

AirCONICS v0.2 can be downloaded for free. 

Complete details and download at www.aircraftgeometry.codes...

RhinoVAULT 1.3 released

RhinoVAULT V1.3 New Features from BLOCK Research Group on Vimeo.

Intuitive form finding for funicular structures

The BLOCK Research Group, ETH Zurich, is happy to announce the release of RhinoVAULT 1.3. The latest, freely available version comes with some neat, new features. Besides many bug fixes, the plug-in for Rhinoceros® features the following new tools for a more advanced form finding of funicular structures:

• Include tension elements to create new, exciting funicular structures
• Set bounds on force magnitudes to more easily control local force distributions
• Use the new API to hack into RhinoVAULT for your project-specific application
• Generate triangulated form diagrams for any given boundary conditions

This movie, RhinoVAULT V1.3 New Features on Vimeo, shows an overview of the new features implemented.

New tutorials have been added to the tutorial website.

The plug-in emerged from current research on structural form finding using the Thrust Network Approach to intuitively create and explore funicular structures. We are constantly working on new techniques and methods, which eventually will be implemented in future releases of this digital design tool.

For more information, and to download RhinoVAULT, please visit:
BLOCK Research Group RhinoVAULT website

The plug-in has been downloaded by more than 10,000 people and in 2014 RhinoVAULT won an award in the category 'Structure / Physics Formation' at ALGODeQ, an international competition for algorithmic design programs. We are happy that the tool could be useful for students and professionals around the world, helping to realize some amazing projects. Knowing about your work is very helpful for the development of the software and in general amazingly motivating. So, please get in touch if you have exciting projects made with RhinoVAULT you want to share or if you are interested in collaborative work and workshops (rippmann@arch.ethz.ch).

IO robotics plug-in

Robofold recently released a new version of the IO robotics plug-in (what was Godzilla). This is a major release; real-time playback; loads of rendering options; and an API.

More info and download at food4Rhino...

Open position for a Professorship of Industrial Design in Linz, Austria

The University of Art and Industrial Design Linz (Kunstuniversität Linz) – Institute of Space and Design seeks to appoint an appropriately qualified person as a full-time Professor of Industrial Design [...]

Rhino skills are a plus!

Complete job offer in English...

Complete job offer in German...

EvoluteTools T.MAP

Evolute announces its new plug-in EvoluteTools T.MAP, providing mixed integer parametrization for Rhino:

• map textures with minimum distortion
• use quadrangular or triangular textures
• extract level set curves of parametrization, e.g. for remeshing using triangles or quads
• align parametrization with user-guided curves or principal curvature directions

More info and free download at food4Rhino...

Rhino and Orca3D training at NDAR, Antibes, France

Rhino + Orca3D training
Antibes, France
Feb 16-18, 2015
    
A 3-day Rhino + Orca3D training will be held at NDAR offices in Antibes from 16 to 18 Feb 2015.

Instructors are Vanessa STEEG and Stéphane DARDEL. The course will be held in English. Other languages will be supported (French, Italian).

The course is for naval architects and ship and boat designers, with a good knowledge of Rhino. Syllabus covers:

• Rhino 5 user interface and customization
• Foundations of modelling and fairing  techniques
• Hull assistant
• Background bitmap
• Surface creation and modification
• Point control
• Surface analysis
• Hydrostatic calculations
• Real-time hydrostatics
• Stability with criteria verification
• If time allows, topics suggested by participants towards the end of Day 3

Course fees are 650€/day. Lunch will be provided.  Advance payment of the fee is required to confirm registration.

Participants should have Rhino 5 SR10 and Orca3D latest Release (v1.3) or WIP installed on their laptops.

For more information and registration, please check http://www.ds-t.com/general-cd/accueil/home.html and contact ndar@ndar.com. 

Workshop: Additive & Subtractive Manufacturing Using Rhino

The focus of this workshop will be to gain hands-on experience working with both MecSoft's Additive and Subtractive manufacturing software products running inside Rhino 5.

