Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Advances in Architectural Geometry - Vienna 2010



The second Advances in Architectural Geometry conference takes place in Vienna, Austria, from September 18 to 21, 2010.

It is intended to be the premier venue for disseminating new research ideas and cutting-edge results at the interface of geometry processing and architectural design. Scientific chairs of the conference are Cristiano Ceccato, Lars Hesselgren, and Mark Pauly. Keynote speakers are:

Patrik Schumacher (Zaha Hadid Architects)
Rene Ziegler (Waagner Biro Stahlbau)
Gershon Elber (Technion)
David Rutten (Robert McNeel & Associates)

The organization invites you to contribute a paper or a workshop, or simply to visit. More details concerning submission can be found on the conference web page at http://www.architecturalgeometry.at/aag10.

Digitales Entwerfen book



New book 
Digitales Entwerfen (in German only at the moment).

This new book by Marco Hemmerling and Anke Tiggemann from the Detmolder Schule für Architektur und Innenarchitektur describes the basics of CAD for architects and interior designers. 3D modeling is one of the major topics of the publication, including Rhino and Grasshopper.


Announcing Rhino FabLab community


The RhinoFabLab community is a place share, learn and teach different methods of fabrication for industrial designers, architects, and engineers when Rhinoceros is involved in any phase of the design and manufacturing/construction process. It is also a great place to share information about digital fabrication hardware, digital models and Grasshopper definitions.

RhinoFabLab is open to everyone and encourages discussions about any Rhino compatible software and hardware that helps you realize your ideas.

RhinoFabLab urges all Rhino ARTs and ARTCs to post your events, workshops and classes which pertain to fabrication methods and/or processes.

Andres Gonzalez, in the McNeel Miami office, is your host.


Rhino OS X - New Build

There is a new build available, Wenatchee 2009-12-21, with many new features, enhancements, and bug fixes. Also included are:

Additions:

  • The Modeling Aids application preference panel has been implemented.
  • There is a new setting for the middle mouse button in the Mouse application preferences panel. You can now set the middle mouse button to "Pan and rotate view". When this is set, the right mouse button always activates the context menu.
  • Option-clicking an osnap setting in the Osnaps panel turns off all other osnap settings.
Changes:
  • The Paneling Tools plug-in has been updated to the latest version.
  • The crash reporter has been revised so it can send crash reports in more situations.
Everyone is invited to download and use the OS X version of Rhino while it is in development.

Most of the core functionality has been ported from Windows and is very stable. There is still much to do to port the rest of the functionality and refine the interface.

We don't expect the first commercial release to be ready for at least a year. Don't worry if the build you are using is going to expire. New versions will be available every few weeks. There will be a newer one available before the expiration date.

n|Edg: proto architecture installation in Lyon


"nEdg", an installation by THEVERYMANY, was recently on display at the gallery Roger Tator in Lyon, France.

The proto architecture, an assembly of 2,796 unique parts, is the result of a series of RhinoScript investigations about custom relaxation of surfaces and surface tessellation with parts going from 3 to n edges.

Read more and see photos of the installation.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

New release of PanelingTools for Rhino 4 SR7



The new release of PanelingTools plugin for Rhino 4 SR7 is now available. Download....

New features:
  • Added the new ptPanelGridCustomVariable command with history support. This command allows input pattern to scale, rotate, move or morph based on curvature, attractors or randomly.
  • Added new command ptMeanCurves to find intermediate curves between start and end curves. It does not do curve seam matching. You need to use CrvSeam to align the two shapes seam before running the command.
  • Added new ptSwapGridUV command to swap UV direction of a paneling grid.
  • Added new ptWeaveGrids command to merge two paneling grids.
  • Added new ptConvertToDiagonalGrid command to change the standard rectangular paneling grid to a diagonal one.
  • Added new ptConvertToDiamondGrid command to change the standard rectangular paneling grid to a diamond one.
  • Added four new commands to save and load 2D and 3D patterns to and from a text file format. Those are the patterns created with the 2D/3D pattern manager.
  • Added the new command ptExtractCenterGrid. It generates a new grid based on the center points of some input grid.
  • Added eight new scripting functions.
  • Added "undo" option to ptManage2DPatterns and ptManage3DPatterns commands.
  • Added ProjectionDirection option to ptPanelSurface and ptPanelCurve command when PanelShape=Projected.
  • Added AttractorCurves option to commands: ptOffsetBorder, ptOffestPoints, ptExtrudeEdge, ptOffsetEdge and ptFinEdges.
  • Added history support to ptOffsetPoints command.
  • Added new output format options to ptPanel3D command. It is now possible to choose to output edges, faces, solids and/or meshes.
  • Updated all ptPanel3D built-in patterns to output selected format. Patterns WireBox and Box are merged into one.

