SnS, Analyze in Rhino - New Version

A new build of Scan&Solve™ for Rhino is now available. Download it here.

New features in the latest build include:

• User selection of color scheme
• Adjustable legend ranges
• Querying the solution at user specified points
• Saving ("Bake") the deformed shape

In addition to minor bug fixes, the interface has been expanded to support user-requested visualization capabilities. The legend display has been moved to the document window for improved readability and better use of precious screen real estate. The View tab provides tools to mark the solution values at the minimum, maximum, and at user specified points. Deflection scale and legend ranges may be adjusted interactively with the mouse or by keyboard input. The new release also improves accuracy of computations in the vicinity of restrained faces.

In Rhino, simply:

• Select the material, standard or Custom
• Apply the restraints, Edit to partially restrain
• Apply the loads
• Click Go
• View the results (strength, weakness, stresses, deformations)
• Click Report to generate web-ready reports
• Click Bake to save the deformed shape

For more information or to participate in the free beta-testing of this plug-in, please join the Scan-and-Solve for Rhino network.

EvoluteTools for Rhino Plugin Suite v1.0

EvoluteTools for Rhino Plugin Suite v1.0 is now complete.

The Planarization Module to optimize freeform panelisations for planar panels is out now and completes version 1.0 of Evolute Rhino Plugin Suite.

Check out the available features and modules at http://www.evolutetools.com/.

Details, download, pricing, case studies...

Digital Crafting videos

The videos of the presentations held at the Digital Crafting Symposium (CITA, Copenhagen) are now online! Great use of Rhino and Grasshopper in some of the featured projects!

i.materialise Rhino design challenge

McNeel Europe and i.materialise announce a 3D Printing Design Challenge with over $1000 in prizes.

We will be looking at people who show the power of Rhino and 3D printing in their designs, at designers and artists that can make “Future Forms Today.” We will consider the originality and presentation of the design and will also take into account if you maximize the power of 3D printing in your product. So is your product customizable? Or can your product only be built with 3D printing? We will also look if you got the most out of Rhino plug-ins like Grasshopper, T-Splines, RhinoGold, etc. in your design.

Details...

Homo Faber Open Lecture - Camerino (Italy)

Open Lecture HomoFaber
Universitá degli Studi di Camerino
20 Dec 2010 - 10:30 am

This is an open lecture by Dimitry Demin about parametric design with Rhino and Grasshopper:

"The title of Homo Faber lecture series opened a new understanding of old philosophical concepts in new virtuosity of architectural algorithms.
By having conjunction of information and causality of the relativity, by having hubris and noumenon elegance of the classical philosophy and by having the sum of potential in non linear coding – now is time for application in the architectural practice!

To close the gap between information, causality and the collective intelligence, Homo Faber principle offers the aesthetic phenomena of intelligent ways where experimental design builds bridges to the contemporary global problems of politics, economics and ecology."

Details...

New Grasshopper

Grasshopper 0.8.0004 is available to download.

Enhancements include:

• Improved Drag+Drop GUI for gh and ghx files.
• Added undo recording to Curve Point Component drags
• Added Ctrl+Enter and Shift+Enter overloads for setting persistent data via parameter menus.
• Slider Animations can now be aborted with Escape.
• Added non-functional Manage-List GUI to the Generic parameter.
• Added more smarts to the automatic cluster input/output lists.
• Added Ctrl+W shortcut to Close document menu item.
• Explode Tree component now uses base-zero numbering in the output.
• Arc3Pt and ArcSED components now output lines if the input is co-linear.
• Fixed sticky settings not being recorded when Rhino is shut down while Grasshopper is still running.
• Fixed a bug with Curve -> Interval auto-casting.
• Fixed tooltips showing for hidden widgets.
• Fixed a bug with Cluster output parameter sorting.
• Boxes would not bake if the axis intervals were reversed, this is fixed.

Check out one of the newest Grasshopper plug-ins:

• Karamba is an interactive structural analysis program. Here is a video on using Karamba with Galapogos to find an optimal solution.

Read more »

REPEAT Competition update

TEX-FAB has posted the winner of their REPEAT Competition along with the runners-up and honorable mentions. Read the full story and see the entries.

There's still time to sign up for TEX-FAB in February. Register...

RhinoDay Padova report

The RhinoDay held in Padova (Italy) last November was a a great success, with more than 150 people attending it.

Besides the amazing users presentations in different fields and the Rhino.Python and Grasshopper presentations by McNeel and Ing. Carlotto Vittorio, the following new plug-ins (some of them still in development) were presented:

• RhinoInterior - furniture design and fabrication
• PaveTool - jewelry
• Smart3D Pave and StoneSetting - jewelry

Read here a nice report (in Italian) with photos about the RhinoDay Padova 2010.

