Rhino D+O+F training at UT - Iguala, Mexico

We are pleased to announce a new Rhino - DOF Design Optimization and Fabrication training (Rhino 5, Grasshopper, and RhinoCAM) in Mexico. 

Andres Gonzalez, worldwide manager for RhinoFabLab, will be visiting Universidad Tecnológica de la Región Norte de Guerrero at Iguala, Mexico to teach about Generative Design and Digital Fabrication. We would like to congratulate UT as they are on the path of becoming a new RhinoFabLab in Mexico. 


For more information, please contact: Adrian Juarez Sanchez

Using Rhino to recycle history

Last December Seattle's Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) moved to a new location in a former Naval Reserve Armory built out over a lake. Part of the new historical displays is the Wawona sculpture by artist John Grade.

Using salvaged planks from Wawona, a dismantled 1897 schooner, the sculpture's form appropriately evokes the shape of a ship's hull. It is constructed of the douglas fir salvaged from the Wawona, who sat nearby in its last years in a failed attempt to raise funds for restoration.

Structural engineering for the sculpture was provided by Arup. The structural engineer, Hans-Erik Blomgren, used Rhino for the concept design. That's what happens when someone takes a Rhino class.

Arup's engineers partnered with John Grade from the beginning to make sure the assembled parts, suspended vertically from the building's roof, for the 56-foot tall kinetic sculpture to retain its structural integrity under both earthquake and human-induced loads. The design uses 130 cubic feet of computer-cut and hand carved, old-growth douglas fir and water-jet steel ribs.

Arup article on structural design . . .

Photos in the Seattle Times . . .  

Rhino 5 training and warm weather!

Are you looking for Rhino 5 training? If you answered "yes", then consider attending one of our training sessions at McNeel Miami and enjoy the warm weather.

Next training dates:

Level I - NURBS Modeling at McNeel Miami

2/18 - 2/20/2013 (24.0 hrs) - US$695

Level I - NURBS Modeling at McNeel Miami

3/20 - 3/22/2013 (24.0 hrs) - US$695

Rhino DOF - Rhino Design Optimization & Fabrication at McNeel Miami

4/22 - 4/26/2013 (40.0 hrs) -US$995

Level I - Rhino 3D Modeling at McNeel Miami

4/22 - 4/23/2013 (16.0 hrs) - US$495

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

Landscape design in Rhino

Lands Design for Rhino is software for designing gardens, green spaces, and landscapes that runs in the Rhino environment.

Lands Design provides tools for producing technical drawings in 2D and 3D of the green space to work with, and realistic images and virtual tours through the project to perform.

Lands Design is ideal for landscape architects, urban planners, town council technicians, constructors, designers and draftsmen, environment departments, nurserymen, gardeners…

Features:

• Vegetation: Lands includes a variety of functions and types of objects related to the planting of green elements in a landscaping project. These functions will greatly help the professional when locating plant species in a garden space.
• Civil Work: Structural elements, like paths, fences, walls, hedges, etc. link the garden to the house and, in the case of a park or square, to its immediate surroundings. A balanced assembly of structural elements and plants will give a highly attractive spatial composition. Lands can be used to easily draw all these structural elements in both 2D and 3D.
• Terrain Modeling: On many occasions, landscape professionals find that they must work on terrain with undulating topography which requires them to draw the contour curves to be able to represent the topographical relief on a plan. Lands can generate the topographic mesh that shapes the terrain from contour curves.
• Urban Furniture: Lands has incorporated a vast library of urban street equipment in two and three dimensions to meet the needs of landscaping professionals. This library is divided into two categories: urban furniture and play equipment.
• Watering System: Watering involves providing water to plants to favor their growth. Lands provides the functions required to create a watering installation with a clear and simple approach.
• Documentation: Lands provides many features for the documentation including self-generated tables on the plan that list the project’s elements, labeling functions that can associate a label to each plant in the project, and additional dimensioning features, allowing the dimensioning of plants and civil works elements.
• Plant Database: Lands includes a wide plant database that can be used by the landscaping professional to insert plant species in the drawing. It can also be very useful as a tool used as a reference and to submit queries and print the botanical data of different species.

Download Lands Design for Rhino WIP now!

VisualARQ 1.7

VisualARQ 1.7 is now available for download. This is a free service release for all VisualARQ users.

What’s new in 1.7:

• Faster, handles larger models and generates smaller files.
• New Railing object (video).
• Openings can be created from curves (video).
• Spaces have height and volume.

Details and download...

Clayoo and RhinoGold 4.0 presentations in London

SimplyRhino UK and TDM Solutions invite you to the Clayoo and RhinoGold 4.0 official presentations in London:

• Jan 28 - Clayoo presentation, London (UK)
• Jan 29 - RhinoGold 4.0 presentation, London (UK)

These events are free, but registration is needed. Just click on the links above.

RhinoGold 4.0 Beta

RhinoGold 4.0 Beta has been announced!