Bug fixes:
  • Fixed a ptDirection bug. When rows length is not equal, reversing the direction did not realign end points to be in one column.
  • Fixed a history bug in ptPanelGridCustom command.
  • Made faces directions consistent when using built-in patterns in ptPanelGrid command.
  • Fix ptGridCurve bug. the command used to fail if it cannot calculate a preview grid when no projection is found. the command now allows the user to get to the next step to reset projection and extrusion directions to get desired grid.

Fun stuff:
  • PanelingTools for Rhino 5 WIP 32- and 64-bits is coming soon.
  • Glenn Wilcox posted three new tutorials in his generative design computing. See details....
  • Added two short clips to show how the new ptPanelgridCustomVariable command works with history. See details...
  • There is an upcoming PanelingTools workshop organized by Tex-Fab at the University of Texas at Arlington. See details...

Monday, December 21, 2009

Rhino Assembly at University of Michigan Taubman College



Ann Arbor, MI, USA, and Novosibirsk, Russia, December 17, 2009 – The University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and LEDAS Ltd., an independent provider of variational design tools, component technologies, and software development services for CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM market, today announced that LGS 3D geometric constraint solver will be used for scientific research in the field of robotics.

Wesley McGee, a Researcher/Lecturer in Architectural CAD/CAM technologies at the University of Michigan Taubmann College of Architecture and Urban Planning explains: "My current work, along with Dave Pigram of Pratt Institute includes developing robotic scripting applications using Rhinoceros 3D software. We are very interested in LEDAS Rhino Assembly plug-in and the geometric constraint engine it based on. One area we are investigating is the development of kinematic simulation of our robotic workcell in Rhino. We currently use several competing products to handle this, but to have a system completely based in Rhino would provide a lot of freedom. While our scripts are currently very successful at generating robotic code, we still simulate using an offline simulation package. We believe using the LGS 3D engine we may be able to build an offline simulation plug-in for Rhino."

ParaCloud GEM 2010 for Rhino available


ParaCloud is happy to announce the distribution of ParaCloud GEM 2010.
ParaClod GEM supports Rhino 4.0 and Rhino for Mac.

The new version includes many new features and updates to improve the software usability and performance. The new release includes a morphing animation system and layer separation output for material rendering and 3D Printing. (Read More)

Friday, December 18, 2009

Rhino 4 Service Release 7 Now Available

Rhino 4 Service Release 7 is now available to download. Owners of Rhino 4 are encouraged to download and install SR7 today. SR7 contains dozens of stability and crash fixes, as well as enhancements to many commands, including new features:

  • Save: Option to save backup file has been added to the Files tab of Options.
Bug Fixes:
  • Dim: A rounding error has been fixed.
  • Display/Bongo: Bongo preview mode did not display at the correct position when they tranformed. This is fixed.
  • Drag & Drop dialog incorrectly did not come to the top. This is fixed.
  • Fillet: A failure bug when filleting between arcs and lines has been fixed.
  • Installer: SketchUp import did not work properly. This is fixed.
  • Open:SolidWorks: A failure bug has been fixed.
  • Open:DWG/DXF: A problem where some objects were missing in the file has been fixed.
  • Open:DWG/DXF: Importing a revolved solid did not work properly. This is fixed.
  • Open:SolidWorks: A problem opening read-only files (such as those downloaded from email or CD) has been fixed.
  • PointDeviation did not properly update when control points were nudged. This is fixed.
  • Safe mode: CommandHelp is now turned off when running Rhino in safe mode.
  • Section: A failure with planar object bounding boxes has been fixed.
  • SetView did not properly update the viewport projection when setting to perspective. This is fixed.
  • Split: When splitting a surface, the resulting bits did not have the same u-and v-directions as the original surface. This is fixed.

MyRhinoGold social network



MyRhinoGold.com allows members to solve any doubts (Forum Section, FAQ), download Training Materials (Training Guide), see Tutorial Videos (Training Videos as well as short videos answering Forum’s doubts) and see the latest news of RhinoGold. Also, members can publish their designs and be able to see/add events related to RhinoGold such as Trade-Shows, Workshops, presentations and meetings.

VisualARQ 1.0 Service Release 1



VisualARQ 1.0 Service Release 1 is now available, with many enhancements, bug fixes, and new features.