Date: January 15th, 2015
Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location: SCAD Museum of Art

To register for this workshop, please go to: Registration

Note: Everyone must bring their laptop with the needed software preinstalled. Participants will use RhinoCAM to program toolpaths and also send the toolpaths to cut a part on a milling machine.  Participants will also use Rhino3DPRINT, a product to enable 3D Printing from inside Rhino, to work with point cloud data and mesh models to get them ready for 3D Printing. 

Instructor: Uday Honnalagere is the Technical Support Manager for MecSoft Corporation. He started as an Application Engineer and has been with the company since 2005. He is responsible for providing technical support and training for end users. Uday holds a MS degree in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University majoring in CAD/CAM.

Registration: Conferences on January 16-17, 2015

Conferences: List of presenters

Workshops: View all the workshops

Presentation:  Plug-ins for Rhino

Webinar: Rhino3DPRINT, January 29

Live Webinar: Rhino3DPRINT

Thursday, January 29, 2015

9:00AM-10:30AM PST

Seats are limited, sign up early!

Join presenters Kyle Houchens and Uday Honnalagere for an informative and entertaining technical demonstration of MecSoft’s newest product - Rhino3DPRINT for Rhino 5. They will show you how to use Rhino in conjunction with Rhino3DPRINT to prepare your model for 3D printing. The webinar will focus on Rhino’s 3D modeling commands and powerful file translation combined with Rhino3DPRINT's tools to prepare and process the mesh for successful 3D printing.

Register now!

Who should attend?

Anybody who is interested in getting their 3D data prepared and ready for effective and optimized 3D printing. It does not matter if you already have a modeling tool– you will still find this combination of products a powerful addition to your toolset when it comes to creating and readying data for 3D printing.

Presentation will take approximately 1 hour and Q&A following the session. Presentation will be recorded.

Design and Digital Fabrication

Date: January 15, 2015
Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location: SCAD Museum of Art

To register for this workshop, please go to: Registration

Topics covered will include what is needed (materials, equipment, hardware and software), funding options, and many student samples of successful projects that meet the needs of industry. Areas of interest covered will include (but are not limited to) CAD/CAM, 3D printing, laser etching, 3D scanning, PlasmaCAM, CNC modeling and rural school opportunities with digital collaboration.

Four outcomes for session participants:
•    Using a school’s current computers for digital fabrication and rapid prototyping.
•    Determining which digital design and fabrication hardware and software are appropriate in school fab lab studios and maker spaces.
•    Exposing students to high-demand and high-paying careers.

•    How to implement and run a certified RhinoFabStudio

Note 1: Each student must bring his / her computer with Rhino 5 for Windows installed.

Note 2: Watch the video Technology Education

Instructor: John Niebergall. Over the course of John’s 30-year career in public education he has taught Engineering, Architecture, CAD/CAM, and Woodworking. In all of these classes, he has provided his students with hands-on, contextual, real-world learning experiences. He has coached his students in robotics where they became national champions.

Registration: Conferences on January 16-17, 2015

Conferences: List of presenters

Workshops: View all the workshops 

Presentations:  Plug-ins for Rhino

Algorithm Modeling, a workshop by AMP3D

January 30 - February 13, 2015 (18 hours)

CorsiRhino

Milano, Italy

Join instructor Riccardo Gatti as he explores the concepts and capabilities of generative modeling in Rhino 5 using the Grasshopper add-on. He will apply these concepts by developing series, copies and patterns ready for the 3D printing.

This course is for design professionals who are looking to efficiently learn concepts and features of Grasshopper.
The course will be led in Italian.

More information... 

V-Ray Design Visualization workflows for Rhino

Workshop: V-Ray Design Visualization Workflows for Rhino

Date: January 15, 2015

Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location: SCAD Museum of Art

To register for this workshop, please go to: Registration

In this workshop, Chaos Group master trainers Vassil Pepelyankov and Fernando Rentas will demonstrate why V-Ray is an essential tool for architectural and product design visualizations. 

Special bonus: Every participant in the V-Ray Workshop will get their own educational license of V-Ray 2.0 for Rhino.

