Generative Furniture Design with Rhino and Grasshopper

Date: November 11-17, 2014

During this 5-day workshop 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. In addition, this workshop gives students a functional understanding of Grasshopper and parametric design, so that they can build on this understanding to more advanced projects of their own.

During the training at our RhinoFabStudio, you will learn to customize Rhino + Grasshopper to improve and accelerate your furniture designs through generative modeling. The class also covers information on fabrication techniques with 3D Printers or laser machines and optimization and fabrication using RhinoCAM and RhinoCAM NESTING for CNC machines.

For more information please click here.

To register, please contact Jackie Nasser or McNeel Miami at: T(305) 513 4445

Join us at RhinoFabStudio

New Rhino to CL3VER plugin

Architects, industrial and product designers can now create browser-based interactive 3D presentations of their Rhino 3D models without the need for programming. The new plugin is in beta, so new users are invited to provide feedback to the CL3VER support team if they experience any problems with the importing process.

The new CL3VER plugin for Rhino 5 lets Rhino users export their 3D models directly into the CL3VER editor where they can create immersive experiences for clients and stakeholders. The plugin imports geometry, hierarchy, materials, and textures from the original model. Rhino is used in several industries and sometimes in combination with other 3D modeling software. Since CL3VER is an agnostic platform, one presentation can contain models created with different software, making it a very powerful tool for those who do not rely on a single software technology for design development.

If you are not already a CL3VER user subscribe now for free, go to the CL3VER plugin page to download the plugin for Rhino 5 and install it following the instructions available in this tutorial.

Creating light with Rhino

As an in-house project, FATHOM, a 3D printing specialist, created this ethereal chandelier.

Using Rhino to create the CAD models with the surfacing texturing tools, a prototype was created to showcase FATHOM's capabilities.

Rhino's complex geometries were used to create the lighting effects and the structural stability in the dish's form.

More information on the printing and assembly ...

RhinoToNavisworks

RhinoToNavisworks is a free plug-in that allows Navisworks to open Rhino models (*.3dm) in Autodesk® Navisworks® 2015.

Details...

Rhino in a botanical garden

Another fan is raving about Rhino's capacity to model complex shapes. This one is in Ketchum, Idaho.

The collaboration for the Ellen Long Garden Pavilion at the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens started with the architect, Jolyon Sawrey. Sawrey drew up the pavilion roof for size, height, basic shape, and other features like electrical and site placement.  To figure out the roof parts he then contacted Bill Amaya of Cimarron Lofting. Amaya took the architectural drawings and, using Rhino to completely model the roof, detailed the parts, changing the shape only as needed. He then "pulled" rafters, metal skin, header ring, and the top compression ring off the drawing and sent them to the metal fabricator to bend and laser cut. The metal fabricator, David Swaner, of D-Swaner Welding, then assembled, delivered, and installed the roof parts.

For Cimarron Lofting, the key was to figure out the placement and shape of the rafters. Amaya commented, "I would not know how to do it without Rhino. It was just a shape and a problem that does not lend itself to mathematical insight."

Absolute Joint System at ACADIA 2014

AJ - Absolute Joint System is the only non-welded round pipe structural stainless system in the world. It provides the architect with a sculpting tool (a Grasshopper customization) that delivers designs that keep pace with the client's imagination. It allows for free-form single and double layer geometries creating remarkable structural transparency.

AJ - Absolute Joint System is proud to sponsor ACADIA 2014 and will be at the event exhibiting its products.

The ACADIA 2014: DESIGN AGENCY conference will be held in Los Angeles, California at the USC School of Architecture on October 23-25, 2014.

DESIGN AGENCY will bring together the spectrum of research and creative practice currently occurring within the ACADIA community through the combined support of the research networks of the University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles and Southern California Institute of Architecture. Questions the capacity for computation to inform or challenge traditional design processes; computation as design operation—the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power, and/or computation as design instrumentality—the design mechanism through which power is exerted or an end is achieved.

Online Level 2 Rhino Class begins November 3

Image credit: Kyle Houchens, The Outside

Our Level 2 Rhino 5 online course begins next month. The class is scheduled for November 3-13. We have seats available if you'd like to register. The course will consist of seven sessions, a brief orientation on Monday followed by six half-days of Rhino 5 training.

Dates/Times:

• Orientation: Monday, November 3, 9:00AM -10:30AM
• Training: Tuesday-Thursday, November 4-6 and 11-13, 9:00AM - 1:00PM
  Note: All times listed are Pacific time zone. 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!

