PanelingTools and digital fabrication, NYC

Strip Morphologies II is a two-day intensive design, prototyping, and fabrication workshop to be held in New York City during the weekend of November 12-13, 2011.

This fast-paced hands-on workshop will investigate the morphology of the 'strip' by cross-linking developable surfaces and joining strategies. Participants will identify and exploit the constraints inherent in sheet material and CNC laser-cutting technology to explore and construct highly articulated material assemblies. The workshop will also provide participants with instruction in digital fabrication techniques and direct access to CNC equipment.  Read more...

Details...

From design to production

The German company Bächer Inc. uses computer-aided machining to manufacture furniture and woodworking projects for their clients: artists whose designs are often changing. The software they use to match their clients' visions is Rhino and RhinoCAM.

Details ...

News from food4Rhino

Check the latest new add-ons and updates at food4Rhino:

New Grasshopper add-ons:

• SpiderWeb Spider Web is a package of tools helping to work with graphs in Grasshopper. Includes Dijkstra, AngularDijkstra, EulerianPath, MinimalSpanningTree, and more.
• Heliotrope - Solar A Grasshopper plug-in for calculating solar position and exposure. This tool calculates solar position at specific dates and times. Use it to create solar-aware design: to align geometry, position rendering lights, or analyze incident sun on structures.

Updates and upgrades of Rhino plug-ins and Grasshopper add-ons (newest first):

• Hoopsnake Added option (context menu) for new data to append, prepend, or replace old. Reset now resets loop count. Step button is back; affects chosen component from dropdown list. Added an option to display or not updates (Rhino viewport).
• Karamba New version. Karamba is a Finite Element plugin for Grasshopper. It lets you interactively calculate the response of three-dimensional beam structures under the action of external loads.
• Firefly Kinect The first beta release of the Kinect Skeleton Tracker component. This component requires Windows 7, Rhino 5 32-bit, and a compatible graphics card. Please see the installation requirements for further information.
• Firefly 1.0063 This is an updated release with several new components and some added functionality. New components include Bang, Counter, AND Flip Flop, NOR Flip Flop, Stop Watch, Frame Rate, and Is Key Pressed.
• BIM GeomGym IFC A new version of this plugin for importing, generating, and extracting BIM (Building Information Modeling) data within Rhino and Grasshopper.
• StructDraw Rhino New version of this plug-in, including mesh relaxation (minimal surfaces), mesh inflation (ETFE cushions), symmetry automation, tessellation (polygon packing), structural modeling/sketching, and more.
• Ring Builder by Cadwax Custom settings added. This new version of the plugin by Cadwax supports jewelers and jewelry designers in their day-to-day work.
• Yeti 0.3 Interactive debugging Click on a keyword to see the corresponding geometry highlighted and to bring up the object properties.

New textures and backgrounds:

• London fire lane, Oxford path, SF MOMA, Mt. Monadnock, Pearson airport and several other spherical HDRI by Brian James.

Master Biodigital Architecture in Barcelona

The registration period for the Biodigital Architecture Official Master will end shortly. Come to Barcelona and see what the new architecture looks like.

The UIC Master’s Degree Programme in Biodigital Architecture was created in 2000 as a pioneering postgraduate programme, the first that treated architecture from the biological and digital perspectives, and the first to provide systematic studios, workshops and seminars with the founders of digital organism, the new cutting edge of the 21st century. Within the context of the research line on genetic architectures at the ESARQ School of Architecture, students will pay special attention to new cybernetic-digital and new ecologic-environmental architectural design as a way of developing biodigital architecture, emergence, genetic and generative concepts in the biological and digital worlds, biomimesis, biolearning, morphogenesis, etc. Students will also experiment with genetic-driven software, evolutionary processes, emerging systems, algorithms, parametrics, scripting, etc.

New technologies have given us new production possibilities (Data-Driven Production, CNC machines, 3D printers) that lead to new formulations of non-standard architecture based on genetic principles (variation, mutation, hybridization): New architecture for new possibilities.

Landscape, architecture, redevelopment projects: all designed using Rhino

AECCafe, the online magazine, showcases projects of the AEC industry. AECCafe has featured a multitude of projects using Rhino software, including opera houses, shopping centers, residences, and bridges.

See the projects ...

3D Printing Event in Eindhoven (Netherlands)

The 3D Printing Event will take place on Tuesday 25 October 2011 in Eindhoven (Netherlands), during the Dutch Design Week.

RhinoCentre is partner of this event. Gerard Petersen, together with Rinus Roelofs and Gijs de Zwart will show how Rhino is used to create 3D models and prepare them for 3D printing. 

Details...

ROB|ARCH 2012 conference & workshops

Robots in Architecture just announced the dates for the first ROB|ARCH conference & workshops in 2012!

