RhinoCentre Training Approach

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About RhinoCentre

Fonts and notations

• Executed Rhino commands in exercises are displayed in a bold with an underscore in front. For example:   _Polyline
• Command options are written in brackets with the access key underlined.
• For example (PersistentClose=No). Typing [P] [Enter] will toggle 'Yes' or 'No' of the 'PersistentClose' option.
• Keys will be written in square brackets like [TAB].
• Keys to be pressed one after another are written with a greater-than sign in between like [P] >[Enter]
• Keys to be pressed together (holding the first one and press the second) will have a plus sign in between like [Ctrl]+[S].
• Mouse buttons are written in capitals: LMB (left mouse button), MMB(middle mouse button) and RMB (right mouse button)
• Key-Mouse combinations (press and hold the key and mouse click) are written with a plus sign in between like [Ctrl]+LMB.

Tip icons indicate a more efficient way of doing something or a technique that might not be obvious.

The Caution icon is used when the described operation can cause problems if it's not done carefully.

The Note icon is used to draw attention to an important concept or something fundamental for understanding the subsequent material.

• By typing them at the Command Prompt
• Via the Menu structure on top of the Rhino screen
• By clicking on an Icon in a Toolbar
• With an Alias (short cut)

When typing letters in the command prompt, Rhino presents all commands that contain these letters. This is a useful Rhino feature to find specific Rhino commands.

Rhino Command Help

Rhino newsgroup & forum

Opening vector PDF in Rhino

Cleaning up PDF import

Exercise 8: Opening PDF [caption id="attachment_8916" align="alignright" width="312"] Fig.13: PDF Import Options dialog[/caption]

• Open "Passengerboat.pdf" using one of the methods described in 'Opening DWG in Rhino'
• In the "PDF Import Options" dialog (Fig.13) under Scale select "Preserve units" and set it to 1 mm = 1 Rhino unit and click OK
• Maximize the "Top" view
• The drawing needs to be rotated, so select and rotate all objects 90° in the Top view around 0 using the _SelAll and _Rotate command
• Run _SelDup to select all duplicates. Hit [Delete] to delete them
• Save the file as "Passengerboat-PDF.3dm".

Scale to real size

Exercise 9: Scale to the proper dimensions

• Run _SelAll to select all geometry
• Run _Scale
• On the "Origin point:" prompt, type 0 > [Enter]
• On the "Scale factor or first reference point:" prompt, type 25 > [Enter]
• Run _Zoom with the (Extents) option.

Exercise 10: Check the size

• Run the _Distance command
• On the "First point for distance:" prompt, snap to point A at the stern (Fig.14)

[caption id="attachment_8917" align="alignnone" width="638"] Fig.14: Point A at the stern[/caption]

• On the "Second point for distance:" prompt, move the cursor to the right, hit [TAB] and snap to point B at the bow-fender (Fig.15)
• Rhino should report: "Distance = 4866.746 millimeters".

[caption id="attachment_8918" align="alignnone" width="638"] Fig.15: Point B at the bow-fender[/caption]

Instead of using the TAB-key direction constrain to get the distance in the X direction you can also use the SmartTrack feature in Rhino. Try both ways to learn about the possibilities.

Exercise 11: Scale again

• Run _SelAll to select all geometry(or hit [Ctrl]+A )
• Run _Scale
• On the "Origin point:" prompt, snap to point A at the stern (Fig.14)
• On the "Scale factor or first reference point:" prompt, move the cursor to the right, hit [TAB] and snap to point B at the bow-fender (Fig.15)
• On the "Second reference point:" prompt, type 14000 > [Enter]
• Run _Zoom (Extents)
• Save the file.

It is advised to check if an imported PDF is perfectly straight aligned. The easiest way to do so is to draw a line from the origin in all 3 directions and check if it’s aligned with the water- and centerline.

Finishing of

Homework:

• Create layers for each view
• Create blocks for each view and put them on their respective layers
• Save the file in the proper way.

Raster PDF

Exercise 12: Prepare the image

• Open "Neptuno.pdf" in Adobe Reader
• Right-click in the Reader main window and choose the Selection Tool
• Click in the main window to select the image
• Hit [Ctrl]+C to copy the image
• Start MS Paint found under START (or right clicking the start page in Win 8) > All Programs > Accessories
• In Paint Hit [Ctrl]+V to paste the image
• In Paint Hit [Ctrl]+S to save the image. Name it "Neptuno" and make sure to save it as a PNG file to the desktop.

The PNG image format is excellent for line-work because it provides good 'sharpness' despite the fact that it is compressed. JPEG is compressed too but much more blurry. BMP is sharp but it'll increase the file-size a lot.

Inserting a pictureframe

Exercise 13: Creating a pictureframe

• Run _PictureFrame and browse to "Neptuno.png" (the image you've created in the previous exercise)
• On the "First corner of picture frame:" prompt, set EmbedBitmap=Yes and pick a point somewhere in the "Top" viewport (the _EmbedBitmap option saves the image in the Rhino file so you cannot lose it when moving the Rhino file to a different location or deleting the PNG)
• On the "Length of picture frame:" prompt, drag the cursor to the right and click to set the size (doesn't matter how big as it will be scaled next)
• Select the newly created pictureframe and run _Scale
• On the "Origin point:" prompt, zoom in to the left end of the frames-strip and pick the end as exact as possible (point A in Fig.16)

[caption id="attachment_8919" align="alignnone" width="638"] Fig.16: Point A on the left end of the frames-strip[/caption]

• On the "Scale factor or first reference point:" prompt, zoom in to the right end of the frames-strip and pick the end as exact as possible (point B in Fig.17)

[caption id="attachment_8920" align="alignnone" width="638"] Fig.17: Point B on the right end of the frames-strip[/caption]

• On the "Second reference point:" prompt, type 33100 > [Enter]
• Run _Zoom (Extents)
• Save the file as "Neptuno-PDF.3dm".