Maxwell Render 2.5

Next Limit announces the release of Maxwell Render version 2.5. This free update for Maxwell Render 2.x clients includes many exciting improvements and new features.

• New Maxwell Fire interactive technology - available inside plugins and Maxwell Studio
• Sub-Surface Scattering improvements in both quality and performance
• Numerous workflow improvements including new scripting functions, new command line options and parameters, and networking improvements especially for running animations
• Many other fixes and improvements

The Rhino plugin has been also updated.
Check this video about Maxwell Fire in Rhino!

RhinoParametrics 1.3

RhinoParametrics 1.3 has been announced. This new version includes a series of new functions and many bug fixes.

Details and download...

Thea Render for Rhino

Thea Render is a state-of-the-art biased/unbiased renderer with a rich set of innovative features, a powerful material system and its own advanced studio, all-in-one. A plugin that connects Rhino with Thea Render as an external rendering application is also available.

Check also this article about Thea Render for Rhino by Beppe Barone and Riccardo Gigante.

RhinoNest 2.1

RhinoNest 2.1 by TDM Solutions has been announced.

This new version includes:

• Nesting algorithm improved
• New Slice 3D
• List by Block name

Details and download...

Rhino 5 OS X - Second WIP release

The second Work In Progress (WIP) build of Rhinoceros 5 for OS X is now available.  This Mac build is up to date with the 2010-12-07 Windows build.  There is a new Windows WIP releases every week or so and an updated Mac Rhino WIP will be released shortly after each Windows release. 

You can download the Wenatchee 5 2010-12-13 build.

The Mac V5 Rhino version supports 64-bit Intel, 32-bit Intel, and 32-bit PowerPC architectures. This Mac version will automatically run in 64-bit mode on Core 2 Duo Intel processors or later, so running out of memory should no longer be a problem. It requires OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later.

Rhino OS X now also has most of the V5 improvements that are in the Windows version, such as:

• better stability
• many command enhancements
• faster drawing speeds
• display enhancements
• new commands
• new editing tools such as gumball

This build has many bug fixes and minor enhancements.

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 until next year. Don't worry if the build you are using is about to expire. New versions will be available every week or so. There will be a newer one available before the expiration date.

Details and download...

SectionTools plug-in for Rhino 5 WIP

A new release of SectionTools plug-in is now available with the latest Rhino 5 WIP of December 14, 2010. You can find download instructions and documentation at SectionTools Wiki page.

SectionTools is a dynamic sectioning plugin from RhinoLabs to help generate and update 3D sections and their 2D layouts. The plug-in has editing, viewing and reporting tools to effectively manage big set of sections.

In this release:

• Added new command "stEditSections" to edit sectioning options such as solid mode, direction and attributes. stEditSectionHatch and stSectionDir are now part of the new command.
• Combined "stView", "stSetCPlaneToSection" and "stSetViewToSection" into one new command “stViewSections”. You can now “Clip”, “SetView” and “SetCPlane” all in one step.
  
• Added support for persistent options to stCreate, stCreateArray and stViewSections commands.
  
• Fixed a bug when flipping section direction.
  
• 2D Layout now outputs curves, solids and hatched to 3 different sub-layers. This will help assign different layer attributes to each one.
  
• Made it more reliable to view section curves, surfaces and hatches.
  
• Fixed CPlane alignment bug.
  
• Added a new item to "SolidMode" option in stCreate and stCreateArray commands. It allows adding both hatches and surfaces at the same time.
  
• Added enhancements to stMoveSections command. Dragging sections' now gives real-time feedback of intersections and section clipping plane location.
  
• When creating sections, selecting objects is now a separate step from options. This way it will be possible to preselect objects and change options.
  
• Fixed duplicate 2D layout bug.
  
• Enhanced reporting output.
  
• Fixed a crash bug when saving as V4 then open in V5.
  
• Many other minor bug fixes.
  
• Added nine new short clips and updated toolbars and help manual.
  

Bongo 2.0 Beta 2 now available

Bongo 2.0 Beta 2 is now available from http://bongo3d.ning.com/

This is the first Beta version of Bongo 2.0 for Rhino 4.0 and 5. The beta is open – you no longer need Bongo 1.0 to run it, just a valid license of Rhino 4.0. We’ve been working hard on this and we think the new features are a great addition to the product, but there’s still some way to go, so please let us know if you find any bugs or if there are features that you think we should still be considering.

The full documentation isn’t there yet, but you’ll find a number of tutorials on the new Bongo web site at http://bongo3d.ning.com/ which demonstrates the power and flexibility of the new features. Let me know if you find them useful!