See also the video about the Robot Master Class held at the Design Modelling Symposium Berlin.

And very soon the parametric robot control plugin for Grasshopper (KUKA|prc) will be available here.

New Rhino & Orca3D Turkish book

RhinoAkademie recently announced a new book (in Turkish) about Marine Design and Naval Architecture with Rhino and Orca3D.

More info (in Turkish)...

Master Class for Car Design, Venezuela

 
The Escuela Politecnica de Arte y Diseño in Venezuela is going to hold the 1st Edition of their Car Design 2011 Master Class on November 17 and 18. The event will take place at the Jardín Botánico of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Dedicating this inauguration will be special guests Maurizio Corbi and Alberto Rigoletti.

Presenters will explore the world of car design, sketching techniques, projection of ideas, creative processes and other topics, showing how Rhino is used in the industry.

Details...

Turn your iPad into a 3D controller

Yes, the iPad is designed for reading, gaming, and media consumption, but the next generation of tablet innovation lies in how tablets interact with your other devices. 

Using the multitouch capability of the iPad, Maide turned it into a powerful new input device for your desktop computer and Rhino. 

Multiple iPads can connect to one computer simultaneously and can be used while modeling and during collaborative design sessions. Most importantly, you can unchain the iPads from their computers while presenting your designs. After connecting over a network, you can pan, orbit, and zoom a model on your desktop computer, snap to orthogonal views, control your mouse and keyboard, take quick renders and even activate commands. 

Maide, a mobile software startup in Toronto, has an ambitious rethinking of how tablets will be used in the future, starting with how we interact with 3D programs.

Video demo, details, purchase... 

3D Jewelry Design Open House, NYC

Join CADBLU at their upcoming 3D Jewelry Design & Manufacturing Open House.  The open house will demonstrate RhinoGold, a jewelry plugin for Rhino, and various 3D wax printers.  CADBLU is limiting attendance in each two-hour session.  Choose the date and time slot that works best for you and RSVP to reserve your spot.

Choose from:
Thursday, October 20 - 9:30 AM | 1:00 PM | 3:00 PM
Friday, October 21 - 9:30 AM | 1:00 PM | 3:00 PM

Location: CADBLU, 37 West 28th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10001

Topics to be addressed include:
Why 3D has become a must in jewelry
Workshop opportunities
Creating videos and catalogs
Prototyping possibilities
And much more

Details and registration...

Lecture at UCLA with Bob McNeel

The Los Angeles Design Technology Forum, in association with the AIA|LA Technology in Architectural Practice Committee and ABC Imaging, is pleased to announce the next event in a monthly series focusing on the intersection of Design and Information Technology.

Software and Community: New Tools for Design Thinking
Featuring Bob McNeel

Date:  Thursday, October 20, 2011, Free
Time: Lecture 7 pm, 6 pm Wine and Cheese
Location:  UCLA Architecture and Urban Design, DeCafe in Perloff Hall.  Parking is $11 or select from a variety of transit options.

Parking map or public transit directions

Please RSVP vie email.

Scan&Solve 64-bit version (beta) is here!

Version 1.3.0.1 of the Scan&Solve™ plugin for Rhino© by Robert McNeel & Associates, is now available. This plugin performs linear stress analysis on solid models constructed in or imported into Rhino. The integration with Rhino is seamless and requires no meshing.

The 32-bit version of the Scan&Solve™ plugin works with Rhino 4 (SR9) and the 32-bit version of Rhino 5. A 64-bit beta version of the plugin is also available. It works with the 64-bit version of Rhino 5.

Download Version 1.3.0.1, Scan&Solve details...

IBEX 2011 - Training, workshops, and more

International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference is the largest technical trade event for the marine industry in North America. For boat builders, marine dealers, retailers aftermarket suppliers and buyers, designers, repairers, surveyors, and boatyard/marine operators, IBEX is the single source for the latest boatbuilding technologies, tools, and materials.

Sign up for the Rhino/Orca3D exhibitor workshop on Tuesday, October 18th at 1:00, "Rhino and Orca3D: What's New in 3D Modeling."  Register here.

You’re also invited to attend an Orca3D training course in conjunction with IBEX 2011 held during the first two days of the exhibition (October 17-18). This Orca3D training class will be spread over two half-day sessions on Monday and Tuesday mornings to allow you to attend the IBEX show in the afternoon. It will cover hull design and fairing, hydrostatics and stability, resistance prediction, and weight and cost tracking. This course assumes that attendees are proficient in Rhino. The cost of the course is $250/student. A limited number of seats are available.  Register through the IBEX web site. The training course registration can be found on the Special Events & Workshops page, after the pre-conference and seminars registration pages. 

If you can't make the workshop or training, please stop by our booth (#2118) to talk to Orca3D or Rhino.