Until December 31st there's an introductory offer of VisualARQ 1.0. See the details here.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

T-Splines představuje vítězné modely aut























Obrázek: Audi A6, vymodeloval Tommi Laiho

Naše gratulace patří vítězům soutěže T-Splines Vehicular Modeling, kterými jsou Tommi Laiho, Jamie Barajas a Fabio Rios. O soutěži a vítězných modelech čtěte zde.

ESRI Import for Rhino, new plugin

Sycode's new plugin, ESRI Import for Rhino, gives Rhino the ability to import geometric data from ESRI shapefiles. ESRI Import for Rhino reads points, polylines and polygons from ESRI shapefiles and creates corresponding points, polylines and polygons in the active Rhino model drawing.

CNC PROTOCOL Workshop: Design to Fabrication Communication

LaN invites professionals and students to attend their four-day CNC PROTOCOL workshop. CNC PROTOCOL will instruct on the use of Rhino as it pertains to digital fabrication (rationalizing complex surfaces, preparing 3D surfaces for various 2D fabrication methods, creating solid models in Rhino for use with 3D printing technology, etc). Valuable plug-ins, including RhinoCAM, RhinoNest, RhinoTerrain and Grasshopper will also be introduced and explored.

Dates: January 6-9, 2010
Location: Microsoft New England Research & Development Center, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $495 professionals; $395 students
Register online.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

4th Conference CNC Milling Technology in Architecture, Art and Design - Viena (Austria)

4th Conference CNC Milling Technology in Architecture, Art and Design - TU Viena (Austria) - 18 Dec 2009

Sustainability in Computer Aided Manufacturing?

Since 2006 this annual conference at TU Vienna has brought together researchers, practicing experts and business representatives in the field of CNC manufacturing. The major aim is to exchange research results, teaching approaches and ideas of state-of-the-art CAM-technologies with future opportunities to implement in architecture, art, and design. This year’s conference will discuss the question of sustainability related to Computer Aided Manufacturing.

Time: Friday, 18 Dec 2009, 9.30 - 16.30 Uhr
Location: TU Vienna, 1040 Vienna / Karlsplatz 13 / staircase 1 / 4th floor / Kuppelsaal
Free admission
Conference languages: German and English
Program and additional details here

Organization: 
Sigrid Brell-Cokcan brell-cokcan@iemar.tuwien.ac.at
0043-(0)1-58801-27212
Institute of Architectural Sciences/IEMAR: Digital Architecture and Planning
http://www.iemar.tuwien.ac.at
Anita Aigner: aigner@email.archlab.tuwien.ac.at, 0043-(0)1-58801-26426
Institute of Art and Design/Three-Dimensional Design and Modelmaking: http://www.ddg.tuwien.ac.at

Rhino and RhinoAssembly at Russian magazine isicad



The latest issue of the Russian magazine isicad includes a nice article about Rhino and RhinoAssembly.

Vladimir Malyukh of Ledas also reports on EuroMold 2009 trade show.

(Tip: use BabelFish to translate the text into English)

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Dutch Marine Industry user meeting












Representatives from the leading companies in the Dutch marine industry recently gathered to network and learn from each other how they're using Rhino in their current processes. Through the presentations and discussions that followed, participants learned how they can minimize hours with better integration of Rhino into their workflow of designing and manufacturing yachts and merchant ships.

RhinoCentre organized the event along with the help of TU-Delft University of Marine Technology. Organizers invited McNeel staff to listen in and join the discussion.

Firms represented include:

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Armadillo - new Rhino plug-in

Armadillo is a RhinoScripted plug-in based on generative arrays of items along path curves. It can create wide range of solutions: from the simple array along one curve to complex ribs and paneling systems, with extensive set of transformation features and interactive preview. More...

T-Splines Vehicular Modeling Challenge: deadline extended to Dec 8


Model something vehicular (dashboard, rims, mirrors, etc) with T-Splines and enter it in the T-Splines vehicular modeling challenge. The entry deadline has been extended to December 8th.


Model shown above done in T-Splines by Jamie B.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

LinceoVR 3.2 for Rhino announced




LinceoVR 3.2 for Rhino has been recently announced. This is a free update for existing users.

New features include:

  • Real Time Raytracing. GPU Raytracing is here to bring the realism of LinceoVR real time rendering beyond more and more.
  • Texture Tracking. Texture Tracking is now available in LinceoVR camera matching mode! User can choose their own generic picture as the target to be tracked in their live videos and photos.
  • 3D Models Import Upgrade. Rhino 3DM file importing has been greatly fixed and improved.