This V-Ray for Rhino-focused workshop will cover basic to advanced rendering techniques and concepts.  Learn how V-Ray's sampling engine affects overall quality and performance and how setting different global illumination parameters can help achieve highly realistic product design and architectural visualizations.

Prerequisites:
1. Beginner to intermediate V-Ray and Rhino knowledge.
2. Laptops with Rhino and V-Ray for Rhino installed. (V-Ray 2.0 will be provided prior to the workshop.)

Registration: Conferences on January 16-17, 2015

Conferences: List of presenters

Workshops: View all the workshops 

Product styling with Rhino 5, Neon and Brazil for Rhino

Workshop: Product styling with Rhino 5, Neon and Brazil for Rhino
Date: January 15, 2015
Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Location: SCAD Museum of Art

To register for this workshop, please go to: Registration

In this one-day workshop, you'll learn to model and render a watch concept using workflows specific to Rhino 5 as well as advanced surfacing techniques. Explore the possibilities of sub-object modeling with the Gumball, enabling History during ideation and refining surface continuity for seamless blends over complex transitions. Lastly, you'll create photorealistic renderings using the free Neon plug-in combined with the features of Brazil for Rhino. Texture mapping, advanced material creation and image based lighting will all be used. 

Note: Everyone must bring thier laptop with the needed software preinstalled.

Required software:

Rhino 5: (latest service release) http://www.rhino3d.com/download/rhino/5/latest  

Brazil: Evaluation http://www.rhino3d.com/download/Brazil/2.0/evaluation  

Neon: http://www.rhino3d.com/download/Neon/1.0/release

Instructor: James Brian works with Robert McNeel & Associates, providing technical support and training to Rhino users around the world in a wide range of industries. In addition, Brian teaches part time in the Industrial Design department of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he focuses on teaching modeling and rendering techniques for product designers.

Registration: Conferences on January 16-17, 2015

Conferences: List of presenters

Workshops: View all the workshops 

Presentation:  Plug-ins for Rhino

VisualARQ, BIM and architectural tools for Rhinoceros

Date: January 15th, 2015
Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location: SCAD Museum of Art

To register for this workshop, please go to: Registration

VisualARQ is an architectural software for Rhinoceros that adds architectural features and parametric architectural objects suitable for both 3D modeling and 2D documentation. VisualARQ streamlines the process to model an architectural project within the Rhino environment.

The workshop will cover the following topics:

• How to create, edit and work with parametric architectural objects.
• How to generate all 2D graphic documentation from the 3D model: floor plans, sections, areas, quantity take-offs, and more…
• BIM features: 3D geometry and project data are linked. The IFC exporter.
• Overview of the VisualARQ Grasshopper Components.
• Note: Each student must bring their laptop computer with Rhino 5 for Windows and VisualARQ installed. VisualARQ can be downloaded from the VisualARQ website: Download VisualARQ

Instructor: Francesc Salla is an architect and the Product Manager of VisualARQ and Lands Design, both products from Asuni CAD. He is in charge of testing, supporting and presenting both products since 2010.

Registration: Conferences on January 16-17, 2015

Conferences: List of presenters

Workshops: View all the workshops 

Presentation:  Plug-ins for Rhino

New Firefly

Real-time data flow between the digital and physical world

Firefly connects physical devices with Rhino though Grasshopper for both input and output. The physical devices supported include:

• Arduino connected to LEDS, lights, motors, valves, sensors, etc.
• Webcam streaming
• Mobile devices (iOS + Android) using OSC and UDP
• Internet feeds and search XML feeds 
• Kinect game controller including skeleton tracking
• Leap Motion controller
• Microphones and speakers
• Many more...

Other features include:

• Visualize Sensor Data within Firefly / Grasshopper
• Generate code to upload to an Arduino board
• Basic sound input and processing tools
• Datalogging, counting and playback
• Machine Vision toolkit including edge detection, color filtering, convolution filtering and much more.

