Rhino training in Miami, January 14-16

Join McNeel Miami for their upcoming Level 1 Rhino 5 training course. In this class you'll learn to create and edit accurate free-form 3D NURBS models. This fast-moving class covers most of Rhino's functionality, including the most advanced surfacing commands.

Dates: January 14-16, 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Price: US$695

To register... contact Jackie Nasser or call (305) 513-4445.
Seats are limited. Sign up early!

Details...

Rhino 5 online training in January

Join us for our Level 1 Rhino 5 online course scheduled for January 10-24, 2013.  The course has been updated for Rhino 5 and will consist of seven sessions, an orientation with GoToTraining plus six half-days of Rhino 5 training.

Dates/Times:

• Orientation: January 10, 9:00AM-10:30AM
• Training:  January 14, 15, 17 and 21, 22, 24, 9:00AM-1:00PM each day
  
  Note: Times listed are Pacific Standard Time. Calculate your time zone.

All sessions are instructor-led and will be recorded for later viewing.  If you cannot make a session, watch the video and catch up before the class meets again.

Sign up today!

KeyShot and Rhino: working together

KeyShot is featuring Williamson Simon, CAD instructor at the Wentworth Institute of Technology Department of Industrial Design in Boston, on their web site. Simon uses Rhino for modeling, then KeyShot for rendering.

More information on Simon's methods . . . 

Neon 1.0 Beta 12 Now Available

There's a new Neon!

http://download.rhino3d.com/Neon/1.0/beta/download/

This version of Neon completes support for alpha transparency in procedural
and bitmap textures, and fixes the pause/lock system which was broken in
Beta 10. We've also fixed the viewcapture wires issue.

A complete list of changes from Beta 11 are below:

Features

- Alpha support for all procedural textures

Bug Fixes

- Viewcapture at screen resolution didn't capture wires
- Fixed re-render bug for incremental save
- Lock and pause button fixed.

Enjoy!

Bongo 2 Beta 15 now available

You are invited to try the Bongo 2 animation plug-in for Rhino 4 and 5.
This is the 15th Beta version of Bongo 2 for Rhino 4 and 5.
The beta is open for all Rhino users!

Download Bongo 2 Beta 15 from here.

Scan&Solve for Rhino 5 - now available

Scan&Solve™ for Rhino 5 is free to all licensed users and will work on all supported models without any additional preprocessing and simplification. Experience effortless structural simulation on ever more complex solids and improved visualization through the enhanced rendering pipeline.

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 version of the plugin is also available. It works with the 64-bit version of Rhino 5.

Download trial Scan&Solve for Rhino 5...

Scan&Solve for Rhino 5 details...

Scan&Solve for Rhino Store...

New Badger update

Hi there!

We're just posting this to let you know that there's a major new update for Badger with a pile more features - all of them suggested by Badger users who are actually cranking out renders in the field.  Some of this stuff is seriously useful.  The list of improvements can be found here and you can download it by clicking here.

Enjoy!

 - The Badger Development Team

RhinoFabLab at a STEM Middle School

RhinoFabLab and Gulfstream Middle School are doing a Rhino Teacher Training to promote the use of technology in the classroom and improve student skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

The workshop is free for educators.

To register: Contact Jessica Swanson or T (754) 323 4700

Advanced Architectural Design workshop in Barcelona

Advanced Architectural Design with Rhino and Grasshopper Workshop
Barcelona (Spain)
Mar 4-5-6, 2013

This course is geared towards architects and spatial designers who wish to enhance their workflow with parametric and data rich modeling capabilities.

From concept design to documentation, every stage of the design process is an opportunity to increase efficiency and creativity. This course has been designed to give architects access to simulation, analysis, and advanced modeling capabilities in order to better inform and execute design decisions throughout the design process. During the 24-hour course, we will look at the relationship between Rhino 5, Grasshopper, and associated plug-ins to create workflow tools that can be tailored to optimize the potential of each project.