Also, see boat designer Mauro Rosatelli present a sailboat he designed with Rhino.  His presentation will be on PechaKucha Night on October 18th.  Register here.

'LaFenice': a new public sculpture for Messina, Italy

We have another sculpture designed with Rhino.

'LaFenice', the Phoenix, symbolically rises from the ashes in Messina, Sicily, Italy.

Designed by Arturo Vittori and Andreas Vogler of Architecture and Vision, this highly reflective sculpture of slightly skewed and stacked double pyramids provides an interesting play of light and color.

More information ...

Orca3D WIP 1.2.0 available

A new Work-in-Progress (WIP) version of Orca3D is available.  This new version (1.2.0) contains several new features, improvements, and bug fixes. Some highlights include:

• Support for floating network licenses.
• Support for Rhino 5, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
• Automated evaluation of intact stability criteria. (It's likely that this feature will not be in the final release, but will continue in WIP releases until it is finished.)
• Realtime sectional area curves, as the model is being modified, including the ability to input and display a "target" sectional area curve.
• New command to align selected points (including surface/curve control points) along a straight line in two or three dimensions.
• Tools to insert and delete control net rows and columns, without removing chines (which the Rhino command does).
• A new hull assistant for rigid inflatable boats (RIBs).
• Export of ORC offset files.
• Ability to enable/disable individual weight/cost items, which affects the weight/cg used in hydrostatics calculations and the list of items included in the weight/cost report.
• A pre-float check to do basic validation of the model prior to running hydrostatics. This catches the most common sources of error (e.g., inconsistent outward normals).
• Ability to create custom report formats, using Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 Report Builder (a free download).
• General improvements to the hull assistants (input controls, user-defined sections, display of the control net, etc.).
• Added option to output the Resistance Analysis (planing or displacement) in csv format.
• Support for blocks in Weight & Cost.
• Weight & Cost Material Libraries may now be imported and exported in csv format.
• Weight & Cost Report may now include grouping (by Rhino groups or by layers).
• Improved OrcaViewports functionality.

To download the new version:

• Click here for the 32-bit version (Rhino 4 SR9 or later, or Rhino 5 (32-bit))
• Click here for the 64-bit version (Rhino 5 64-bit)

Even more...

 

Architecture, Design Computing and Digital Fabrication schedule in Europe

Take a look at the upcoming Architecture, Design Computing, Parametric Modeling, Generative Design and Digital Fabrication workshops, conferences and webinars in Europe here.

Rhino.Python workshop in London

Python in Rhinoceros two-day workshop
November 21-22, 2011
Simply Rhino UK, London

For designers and engineers who want to lay the foundation for Rhino.Python scripting, as well as RhinoScript users who want to stay up to date, this workshop will convey necessary ideas and tools to successfully code geometry in Rhino 5 on Windows and Mac.

As a participant, you will be guided through the details of this new and friendly programming language in Rhino, including automating commands at necessity with macros, performing calculations, making decisions after iterating code, and manipulating several data structures. Also, we will study how to couple Python’s iteration and recursion powers to extend Grasshopper.

Structure

This course is divided in 4 units of 4 hours, for a total of two days. We will start by running scripts with the editor and then learn to write them by ourselves. We’ll also learn tricks to debug and to optimize our code. We will cover all Rhino’s geometrical base, building through vectors, points, curves, meshes surfaces and polysurfaces in order to achieve an understanding of the potential of each of these elementary types.

Audience

This course is intended for existing Rhino users who have a good working knowledge of 3D modeling.

Results

After this course, participants have the basis to:

• Understand how to run, edit and compose Python code for Rhino 5
• Identify and correct common bugs that can prevent code from executing
• Distinguish variables, functions and other procedural and object-oriented paradigms
• Find their way to access available resources both online and offline

Instructor

Giulio Piacentino (McNeel Europe)

Details and registration...

RhinoScript.org update

RhinoScript.org is an open community created mainly to share scripts. It has been now updated to also include Python scripts and Grasshopper definitions.

Join RhinoScript.org now!

Bing Concert Hall, a user story

We've told you about many Kreysler and Associates projects in the past, including the Blue Bear and the California Bay House. Kreysler and Associates is a custom fabrication shop specializing in the design, engineering and manufacture of composite products for architecture, sculpture and industrial applications.

One of their latest projects is the acoustic panels for the Bing Concert Hall, currently under construction at Stanford University.

For details, see the October 2011 issue of Composites Technology...

"For Your Shoes" competition winners

ControlMad Advanced Design Center (Spain) is pleased to announce the "For Your Shoes" competition winners. Most of the projects were done in Rhino and Grasshopper.

Online Rhino training for marine designers

ProBoat E-Training still has openings available in their Rhino Modeling for Marine Designers online course scheduled for this month.  Course begins October 17th.
Sign up today to reserve your seat!

Details and registration...