New features include:

• Rewritten Firefly Firmata with support for Arduino Due.
• Improved Leap Finger Tracking.
• Kinect V2 support
• Several bug fixes.
• New components: 

• PID loops
• Bitmap Tracer
• Bitmap Decompose/Recompose & Threshold

More details...

Rhino for Jewelry Training at Miami, FL

Designers will have hands-on experience on using Rhino on their jewelry design and analysis process. The course is designed to reduce the learning curve difficulty, and to provide the designer with a forward push into the digital jewelry design and high end rendering. 

Rhino for Jewelry Design at McNeel Miami

1/7/2015 - 1/9/2015
8:00am-5:00pm
Hurry! Time is running out.

For more information click here.

To register, contact Jackie Nasser
e-mail: Jackie Nasser
phone: 305 513 4445

Paneling the Terminator Genisys environments

Film designer, Andrew Reeder, used Rhino and the PanelingTools plug-in to resolve one of Terminator Genisys' most complex environments. The plug-in's speed and ease of use enabled Reeder and the film's conceptual team to arrive at an unusual design aesthetic appropriate for the storytelling and also to address many of the complex fabrication issues of the solution.

Check the environments in the Terminator Genisys trailer (36 - 58 seconds).

New release of PanelingTools for Rhino 5 and Grasshopper

The new PanelingTools for Rhino 5 and Grasshopper has been released. Details and Download...

Tanusas - retreat and spa

Tanusas Resort, a nook cuddled by breezes and palm trees, where the sea softens its sensible space. 

"For me the goal of this project was the proper reading of the local architecture re-interpreted in a high tech tool such as Rhino. Giving me the freedom to design freely the whole magnitude of the project. During the process I never did any physical model. All digital, surrounded by aboriginals in a very undeveloped environment. 

The architecture itself merges with the surroundings, to outline the local design in a contemporary fashion.

I designed every single detail of this project with Rhinoceros and it was the best decision I ever make." 

Bernardo Bouquet-Roldan Crespo

Grasshopper and Python manuals in Spanish

Founder and Principal of archi[o]logics, Adolfo Nadal is a professional with a manifold career in architecture, education, design, and computational geometry.

Adolfo has been kind enough to share his manuals on Computational Design (in Spanish) on issuu:

• Diseño paramétrico explícito con Grasshopper 
• Diseño paramétrico y algorítmico 
• RhinoScript - Python - Diseño Algorítmico 
• Modelado y visualización con Rhino - Introducción al diseño algorítmico 

Tip: if you prefer a PDF version, click on Share>Download

INFORMED MATTER - intermediate Grasshopper workshop in Paris

INFORMED MATTER workshop
Paris, France
March 6-8, 2015

The space in which we live can be monitored in many aspects and it appears as a flux, a gradient of data in continuous evolution. Our understanding of surrounding environment improves every day due to our ability to scan and sample the environment around us at increasing resolution, using better technologies and sensors. Thus the space is revealed as a ever changing data field. Our capability to act and design the space itself can be enhanced by using the tools which are able to better provide the design processes with more accurate, specific and variable in space and time, data streams.

INFORMED MATTER is an intermediate Grasshopper workshop about “data embodiment strategies” and advanced mesh modeling techniques. Grasshopper is a powerful information processor that provides the basis to develop possible strategies to inFORM digital matter morphologies by a specific set of data conditions.

The workshop focuses on integrating information processing into digital systems to enable the formation of structures, from the very simple up to the more complex. The aim is to understand information and data articulation as a spatial and architectural operation. Results range from pure data strategies design to data-driven geometries, depending on the skill levels and aspirations of each participant. The brief is also open to the suggestions and opportunities that may rise during the workflow.

Details and registration...

The good, the bad, the not-so-ugly

Kevin Caron typically uses his 3D printer to create his sculptures. Recently he expanded its uses to print a pedestal for a recently sold art work. In the process he also created an explanatory video for this simple but practical Rhino use.

The pedestal was a round base with an oval top and required a more robust program than the CAD program Kevin had been running. This is where Rhino came in. Getting straight sides is a "piece of cake. It did it just perfect, once I found the right button."