High schools solving real life problems

Two schools are collaborating to simulate manufacturing for their students. And they are using Rhino and a few other computer tools to do it. To solve real problems Sherwood High School, in Oregon, and Sitka High School, in Alaska, simulate the scenario of a multiple-site manufacturer. They manufacture some of the parts in one location (Sherwood or Sitka) and ship to another location (the other high school) to complete the part. The parts have to fit together, no matter how many locations the parts are sourced from. They have to meet industry-standard tolerances.

Teachers John Niebergall and Randy Hughey are good examples of using innovation in technology education.

Watch this well-done 10-minute video....

New book by Arturo Tedeschi: "AAD Algorithms-Aided Design | Parametric Strategies using Grasshopper®"

The book "Algorithms-Aided Design", written by Arturo Tedeschi, presents design methods based on the use of Grasshopper®, a visual algorithm editor tightly integrated with Rhinoceros®, the 3D modeling software by McNeel & Associates allowing users to explore accurate free-form shapes. The book provides computational techniques to develop and control complex geometries, covering parametric modeling, digital fabrication techniques, form-finding strategies, environmental analysis and structural optimization. It also features case studies and contributions by researchers and designers from world’s most influential universities and leading architecture firms.

Main topics: Grasshopper environment and plug-in software; Parametric modeling and advanced data management; NURBS curves and surfaces; Meshes and Subdivision Surfaces; Digital fabrication techniques; Recursions; Form-finding strategies; Particle-spring systems; Topology Optimization; Evolutionary solvers; Environment-informed design.

Available in English.

Details...

DATA MATTER | environmental aerial robotics workshop - 24-28 November 2014, Frosinone (Italy)

Noumena and Flone, in collaboration with Fab Lab Frosinone and GREEN FAB LAB, present DATA MATTER | environmental aerial robotics workshop.

The course will take place in Frosinone (Italy) and will be related to the fields of aerial robotics and data visualization. It will propose a theoretical and experimental framework to develop a database on the area around Valle del Sacco, translating data into visual outputs from the different levels of environmental conditions. The course is inspired by the investigation developed along the Sacco river by Carlo Ruggiero—published on the book Cattive Acque—and the experimental research ran by Michela Ruggiero, cofounder of Fab Lab Frosinone.

During the workshop, you will have first-hand experience with aerial robotics, mapping, and data visualization. The course will focus on several different stages, generating a dynamic and innovative workflow. The main tool of the course will be Flone, a popular open source drone developed in Spain and already presented in several international events and exhibitions, such as Fab10 and MakerFaire.

Flone is a co-operative project which explores and envisions several applications and translates a basic drone into a multidisciplinary and professional tool. Flone has already been engaged in the field of art and technology, investigating social and professional practices, focusing on topography, energy performance certificates for buildings, environmental strategies of forestation, human rights and aerial photography.

During the workshop, you will develop digital fabrication, electronics programming, and data management skills. Starting from scratch, you will learn the whole assembly process of the drone, from laser cutting frame structure to the installation of motors and drivers, followed by coding the electronic boards and fly experience. You will be able to fly and control the drone by your Android Smartphone with an application developed by Flone.

On site, along the Sacco river, you will use the drone and learn strategies of data recollection, terrain mapping via smartphones, an infrared camera, and other environmental sensors installed on the drone.

In the final stage of the course, you will adopt computational techniques, learning how to organize and visualize data, generate a 3D environment, elaborate informative maps as resourceful environmental information documents for the recovery of the Sacco river and its natural and social context.

The workshop fee includes the ownership of the drone built during the event, once the course is over.

More info...

Register now...

Presentation: Designing with the Sun

October 16, 6 pm

Join Green Light New York for a book presentation and dialogue with Christoph Reinhart. His book, Daylighting Handbook Volume 1, adeptly describes the physical characteristics of the sun and the human eye, lays out the design fundamentals of allowing daylight to guide the massing and shading of a project, and describes the tools available to guide analysis.

This provides 1.5 AIA learning credits.

Register here...

Interested in learning more? Register for Christoph's one-day technical Daylight Simulation Workshop on October 17th.

Level 1 Rhino 5 Online Training

October 10-22, 2014
US$200

In this online 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. Our detailed class outline is available here.

Dates: 

• Orientation: October 10, 9:00 am-10:30 pm (PDT)
• Training: October 13, 14, 15 and October 20, 21, 22, 9:00 am-1:00 pm (PDT)
  Calculate your time zone.

Sign up today! 

More...

The class will be conducted in English using the GoToTraining software. You will need Rhino 5 for Windows software installed. Note, the Rhino for OS X WIP is not acceptable software for this class. You will need a stable and fast Internet connection. You will need a headset/microphone combo. You will need a hard copy of the Rhino Level 1 Training Manual. You may download it from here. 