This three day seminar / workshop will explore strategies for applying parametric design for the purpose of generating informed architectural models. During the course, participants will learn how to connect a digital model to external data sources such as environmental data and GIS databases. The participants will also learn how to evolve designs to reach multiple objective optimizations. The course will combine the functionality of native Rhino and Grasshopper methods with plug-ins and add-ons which address analysis, evaluation, environmental design, gis data, objective driven optimization, and general workflow.

• Dates: Mar 4-6, 2013
• Instructor: Luis Fraguada
• Language: English
• Price: 495€ (+VAT) for professionals, 395€ (+VAT) for students

Complete details and registration...

VSR Shape Modeling and VSR Realtime Renderer 64-bit

The new VSR software versions are coming along with quite a few innovations. Numerous new commands and substantial enhancements to existing functionality are making VSR Shape Modeling 2.0 a powerful tool for your 3D development process. Work like a modeling pro, but at reasonable costs. 

• Newly developed commands such as Surface Align and Multi Blend will help you create your models efficiently – and their high quality will convince you. 
• Align to Symmetry Plane and Create Symmetry let you symmetrize your model components with a single mouse click. This leap in quality saves you laborious finishing work – from the very beginning to the end of your process. 
• Existing functions have been enhanced with options that many have wished for in their day-to-day work – a result of our close cooperation with our partners and software users.
• VSR Realtime Renderer 4.0 largely benefits from the 64-bit platform through Rhino 5. Large and even extremely large models can be processed smoothly, and Rhinoceros Zoo’s support of floating licenses enables a flexible use of the available hardware resources. Projects can be swiftly completed.

Chelsea Workspace by SDA

Chelsea Workspace, by Synthesis Design + Architecture, is 1 of 223 projects up for the Architects Journal Small Projects award.

This entire project was designed, developed and fabricated with Rhino, Grasshopper and RhinoNest

Learn more about the project here...

VisualARQ extensive video tutorial

This Rhino and VisualARQ video tutorial for architectural modeling is available on the VisualARQ web site.

It covers the full process of creating a 3D architecture project, from an empty document to the drawing production. The model selected for this tutorial is Le Corbusier’s masterpiece The Ville Savoye.

The tutorial is a step-by-step guide that shows the architecture modeling workflow with VisualARQ and Rhino. It can also be checked randomly to learn the different VisualARQ commands and features.

To the video tutorial...

Cadwax RhinoRing for Rhino 5

Cadwax RhinoRing plug-in now available for Rhino 5

• 3D Textures
• Scale by Weight
• Automatic Pave 
• Millgrain
• Rope
• Split Shank
• Kitco Weight Calculator
• Dynamic Array
• Resize Any Ring
• Settings
• Signet Rings
• Class Rings
• Wishbone Rings
• Eternity Rings
• Wedding Rings
• Shaped Bands
• Shanks

Details...

New Rhino 5 videos

New Rhino 5 videos by SimplyRhino UK

All videos are in English, Spanish, French, and Chinese (Mandarin), both audio and text translations. Videos available so far:

• Architectural Visualisation in Rhino 5
• Sweep Improvements in Rhino 5
• Rendered Shadows in Rhino 5
• Shell Polysurface in Rhino 5
• Shutline Curve Piping in Rhino 5

Vote on the site for the next Rhino 5 video. What's next?

Details...

RobArch 2012 schedule

Check the impressive list of workshops and speakers at the RobArch conference starting tomorrow! 

Are you going to be there? Tell us on the Facebook group!

Details...

Solving high school problems with CAD

Some classes learn CAD. Others actually use CAD.

White River High School, located at the foot of Mount Rainer in Buckley, Washington, was challenged with a real-life situation recently.

The school district's middle school could no longer raise and lower the gym's basketball hoops. The mechanism was 50 years old and the broken piece was obsolete. To get the unit functioning again, the district would have to totally retrofit the whole lift motor and switch, at a $2000 cost.

So the maintenance department came to the CAD class instructor, Bob Brooks, to ask if CAD and the 3D printer could help.