New Features in Version 2.0:

• Mechanical constraints (Inverse Kinematics)
• Morphing
• Multiple animations per file
• New curve editor
• Improved UI including keyframe editor and timeline
• Parameter animation for materials, environments, sun, textures and many more features.

Rhino versions supported: Bongo 2.0 requires a Rhino 4.0 CD key on the download page. Bongo 2.0 Beta testing is limited to Rhino 4.0 and 5 users. Rhino 4.0 Service Release 5 or later is required to install Bongo 2.0 and can be downloaded from http://www.rhino3d.com/download.htm

Notes:

• Bongo 2.0 is a complete rewrite of the Bongo plug-in. Most of the functionality of Bongo 1.0 has been replicated, but there may be some areas where Bongo 2.0 does not yet match the 1.0 functionality. Please let us know if you find these issues.
• This is the current beta release of Bongo 2.0 for Rhino. Bongo 2.0 will read Bongo 1.0 files, but will save Bongo 2.0 data only. This data cannot be read by Bongo 1.0, so please backup any files before using them in Bongo 2.0.
• The Bongo Video texture feature has not yet been implemented in the 64-bit version of Bongo 2.0.
• There is currently no support in the 64-bit version for writing video directly from the Render Animation dialog box, but you can write single frames and make video files using the Bongo Video Encoder.

New features in Beta 2:

• Smart object dragging

Read more »

Rhino Job Postings

Are you looking for a full-time, part-time or freelance position? Take a look at the new Rhino-related jobs that have been posted recently.

• 3D Jewelry Modeler, Israel
• Jewelry CAD Designer, India
• 3D Artist, California
• Architectural Rendering Designer, France
• 3D Digital Designer, New York
• Jewelry Designer, Dubai
• Product Designer, China

Details...

Orca3D promotion ends soon

DRS Defense Solutions, Advanced Marine Technology Center, developers of the Orca3D plugin, have been supporting existing RhinoMarine users since the product was discontinued in 2009.

DRS has also been offering a 50% discount* on Orca3D to licensed RhinoMarine users. This discount offer expires at the end of 2010.

Orca3D is being further developed and improved. On-going efforts include stability criteria, a new hull assistant, network licensing, and compatibility with the Rhino 5 WIP (32- and 64-bit).

Download Orca3D…

Contact DRS for Sales or Support.

*Proof of RhinoMarine purchase required.

Rhino 5 OS X - First WIP release

The first Work In Progress (WIP) build of Rhinoceros 5 for OS X is now available.  This Mac build is up to date with the 2010-12-07 Windows build.  There is a new Windows WIP releases every week or so and an updated Mac Rhino WIP will be released shortly after each Windows release. 

You can download the Wenatchee 5 2010-12-08 build.

The Mac V5 Rhino version supports 64-bit Intel, 32-bit Intel, and 32-bit PowerPC architectures. This Mac version will automatically run in 64-bit mode on Core 2 Duo Intel processors or later, so running out of memory should no longer be a problem. It requires OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later.

Rhino OS X now also has most of the V5 improvements that are in the Windows version, such as:

• better stability
• many command enhancements
• faster drawing speeds
• display enhancements
• new commands
• new editing tools such as gumball

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 until next year. Don't worry if the build you are using is about to expire. New versions will be available every week or so. There will be a newer one available before the expiration date.

Details and download...

Korean Translation of the Essential Mathematics

The Korean translation of the second edition of the "Essential Mathematics for Computational Design" is now available. You can download from here and also find at the tutorials page of Grasshopper web site.

Second date added for Grasshopper webinar

Our December 8th webinar filled so quickly that we have added a second session!

Join us on Thursday, December 9th at 10:00am (Pacific). Sign up today for Intro to Grasshopper with David Rutten.

David will show you how to get started using Grasshopper and share some existing projects, too. Grasshopper is a graphical algorithm editor that creates designs from form generators and parameters, but requires no programming experience.

Register...

T-Splines V3 WIP now available

T-Splines has released a new work-in-progress (WIP) release. The T-Splines V3 WIP has new tools for creating and editing T-spline models, and is significantly faster, and can handle larger models than V2. Read more...

Download V3 WIP...

From T-Splines...

T-Splines V2 is required to use the V3 WIP. Being a WIP release, it does have known bugs and it is not recommended for commercial use. However, if you would like to download and try out the new features, feedback is welcome!

RhinoAir 3.0 released

SiTex Graphics has released version 3.0 of the RhinoAir plugin for Rhino as a companion to Air release 10. New features include:

• 64-bit RhinoAir plugin for Rhino 5
• Unlimited rendering threads per machine license
• Stereo rendering
• Caustics
• Custom area light shapes
• Export outlines as vectors (in SVG format)
• Faster scene export

Download demo...