Kevin's video 'How to Use 3D Printing for Other Uses' ....

Ornaments for a White House Christmas tree

One of our online training students has made it to the White House! Well, not really. But his ornament has. Antar Hall entered the White House 3D-Printed Ornament Challenge and finished as one of the five grand prize winners with his ornament, Presidents of Christmas Past & Present.

The ornaments have been 3D printed and are now hanging in the East Wing of the White House for the holidays. They will later go to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Three of the runner ups also used Rhino to create their designs: starball, Essence of the Ice, and The Christmas State of Mind Ornament.

The winners of the White House 3D-Printed Ornament Challenge ...

Download new RhinoBIM beta 3.45.179

A new beta 3.45.179 is now available for RhinoBIM_Structure 
including a number of fixes and enhancements. Also new is a
User Data function in the Manage tab that allows you to attach any information to any geometry and create a report.

Download beta 3.45.179...

Please join us in welcoming UNIVERSIDAD ICESI as a new Authorized RhinoFabStudio

Please join us in welcoming UNIVERSIDAD ICESI as a new Authorized RhinoFabStudio. ICESI has developed innovative academic programs and encourages students to search for knowledge through the "Active Learning" method, in order to produce better, well-prepared professionals. ICESI is recognized as one of the most important and renowned universities in Colombia due to its rigorous academic standards and its wide and diverse range of undergraduate and graduate programs.

For more information on ICESI's RhinoFabStudio, please contact:
Lina Marcela Quintero Villareal 


What is a RhinoFabStudio? A RhinoFabStudio™ (fabrication studio) is a small-scale digital workshop, certified by McNeel, with an array of Rhino and Rhino compatible software and computer controlled tools and training. These tools cover the various leading-edge industrial methods and materials needed to design, analyze, and fabricate almost anything.

NEW PanelingTools Online Course, December 8-11

 

 

PanelingTools for Rhino 5 and Grasshopper - NEW Online Course

December 8-11, 20149:00AM-1:00pm Pacific time
US$99 per person
A few seats are still available, register now.

Join instructor Rajaa Issa as she explores the concepts of paneling and surface rationalization in Rhino 5 using the PanelingTools add-on. The class will be comprehnsive and cover material from concept generation, detailed design for fabrication and parametric paneling. More...

This is the first class ever... sign up today!

 

This course is for design students and professionals who are looking to efficiently learn PanelingTools and exploit its many features in an instructor-led online environment. This course requires that you have access to Rhino 5 and Grasshopper.

Free Webinar: Jewellery with HDR Light Studio

Simply Rhino are presenting a series of six webinars introducing V-Ray for Rhino and outlining it's use in specific areas including:

Product Design
Architecture
Interior Design
Jewellery

There will be insights and information for those who are thinking about moving to a high end rendering product and plenty of useful tips for those already using V-Ray for Rhino.

The next webinar in the series is:

Jewellery with HDR Light Studio
3rd December 2014

This thirty minute webinar will look at jewellery visualisation and is co-presented by Mark Segasby of Lightmap – the makers of HDR Light Studio.

Jewellery rendering is essentially all about reflections and refractions and Mark will demonstrate how HDR Light Studio makes it easy to fully control and place reflections precisely merely by selecting the appropriate face on the model.

Lighting, reflections and background can all be controlled with the V-Ray Dome Light and the ‘out of the box’ support for HDR Light Studio Live.

Details and registration...

Sharing your Rhino license

Just a reminder, a single-user commercial Rhino license is a license for one concurrent user at a time.

But yes, we do want you to share your commercial Rhino license when you are not using it… as long as it is under your control. The best way to keep control is to put your licenses in the Zoo.

Installing and using the Zoo is very easy (and free). Details…

Besides using the Zoo, here are a few other things that will help protect your license.

• Register to make it easier for us to help in case of a lost or stolen license. 
• Buy from an authorized Rhino dealer.
• Keep your license keys in a safe place… just like you would cash.
• Never share your license key.

Share responsibly. Use the Zoo...