Brooks took advantage of the training situation and sophomore Dillon Hadaway reverse engineered the mechanism, using Rhino to draw up a new mechanism. The new piece was printed in 3D and installed with a new metal guide created in the metals class.

Once again, the hoops can be raised and lowered.

Article in Bonney Lake & Sumner Courier-Herald . . . 

What's New in Rhino 5 webinar series

You are invited to see What's New in Rhino 5. The staff at Robert McNeel & Associates will present the new features in Rhino 5 during these seven informative web-based seminars:

Monday, December 10, 2012

1. Getting Started and User Interface: 9 am - 10:30 am PST
2. Object Creation Improvements: 11 am - 12:30 pm PST
3. Display and Rendering Improvements: 1 pm - 2:30 pm PST

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

1. Editing and Transformation Improvements: 9 am - 10:30 am PST
2. Large Project Support and Block Improvements: 11 am - 12:30 pm PST
3. 2-D Improvements for Layouts, Annotations & Dimensions: 1 pm - 2:30 pm PST
4. Administration / Zoo / Development: 3 pm - 4:30 pm PST

Sign up for each event individually. Space is limited, so please sign up early *.

* For those who cannot attend, each session will be recorded and the videos will be posted by December 16th.

Sign up...

Bongo 2.0 Beta 14 now available

You are invited to try the Bongo 2.0 animation plug-in for Rhino 4.0 and 5.
This is the 14th Beta version of Bongo 2.0 for Rhino 4.0 and 5.
The beta is open for all Rhino users!

Download Bongo 2.0 Beta 14 from here.

RhinoAir 5.0 released by SiTex Graphics

SiTex Graphics has released version 5.0 of the RhinoAir plugin for Rhino as a companion to Air release 12.  New features in the latest releases include:

• 64-bit rendering (with Rhino 32-bit or Rhino 64-bit)
• Ray tracing for primary object visibility
• Faster and smoother GI with environments
• New radiosity cache for faster indirect illumination
• Interactive environment changes
• New ocean shaders

More about RhinoAir 5...

Download demo...

Purchase...

PanelingTools development for Rhino 5

PanelingTools will continue to be developed and supported as a Rhino 5 Lab plug-in.  There will be no further development or support allocated to PanelingTools for Rhino 4.0.

Users of PanelingTools for Rhino 5 can take advantage of the many new features and enhancements of the plug-in and also be able to develop parametric paneling using PanelingTools add-on for Grasshopper.

• PanelingTools for Rhino 5 extends Grasshopper for parametric and generative paneling design.
• Using Rhino 5, users can access PanelingTools SDK through GH scripting components and Rhino Python Scripting.
• The new PanelingTools for Rhino 5 Primer is now available with detailed documentation of paneling strategies and commands.
• View the latest video tutorials including webinars and short clips.
• Join the PanelingTools communities: PanelingTools for Rhino 5 and PanelingTools for Grasshopper.

Rhino 5 announced

The world's most versatile 3D modeler now handles bigger projects, faster, with more than 2,000 enhancements.

Rhino 5 is released and available at local dealers worldwide.

Check out the new Rhino web site...

Symvol for Rhino Intro webinar

Turlif Vilbrandt from Uformia will demo their new plugin Symvol for Rhino. The general aspects of true volume modeling and some of the unique features which Symvol for Rhino offers will be presented. The concepts include the creation of constructive relationships, dynamic modification of any aspect or feature of a model, automatic blending, always watertight Boolean operations and modeling, creation of arbitrary micro or cellular structures, shelling of any model, repairing, importing, and converting meshes to watertight volumes, defining parameters/bookmarks, and swapping datasets or references on the fly. The presentation will be broken up into two sections:   1) An introduction to Uformia, followed by a theory and overview of Symvol for Rhino. 2) A practical tutorial on using Symvol for Rhino to dynamically model a cell phone case. Symvol for Rhino requires Rhino 4 or Rhino 5 32-bit. (Rhino 5 64-bit and OS X WIP currently not supported.) Duration: 1.5 hr. presentation with 30 minutes of questions and wrap-up. Title: Introduction to Symvol for Rhino Date: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 Time: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM PST Register now for Introduction to Symvol for Rhino webinar...