RhinoGold is fast becoming an essential product for professional goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewelers. RhinoGold builds on the functionality of Rhino adding tailored jewelry industry tools to increase productivity and automate repetitive tasks.

RhinoGold 4.0 Overview

• RhinoGold is both 32-bit and 64-bit native
• New user interface
• All commands use Gumball
• All RhinoGold objects are parametric
• RhinoGold kernel available for developers
• RhinoGold jewelry component library
• Designed for Windows 8.0
• Runs on Windows 7, Vista and XP
• Includes Clayoo® free-form modeler
• Includes RhinoEmboss

RhinoGold 4.0 New Tools and Features

• Pave Automatic
• Swarovski Elements
• New Jewelry Studios
• Azure
• Signet Ring
• Support Generator Tool
• Dynamic Profile
• Milgrain
• Hollow Ring
• Engraving Tools
• Cutters in Line
• Prongs in Line
• Curve Shell
• Texture Creator
• Dynamic Cap
• Place Curve on 2 Rails
• Rope
• Findings
• Voice Control

Check out what's new and the videos. Download it now!

V-Ray for Rhino workshops in Vienna and Barcelona

Matúš Nedecký (FlyingArchitecture) will be teaching a series of V-Ray for Rhino workshops in Vienna and Barcelona:

• February 15-17, Vienna at KKKC
• March 7-8, Barcelona at La Tienda del CAD

Level 1 in Huntington Beach, Jan 28-30

Authorized Rhino Training Center, Archway Systems, is offering a Level 1 Rhino 5 class next week on January 28, 29 and 30. They still have a few seats available. Sign up today!

Contact Linda Grubb or call (714) 374-0440 to register.

Details...

Grasshopper videos in Spanish

Pepe Ballesteros (ETSAM, Madrid) has published a collection of free Grasshopper video tutorials in Spanish.

To the videos...

Grasshopper videos in German

FILOU has recently announced two new Grasshopper video tutorials in German.

Details and download...

VicenzaOro Winter

VicenzaOro Winter
19-24 January 2013
Vicenza (Italy)

If you still have time to visit VicenzaOro Winter, make sure you visit one of our partners to learn more about Jewelry Design and Manufacturing:

• Gemvision (Padiglione L, Stand 4132): Rhino, Matrix7, T-Splines, CounterSketch Studio3 , RevoCx, V-Ray
• Logis 3D (Padiglione L, Stand 4126A): Rhino and Pavetools

AA School at Samba City!

The Rio de Janeiro Visiting School will foster a diverse public space for the Cidade de Samba (Samba City) infrastructure, a large warehouse complex built by the city for the top Samba Schools in the Port of Rio. Structures will be designed with computational design methods using Rhino and Grasshopper, and built with digital fabrication techniques with the assistance of local artisans combining new materials and processes with reappropriated Carnival paraphernalia.

The workshop will take place from March 26-April 5, 2013. The instruction will be led by AA Tutors and Assistants and local architects and specialists, the Escola de Carnaval Artistic Directors, and Carnival float-fabricators. No previous experience is necessary. The workshop is open to architecture and design students and professionals worldwide.

For more information, please go to RhinoFabLab or here.

Rhino training in San Francisco

Authorized Rhino Training Center, Design Rhino NYC, is taking their training on the road! Join trainer Maia Merov Holtzman for Level 1 Rhino or Rhino for Jewelry Designers in San Francisco.

Classes will be held the first two weekends in March. Choose from:

Level 1 Rhino March 1-3, Friday - Sunday

$695.00

Rhino for Jewelry Designers March 8-10, Friday - Sunday
$795.00

Questions?
Contact Maia or call (917) 929-9391.

Seats are limited; sign up early!

Details and registration...

Architectural Record reviews Rhino

El Habitat by SHINE Architecture in Leon, Mexico

We were pleasantly surprised to see an announcement for Rhino 5 in Architectural Record!

See it for yourself . . . 

Kangaroo webinar - January 11

Introduction to Simulation with Kangaroo
January 11, 2013
Begins at 2:00 PM EST

Join the StudioMode team for their Kangaroo webinar taking place tomorrow. Through a series of short presentations and “live” exercises, participants will learn essential techniques for setting up and developing Simulations with Kangaroo in Grasshopper, ranging from particle systems to spring networks.

Topics:

• What is Physics-Based Simulation and when is it useful?
• What types of Simulations can I develop with Kangaroo?
• What are Force-Objects and what is Physical Geometry?
• How can I calibrate and control my Simulation?

Sign up now...

Tex-Fab 4, Feb 28 to Mar 3 -- Sign up now

Tex-Fab 4.0 Dallas/Fort Worth
International competition, lectures, workshops and exhibition

Tex-Fab 4.0 will present six unique workshop offerings. Ranging from basic for beginners to advanced for the experienced users a broad spectrum of cutting edge workshops are slated for this year’s conference. Industry leaders will deliver interactive content and lead workshop participants through a series of stimulating exercises sure to build a concise understanding of the parametric software.