3D Digital Fabrication - Teacher Training

Professional trainers from McNeel Miami and RhinoFabStudio will introduce the main functions of Rhino so you can add 3D modeling to your design and design communication curriculum without burdening your students with yet another difficult software product. You'll be able to focus on teaching while your students take advantage of the latest 3D modeling technology with Rhino 5.
 

When:

Thursday & Friday, Oct. 23-24, 9:00 am-3:30 pm

Where:

Westglades Middle School - Room 104

11000 Holmberg Rd 

Coral Springs, FL   33076

Instructors:

Sergio Martinez, Rhino Training Specialist ART - McNeel Miami
Lucía Nasser, TA

Host:

Miriam Niebla
Technology Education - SECME, FLL Robotics, and BSTA coordinator

To register:

Contact Miriam Niebla or at T(754) 322-4800

The workshop is free for educators. Proof of status is required.

Space is limited. Register now!

New to Rhino 5? Watch this before the class: Introduction to Rhino 5.

Join us at RhinoFabStudio

Studio D: Design and Fabrication Lab / Department of Interior Design / FSU as a new Authorized RhinoFabStudio

Please join us in welcoming Studio D: Design and Fabrication Lab / Department of Interior Design / FSU as a new authorized RhinoFabStudio. Established in the summer of 2013, Studio D: Design and Fabrication Studio is a prototyping workspace within the Department of Interior Design. This 3000 square foot facility is a Rhino Fab Studio and housed at the new Carnaghi Arts Building. Studio D is home to the department’s traditional woodshop tools, digital fabrication equipment, and undergraduate and graduate furniture design classroom space. Currently, Studio D is focused on the design and fabrication of small and full-scale prototypes of furniture and interior designs that support the three areas of curriculum development and instruction, research and critical analysis, and product development and material testing. This lab is staffed by Marlo Ransdell, PhD and David Wray, MFA in Tallahassee, FL. 

Visit Studio D: and like their new page

 
What is a RhinoFabStudio? A RhinoFabStudio™ (fabrication studio) is a small-scale digital workshop, certified by McNeel, with an array of Rhino and Rhino compatible software and computer controlled tools and training. These tools cover the various leading-edge industrial methods and materials needed to design, analyze, and fabricate almost anything.

Most Legendary Car - Rendering competition

Don't miss this new rendering competition by Humster 3D. Rhino users are welcome to submit their renderings: Most Legendary Car

DIF - Disruptive Innovation Festival

The Disruptive Innovation Festival is bringing together thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, businesses, makers, learners and doers to catalyse system change for a future economy. It will be held predominantly online and will run for four weeks from 20 October – 14 November 2014. 

The overall theme is around building a regenerative economy but captures insights from a broad cross-section of topics including sharing economy, materials science, energy, design, and new business models.

The DIF engages heavily with new and developing ideas relating to critical areas of manufacturing and design including 3D printing.

As a Rhino user, you are given the opportunity to:

• Showcase your designs to a global audience including businesses, investors and inventors via our open mic and design challenge opportunities. Apply to host an Open Mic session at www.thinkdif.co/me and find out more about design challenges at www.thinkdif.co/pages/challenges
• Learn more about how design is shaping the world - attend sessions on everything from Cradle to Cradle design to the future of 3D printing.
• Get to a Fab Lab near you and take part in our disruptive innovation maker challenge.

INFORMED MATTER - intermediate Grasshopper workshop in Paris - Last Call

INFORMED MATTER - intermediate Grasshopper workshop

Paris, France

Oct 17-19, 2014

The space in which we live can be monitored in many aspects and it appears as a flux, a gradient of data in continuous evolution. Our understanding of the surrounding environment improves every day due to our ability to scan and sample the environment around us at increasing resolution, using better technologies and sensors. Thus the space is revealed as an ever-changing data field. Our capability to act and design the space itself can be enhanced by the use of tools able to inform better the design processes with more accurate, specific, and variable, in space and time, data streams.

INFORMED MATTER is an intermediate Grasshopper workshop about “data embodiment strategies” and advanced mesh modeling techniques.

Grasshopper is a powerful information processor that provides the basis to develop possible strategies to inFORM digital matter morphologies by a specific set of data conditions.

The workshop focuses on integrating information processing into digital systems to enable the formation of structures, from very simple up to more complex ones. The aim is to give an understanding of information and data articulation as a spatial and architectural operation. Results may range from pure data strategies design to data-driven geometries depending on the skill levels and aspirations of each participant. The brief is also open to suggestions and opportunities that may arise during the workflow.

Details and registration (early bird pricing until Sep 10)...