EvoluteTools Primers just released

EvoluteTools Primers just released!

To help and support users in getting the most out of EvoluteTools, two Primer manuals are now available for download. The EvoluteTools Primer, written by Kris Hammerberg, is intended to be the ultimate starting point for new users of EvoluteTools, as well as a reference for more experienced users, while the EvoluteTools Scripting Primer, written by Marko Tomicic, aims to introduce the new possibilities within the EvoluteTools RhinoScript interface, and to showcase how to take advantage of them with the many example scripts included.

The Primers, along with all example files, are available for free on the Food4Rhino and Evolute web sites.

MadCAM 5 Beta for Rhino 5

MadCAM 5 beta for Rhino 5 announced!

What's new:

• Works with Rhino 5 (64-bit) and (32-bit) for Windows. 
• New level with 16 new functions for simultaneous 5-axis milling. 
• New interface with dynamic visualization of the cutter and tool holder when picking curves. 
• New adaptable machine setup and save to file option. 
• Machines can contain tool library, post processor, external dll for kinematics and simulation, etc. 
• Predefined machines can be selected with one click from a drop down list. 
• Commands with settings can be executed from the Rhino command line. 
• For both high-end users and beginners.

Details, videos, and download...

FaberArium Workshop in Greece

FaberArium workshop
Thessaloniki, Greece
Nov 2012

In this second workshop the participants will have the opportunity to sharpen their digital and prototyping skills, to experiment with a range of digital production tools, and to design and fabricate a unique set of components that negotiate a range of material gradients across a field condition. Through iteration, participants will generate and fabricate components (parts) to form a larger network (whole). The goal of this workshop is to combine technological precision and pedagogical creativity. Participants will understand in early stage concepts, design strategies, and material constraints, in order to transform complex 3D geometries and structures into fabrication elements, using parametric and programmable computing tools and to obtain a sense of  fabrication time and material costs depending on complexity.

Methodology and strategies:

The workshop will operate through a framework of computational, parametric, and fabrication strategies and includes daily instructional, design, and fabrication sessions. The theoretical classes and a set of exercises, will establish the tools that would be directly applied to the projects, and will be used as a platform for testing ideas, develop and prototype individual or group projects. Participants will gain experience by using simulation software Rhino and Grasshopper to generate geometries that after will build with a CNC machine or laser cutter. The agenda includes a series of international online lectures to estimate critical trends on the globalized architectural+fabrication scene.

Details and registration...

RhinoGold in Dubai

If you happen to be in Dubai, don't miss the International Jewellery Week and visit one of RhinoGold's resellers.

• Nov 21-24 - Dubai International Jewellery Week

RhinoPython online class

4-day introduction online class to Rhino.Python

December 10-12 & 15, 2012 
9-12 am CET or 9-12 am PST

Lead instructor Giulio Piacentino – Assistant instructor Ilaria Giardiello

With the new Rhino 5, learning Python is a must. This course is intended for all Rhino users who want to get started with the basics of Rhino.Python scripting or update their RhinoScript skills. No previous scripting experience is required. Thanks to its user friendly syntax, you will quickly be able to write your Python code for geometry within the Rhino and Grasshopper environments.

The course is taught in English, fully on-line and is structured in 4 sessions of 3 hours each.

Instructors will provide explanations for programming concepts and their syntax in Python, and develop a series of exercises in Rhino.Python applied to geometry.

The workshop is organized by geometrydepth.com and tutored by Giulio Piacentino and Ilaria Giardiello.

Full details and registration...

RhinoCAM 2012 for Rhino 5 released

MecSoft Corporation, the developer of computer aided manufacturing (CAM) software solutions, has announced a new version of RhinoCAM 2012 that runs completely inside Rhino 5.