The software used in the workshops will include: Rhino 5, Grasshopper, PanelingTools, Python, Firefly, Weaverbird, and Revit. 

Workshops will be held Thursday, February 28, 2013, through Sunday, March 3, 2013.

• Crafting Material Effects  
• Parametric Design Fundamentals
• Beyond Pavilion Architecture
• Design Scripting
• Robotic Prototypes
• Workflow Rigging 

Details and registration...

PolyPlane Tutorial Videos Available

To celebrate the first year of PolyPlane videos, the most valuable lessons are now available in one package. It includes 52 videos and 5 related models. Run time: 5 hours 40 minutes. All for only $15.

The videos are in 6 categories:

• Level 1 – PreFlight (8 videos, 1 model)
• Level 2 – Objects (10 videos, 1 model)
• Level 3 – Modifiers (8 videos, 1 model)
• Level 4 – Surfacing (8 videos, 1 model)
• Level 5 – I/O (8 videos, 1 model, 1 underlay)
• Level 6 – Meta (10 videos)

Laser cutter art

'Don't look at me that way' wall art

Artist Nicole Aptekar uses Rhino and Grasshopper to create elaborate three dimensional art out of laser-cut paper and card stock.

The blog Coilhouse interviewed Nicole in November, before a gallery show. Nicole explained that she starts by designing the pieces in Rhino before cutting them with a laser and laying out the pieces, shaping and twisting the composition as she goes.

'Don't look at me that way' in Rhino

Future Traditions conference and workshops

Future Traditions
1st eCAADe Regional International Meeting
April 4-5, 2013, FAUP, Porto

The debate around the impact of digital technologies in architecture is usually centered around the discovery of new possibilities for the practice and theory of the discipline.

However, the past and its traditions may also play an important role in the future of architecture.

After 50 years of technological assimilation, architects now have the necessary distance to critically reflect about how computers support the dynamics of continuity or rupture in architecture.

To understand how digital technologies can contribute to rethink the traditions of architecture, and to inspire its future, is the main goal of the “Future Traditions” event.

This 1st eCAADe International Regional Workshop will be held at the Faculty of Architecture, at the University of Porto, in April 2013.

Complete info...

smartLAB Granada

smartLAB Granada
Granada (Spain)
Jan 28 - Feb 1 

smartLAB Granada is an interdisciplinary workshop (Architecture, Art, Design) focused on Generative Design.

Complete details and registration (in Spanish)...

Digital Crafting workshop in Barcelona

Digital Crafting workshop
Massana Arts School, Barcelona (Spain)
March-June 2012

The new realm of digital arts and crafts: a cambrian explosion of processes from traditional techniques through digital crafting, at Escola Massana, the best fine arts school of Barcelona.

Application of the digital design and fabrication techniques through tools (software) and technologies (hardware) with the goal to provide an introduction of those tools within the creative and executive process of the different design and arts fields.

The course starts from a generic technical and theoretical explanation, focusing on the development of a personal project which will explore the student specific field.

In the new technological paradigm, adapting the new fabrication tools (hardware+software) to master a subject or field, enables the expansion of possibilities, the control, the complexity and the richness of the generation and fabrication process.

Each project will develop the material properties of its research (paper, wood, metal, leather, felt, ceramic, textiles). It will explore in parallel its numerical control:

• Cutter/Engraver (Laser or Mechanic)
• Fressadora CNC (Numeric Control)
• FDM (Fused Depostion Modeling)
• SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)

Tools:

• Generative modeling (Rhino, Grasshopper)
• Material Behavior (Processing)
• Mesh refinement (MeshLab)
• G-code (Machine programming language)

Instructors:  Pep Tornabell and Enrique Soriano
Language: Catalan/Spanish/English

Complete info and registration (English)...

Informació i inscripció (Català)...

Autodesk T-Splines v3.4 plug-in for Rhino 5 released

T-Splines v3.4 for Rhino is now released. It works with Rhino 4 and Rhino 5 (both 32- and 64-bit). You can download it here.

Improvements include:

• Symmetry detection and symmetric operations are more reliable and usually faster. Embedding radial/axial symmetries in the same model in particular is a lot more reliable. 
• Exact insertion has been completely rewritten. It is much more reliable on complex T-Spline surfaces, and exact insertion is now supported on symmetric meshes (i.e. you won’t lose symmetry).
• Rewrote the code for standardizing meshes, which also affects surface generation. There were certain complex arrangements of T-points and star-points which caused crashes in the past; we expect these to work correctly now. In a few cases, we are aware of models that worked in version 3.2 of the Rhino plug-in, but not in 3.3. If you had a model like this, we expect it to work again in this version.
• There have been many changes to improve performance. Notably, tsMatch is a lot faster, and the G1 caps are slightly faster. There were some specific cases where undoing a weld between two surfaces would take a very long time to complete; this should now be acceptably fast.
• Many obscure crash bugs were fixed.