Getting to know… CD Peacock: When Heritage Fuels Innovation!

For nearly two centuries, CD Peacock has been a Chicago jewelry icon. Now, in collaboration with ShapeDiver, the brand is merging tradition with modern technology to transform the bridal ring experience.

In ShapeDiver's latest interview, Jewelry Creative Director Kelly Jacobson reveals how CD Peacock is using Rhino and Grasshopper to design customizable rings that combine timeless craftsmanship with cutting-edge digital tools. The Love and Celebration collection lets customers personalize every detail of their ring in an intuitive, interactive way, blending the best of digital and in-person experiences.

This interview is a must-read for anyone interested in how jewelry design is evolving through technology, offering fresh insights on combining artistry with customization.

Read the full interview...

Apply to ITECH MSc today and transform design and construction!

 

 Are you curious about the future of design, engineering, and construction?

The ITECH MSc Program is accepting applications from students across diverse disciplines until February 15th, 2025 (23:50 MEZ/CET).
 
The Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research (ITECH) MSc Program is known for its interdisciplinary, research-oriented, experiment-based education shaped around contemporary aspects of the built environment and practice.

The international program spans two years, featuring a group design research project in the first year and a Master's thesis project in the second year. Additional seminar modules provide a strong foundation and exploration of individual interests while encouraging teamwork and collaboration.
 
In all its phases, ITECH integrates intensive, critical, and analytical approaches with cutting-edge computational techniques, structural and climate engineering, and advanced fabrication and construction technologies in the architectural design process.

The program invites applications from a broad spectrum of fields, including architecture or architectural science, civil/structural engineering, urban planning, biology or biomimetics, material science, computer science, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and related engineering and natural science fields.
 

For more detailed information, please visit the ITECH website

Combine the power of Grasshopper and Python in VIKTOR

VIKTOR's latest update lets you create nodes to connect to VIKTOR apps!

VIKTOR is a platform for building web applications that enable users to create interactive tools for engineering, design, and automation using Python. It provides a framework for developing custom editors, visualizations, and integrations with external tools like Grasshopper, allowing for efficient workflows.

Thanks to the new Grasshopper nodes, you can now create a workflow that allows you to send designs to a calculator or dashboard with just the click of a button.

The nodes also let you pull information from VIKTOR, meaning you can now use VIKTOR apps as calculators for Grasshopper models and much more!

Learn about all the possibilities and see some (downloadable) examples here...

SubD Crease in Rhino 8 by Simply Rhino UK

SubD Crease in Rhino 8 by Simply Rhino 

What is SubD Crease in Rhino 8?

SubD Crease introduces weighted creases to Rhino. These allow you to add soft, defined transitions to be added to a SubD form without increasing complexity.

What’s in the SubD Crease Video Tutorial?

In this Simply Rhino video Phil Cook, our Senior Rhino trainer, starts by explaining the new command using a simple example and comparing this to the older Rhino 7 workflow before moving on to a practical example of an automotive sketch model.

Here, Phil demonstrates adding and controlling character lines to the model and how the new SubD Crease command allows for easy iteration at the design stage. There are also general tips on SubD layout and creating a custom display mode.

Complete details and video by Simply Rhino UK...

Video tutorial on a new Rhino 8 command: ShrinkWrap (in German)

What is ShrinkWrap?

Charles Panke from Filou created this video in German on ShrinkWrap, one of the new Rhino 8 features.

Using this command, you can create a watertight mesh from surfaces, solids, meshes, SubDs, or any combination, whether open or closed. And if you have point cloud data, ShrinkWrap can create meshes directly from that, too.

What is ShrinkWrap ideal for?

ShrinkWrap is the tool you choose to create:

• Meshes for 3D printing
• A solid union mesh from multiple objects
• A solid mesh from 3D scan data fragments
• Meshes without internal self-intersections
• Offset meshes for shelling
• Meshes from point clouds during reverse engineering
• Valid closed meshes from broken or often hard-to-repair geometry

ShrinkWrap video tutorial

In this video you will learn:

• How to create an editable geometry
• The use of ShrinkWrap for the modeling of radii
• How to create complex wall thicknesses in NURBS

Please note: German is the language used throughout the tutorial.

More details and video at Filou...

New Plugin for Wind Tunnel Simulations Released: Tdyn Wind Tunnel

Rhino Tdyn Wind Tunnel plugin

This plugin combines the 3D design capabilities of Rhinoceros with the smooth user experience and computational power of Tdyn Wind Tunnel.

The plugin allows you to perform CFD simulations in three simple steps:

1. Automatic export of geometry created and prepared in Rhino to Tdyn Wind Tunnel.
2. Definition of wind speed and symmetries.
3. Launch the simulation and view the results!

This plugin is perfect for anyone who can benefit from aerodynamic analyses, regardless of their expertise in CFD simulations or fluid dynamics knowledge, for example:

• Structural engineers seek accurate values of the wind loads.
• Architects and urban designers who are willing to assess wind behavior around urban areas/buildings or enhance comfort inside spaces.
• Designers (cars, motorbikes, etc.) looking for improved estimations of aerodynamic coefficient.
• Fluid mechanics teachers whose purpose is to provide more intuitive and specific educational tools and content.

Furthermore, CFD experts will also find in Tdyn Wind Tunnel an extraordinary ally that will drastically reduce the preprocessing, meshing, and post-processing times while minimizing the associated errors.

Working with Rhino Tdyn WindTunnel:

The first execution of the plugin will check if Tdyn WindTunnel is installed on the PC and will automatically download and install it from the CompassIS Website. In subsequent executions, the user will be required to introduce the passwords needed for the execution of the Tdyn Wind tunnel.

The Rhino plugin is free, and Tdyn WindTunnel currently offers the possibility of evaluating it for free with temporal passwords, which can be obtained from our password generator.

Get more information and download...

Unveiling the Past: Historical Jewelry and its 3D Reconstruction

Rhino User Webinar

Unveiling the Past: Historical Jewelry and Its 3D Reconstruction

September 14, 2023, at 4:00 PM CEST

This webinar will provide a brief overview of the following points:

• The origin of the idea to reproduce the crown and the iconographic sources used.
• The use of Rhinoceros software to develop the volumetry of the crown.
• The importance of faithfully recreating all decorative elements and ensuring their accuracy.
• The placement of over 200 stones and the design of bezels and interlocking mechanisms.
• The crown segmentation into 72 pieces to optimize space, facilitated by a reference pattern.
• The creation of lightweight elements to minimize the overall weight.
• An overview of the materials used and the different phases of the components' printing, casting, and testing.

Cadia Romano, a passionate jewellery enthusiast, began her studies in Florence at the Lao school at 16. She specialized in Goldsmithing at Il Tarì and Il Perseo in Italy, as well as El taller de Joyeria in Barcelona and Central Saint Martin in London. Graduating from the University of Florence in 2010 in the Culture of Fashion and Style Goldsmithing section, Cadia expanded her skills in sacred (thanks to Paolo Penko) and sexual (thanks to the start-up The Precious Lust) goldsmithing, enameling, engraving, lost wax, and more.

Joining the esteemed Bvlgari High Jewellery workshop, Cadia spent seven years crafting exquisite pieces while refining her 3D design and printing expertise. Today, she works as a freelance designer. She shares her knowledge as a lecturer at the Accademia Italiana University in Rome.

Complete details and registration...