"RhinoCAM 2012 for Rhino 5 leverages the numerous enhancements in Rhino 5 which makes the product combination an even more powerful design and manufacturing software suite for our customers," stated Anita Anand, VP of Sales and Operations at MecSoft. "This is the reason we are committed to supporting the latest versions of Rhino, as well as releasing yearly upgrades to RhinoCAM."

RhinoCAM 2012 for Rhino 5 is a free download for current RhinoCAM 2012 customers and can be downloaded immediately from the RhinoCAM web site. Both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of RhinoCAM 2012 for Rhino 5 are available.

Download RhinoCAM 2012 for Rhino 5...

Press release...

VSR at EuroMold Frankfurt

November 27-30, 2012, Virtual Shape Research (VSR) will again be exhibiting at the Euromold trade fair in Frankfurt/Main (Germany) and cordially invites you to its Booth B149 in Hall 11.

Live in action – new versions of VSR Shape Modeling 2.0 and VSR Realtime Renderer 4.0 were already released and are compatible with the new Rhino 5.

Expressive product design is vital to your economic success. Modeling of aesthetic freeform surfaces in Class-A quality and presentation of these surfaces – safe and reliable: This is our ambition and our promise. We want to assist you in meeting your challenges.  Take the opportunity of a personal visit to learn the possibilities provided by our most recent plug-in versions – compatible, of course, with Rhino 5 – and let yourself be amazed by affordable 3D modeling tools, also in 64-bit quality.

In addition, VSR will be presenting for the first time its VSR iView App, which allows your 3D data models, previously created in Rhino + VSR product suite, to be presented anywhere and anytime on your iPhone or iPad.

ROB|ARCH 2012 Rotterdam workshop

The ROB|ARCH 2012 Rotterdam takes place at Hyperbody’s robotics lab at the RDM Innovation dock in Rotterdam. Jelle Feringa [1] and Wes Mcgee [2] co-taught the workshop, which will run simultaneously with other ROB|ARCH workshops from December 14th to 16th. This effort is part of the International Conference on Architectural Robotics, an initiative of the Association for Robots in Architecture.

The workshop
The workshop explores material processes that support an architecture of volume. It focuses specifically on modes of production that scale to architectural proportion and investigates processes that aren’t constrained by the limitations of sheet-based materials.

By Robotic Hot Wire Cutting, a vaulting structure, will be erected by casting concrete from EPS molds. A third robotic cell is cutting stone using a hydraulic-powered diamond wire saw, exploring the potential of robotic masonry. 

The workshop will provide participants with a unique chance to explore large scale robotic fabrication and will provide useful insights on the production process of robotic fabrication.

Robotics in Architecture       
While non-standard design has traditionally been associated with costly manufacturing methods, robotic hotwire cutting (RHWC) breaks with this trend, given that complex formwork can be delivered for the approximate cost of normative formwork. As such, RHWC is both an enabler, technically, in terms of forms that can be produced, and economically since this can be achieved at little or no additional expense. With the many ongoing predicaments in the construction industry and the modest cost of delving into robotics, this is an important aspect open to further exploration. 
        
Robotic fabrication presents a development platform for such considerations, given the trade-off of precision, ease of integration and programming, robustness, and market availability. As the technology has begun to gain acceptance in the building fabrication industry (admittedly, it remains a very small fraction), these methods have started challenging what type of construction can be delivered within a given budget.

For more info or to sign up, please visit the ROB|ARCH 2012 web site.

For a video impression of an earlier workshop held at Hyperbody’s robot lab, please see this link.

[1] Coordinator robotic fabrication lab Hyperbody, PhD researcher TU Delft, co-founder Odico, co-founder EZCT Architecture & Design Research
[2] Co-founder Matter Design, director FABLab, Lecturer University of Michigan

New Rhino/GH video DVD training

flexiCAD.com is pleased to announce a complete Rhino and Grasshopper video DVD training (in German): 28 hours of video, 15 chapters, 129 lessons for beginners and advanced users of Rhino and Grasshopper.

Details (in German) and samples...



Evolute delivers geometry for KREOD

KREOD is a ground-breaking sustainable sculpture and London’s newest architectural landmark. The brainchild of Chun Qing Li, Managing Director of Pavilion Architecture, KREOD is an innovative architectural sculpture, organic in form, environmentally-friendly and inspired by nature. Resembling three seeds, these pods combine through a series of interlocking hexagons to create an enclosed structure that is not only magni­ficently intricate but secure and weatherproof. KREOD functions beautifully both as an architectural landmark and an imaginative exhibition space – its three pods can be combined in a variety of con­figurations or installed as free-standing forms.

As part of the design team, Evolute was responsible for rationalizing KREOD’s complex input surface, designing the panel layout, the parametric detailing of the wooden members and outputting the production geometry for fabrication.

Read here the complete story...

VisualARQ presentations in Brasil

VisualARQ Product Manager Francesc Salla will be presenting the latest news about ths Architectural Design plug-on at the following conferences in Brasil:

• Nov 15 - Sigradi, Universidade de Fortaleza
• Nov 21 - Unicamp, Campinas

Complete details on the VisualARQ blog...

RhinoParametrics V3

RhinoParametrics V3 has been announced with many new features such as a new kernel, new interface, compatibility with other plug-ins, mathematical formulas, and so on.

What's new in V3 videos...
RhinoParametrics Evaluation...

Support MeshUp on kickstarter!

In case you missed the previous post:

MeshUp: Mashup for meshes by Uformia
 
Super simple, always watertight, 3D modeling mashup tool for meshes, designed for painless and direct 3D printing.

More details on kickstarter...

McNeel Hackfest in Delft - Nov 14

Want to join Steve Baer (RhinoCommon, RhinoPython) and David Rutten (Grasshopper, Galapagos) hacking away on some code (Rhino, Grasshopper, Python, C++, github, appengine,  whatever...)?

The TU Delft/Hyperbody group has been very kind making its lab available for this informal meeting on November 14.

• When: November 14, from 10:30am to 5pm
• Where:  protoSPACE lab (BG.W.200) | Architecture Faculty | Delft University of Technology | Julianalaan 134 | 2628 BL Delft | The Netherlands
• What: just bring your laptop with your preferred software
• Registration: this is a free event but registration is needed due to limited space. Send an e-mail to Carlos Pérez with the subject "Hackfest in Delft" asap. Fully booked!

Symvol and MeshUp by Uformia

Uformia: Fabricating nature

Uformia AS recently announced its public launch of the Symvol geometric platform at the 3D Printshow in London. The Symvol platform is the world's first real volume modeling platform, reducing every object to mathematical functions. This new approach to 3D modeling reimagines design and manufacturing towards more natural and additive processes, allowing for the modeling of everything from the surface geometry to cellular structures to objects internal properties such as material distribution. To introduce real volumetric modeling to the market, Uformia has created an add-on for Rhino, called Symvol for Rhino. Some of the advantages include:

• Designed for additive manufacturing and 3D printing (direct slice output and more)
• Direct conversion of meshes to mesh volumes —reuse, remix and even improve existing mesh models
• Non-destructive/constructive modeling —change anything in a model at anytime
• Shelling of any model no matter the complexity
• Rapid and dynamic modification and customization of objects to quickly produce variants
• Very small file sizes, yet still able to describe much more complex models—good for collaboration
• Infinite level of detail (Symvol is not a voxel system)—output can match the resolution of any 3D printer to reproduce the finest details possible
• Hierarchical structures at different levels of scale, as in real-world objects
• Organic blending of soft and sharp objects
• Object surfaces remain valid, watertight and ready for 3D printing, irrespective of any actions by the user

Videos of the Symvol platform in action can be seen here.

To start modeling with real volumes a free limited version of Symvol for Rhino can be download from http://www.uformia.com/download

The Symvol add-on is just the start of Uformia's vision for 3D design and fabrication software.

MeshUp

Uformia has launched the Kickstarter project, MeshUp, for a new standalone modeling tool:

MeshUp is set to overcome the many limitations of existing polygonal and surface-based modelers, particularly within the realms of 3D printing and fabrication. MeshUp is a volume modeling tool to fix and mix meshes together, add microstructures and generate a watertight output for 3D printing. MeshUp will be a standalone cross-platform modeling tool for Linux, Mac, and Windows.

"CG artists and designers know very well the limitations and tediousness of modeling with polygons," explains Turlif Vilbrandt, CTO and joint founder of Uformia. "Mesh models tend to have all kinds of problems such as cracks, holes and self-intersections. This is due to a disconnect between the real world being represented and the modeling software's attempts to represent real, complex and “messy” objects by only surfaces."

MeshUp offers several features that are of interest to the 3D printing and broader modeling communities. Users can load and nondestructively combine and even blend meshes together without having to worry about vertices and polygons. Meshes can be converted to a shell and microstructures can be added quickly and easily. MeshUp will also offer STL and mesh repair techniques, including a rounded repair method that attempts to take into account any missing volume in an object. Then, when it's time for physical fabrication, MeshUp will export clean watertight STL files or direct slice data for 3D printing.

Symvol for Rhino is available as a free and feature limited Maker version while the Community version is available for €190 or approximately $246. Both work on Windows and require Rhinoceros® version 4.0 SR8+ and 5 32-bit (64-bit will be supported soon).

MeshUp is now a live project on Kickstarter and while the incentive lasts, a $100 donation will give you a copy of the software on shipping. This is a great way to show support for innovation in 3D software tools and receive MeshUp for less than half the price as the final retail price will be over $200. MeshUp will be available for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

For a limited time during the Kickstarter project, Symvol for Rhino. Community version can also be purchased for a donation to the MeshUp project of $180 instead of the normal $246.

About Uformia AS

Uformia is an international north Norwegian company who aims to develop a new kind of 3D software that will solve many of the problems of today's software, especially in the field of digital fabrication.

Kaulquappe meets Grasshopper

Grasshopper is very often seen as a tool to intuitively create complex geometries. Nevertheless its potential is just as powerful when it comes to systematized complex geometries to make them producible.

For the developed planning of the Volkswagen stand in the automobile fair in Paris 2012, Grasshopper helped in achieving the challenges of a highly complex geometry combined with a competitive deadline. An intuitive, straight forward user interface with ready-made geometrical operations in combination with the possibility to include self-written code from a c# and Python library brings together two powerful tools.

The overall surface geometry of 780 sqm of the Volkswagen stand had to be subdivided into 220 frames, being themselves subdivided into 6 x 6 ribs – a system often talked about as “waffles”.

• From the outer surface and its inner offset a pure Grasshopper definition extracted four curves by intersection with a set of two planes.

• Making use of Grasshoppers programming components, a c# script systemized and put together the extracted lines to form solids, which would fulfill the requirements in precision for the following stages. A c# script is preferable if enhanced granularity is required.

• In a third step, each of the ribs was subtracted from its 6 perpendicular neighbors to create the interlocking connections. While being totally different in geometry all the connections share one important aspect: Due to a 90° angle, they all can be produced by 3-axis milling.

• Grasshopper geometry containers and operations were combined with a VB script component to apply various preprocessing tasks on all 2’700 individual ribs and frame edges. The resulting production data was converted and optimized for an efficient KUKA^© 4 axis milling process.

The Volkswagen Messe Paris 2012 project was done by Kaulquappe GmbH, Zurich on a commission by Metsa Wood Merk. Design by Cebra. Trade fair construction by Ambrosius.

Kaulquappe GmbH is an innovative young company based in Zurich that offers advanced skills in 3D Engineering for complex projects. We mainly work with an efficient mixture of Rhinoceros CAD and programming in VB Script, C#, Python and Grasshopper™.

For further information about this project, please visit our webpage www.kaulquappe.net.