Creating views

Exercise 14: Creating views

• Maximize the "Top" view
• Select the pictureframe and run the _Move command
• On the "Point to move from:" prompt, zoom in to frame 0 on the centerline of the main-deck view and pick the point as exact as possible (Fig.18)

[caption id="attachment_8922" align="alignnone" width="430"] Fig.18: Frame 0 on the centerline of the main-deck view[/caption]

• On the "Point to move to:" prompt, type 0 > [Enter]
• Run _Zoom (Extents).

• Select the pictureframe and run the _Split command
• Select the Isocurve option and click Toggle till the split-line on the pictureframe is vertical
• Pick a point left of the command-bridge view to split the pictureframe.

• Run the _Line command and click the (BothSides) option
• On the "Middle of line:" prompt, pick a point just underneath the text "CUBIERTA PRINCIPAL"
• On the "End of line:" prompt, move the cursor to the right till the line runs across the left part of the image and click to draw the line.

• Select the line and run the _Mirror command
• On the "Start of mirror plane:" prompt, type 0 > [Enter]
• On the "End of mirror plane:" prompt, move the cursor to the right and click to define the mirror plane.
• Select both lines and run the _Copy command
• On the "Point to copy from:" prompt, type 0 > [Enter]
• On the "Point to copy to:" prompt, move the cursor down, hit [TAB] and pick a point on the centerline of the lower-deck view as exact as possible (Fig.19).

[caption id="attachment_8921" align="alignnone" width="429"] Fig.19: Frame 0 on the centerline of the lower-deck view[/caption]

• Select the left part of the pictureframe and run the _Split command
• On the "Select cutting objects:" prompt, select the 4 curves and hit [Enter]
• Select and delete the small strips underneath the two views (Fig.20)

[caption id="attachment_8678" align="alignnone" width="638"] Fig.20: Select and delete the strips underneath[/caption]

• Select and delete the 2 lower split-curves.

• Select the other 2 lines and run the _Move command
• On the "Point to move from:" prompt, type 0 > [Enter]
• On the "Point to move to:" prompt, hold [Shift] (to temporary disable ortho)
• and pick a point on the centerline of the bridge view as exact as possible (Fig.21).

[caption id="attachment_8684" align="alignnone" width="430"] Fig.21: Pick a point on the centerline of the bridge view[/caption]

• Select the right part of the pictureframe and run the _Split command
• On the "Select cutting objects:" prompt, select the 2 curves and hit [Enter]
• Select and delete the pieces above and below the command-bridge view (Fig.22)

[caption id="attachment_8687" align="alignnone" width="430"] Fig.22: Pieces above and below the command-bridge view[/caption]

• Select and delete the 2 split-curves
• Save the file.

Although technically not necessary, it’s good practice to cut the views to the same width like we just did. It prevents accidentally snapping to wrong points once the views are placed correctly and it reduces view-clutter since the edges of the views are lined up in the Top view.

Layer-management and positioning the views

Exercise 15: Layer management and positioning views

• Delete all layers accept for the "Default" layer containing our picture frames
• Run _-Layer with the (New) option to create a list of layers in one go
• (notice the “-” hyphen in front of the command name!)
• On the "Layer name or list of layers to create:" prompt, enter the list of layers separated by comma’s and surrounded by quotes: "PLAN BELOW DECK, PLAN MAIN DECK, PLAN BRIDGE, PROFILE"
• Put the 4 picture frames in the proper layers.

 

• Select the "PLAN BELOW DECK" pictureframe
• Run the _Move command
• On the "Point to move from:" prompt, snap to the midpoint of the left edge (Fig.23)

[caption id="attachment_8688" align="alignnone" width="430"] Fig.23: Snap to the midpoint of the left edge[/caption]

• On the "Point to move to:" prompt, move the cursor up, hit [TAB] and type 0 > [Enter].

 

• Make sure all 4 standard viewports visible by running the _4View command
• Zoom extends in all viewports. Command _Zoom with the (All) and (Extents) option
• (or use the button in the "Set View" toolbar).

 

• Select the "PROFILE" pictureframe
• Run the _Rotate3D command
• On the "Start of rotation axis:" prompt, pick a point on the baseline of the profile view as exact as possible (Fig.24)

[caption id="attachment_8923" align="alignnone" width="430"] Fig.24: Pick a point on the baseline of the profile view[/caption]

• On the "End of rotation axis:" prompt, move the cursor to the right and click to define the rotation axis
• On the "Angle or first reference point:" prompt, type 90 > [Enter].

 

• With the "PROFILE" pictureframe still selected run the _Move command
• On the "Point to move from:" prompt, snap to a point on one of the edges of the "PROFILE" pictureframe in the "Perspective" view (Fig.25)

[caption id="attachment_8690" align="alignnone" width="638"] Fig.25: Move the "PROFILE" pictureframe to 0 using TAB[/caption]

• On the "Point to move to:" prompt, move the cursor in Y direction, hit [TAB] and type 0 > [Enter] (Fig.25).

 

• Select the "PLAN BELOW DECK" pictureframe
• Run the _Move command
• On the "Point to move from:" prompt, use the option (Vertical=Yes) and type 0 > [Enter]
• On the "Point to move to:" prompt, type 3000 > [Enter]
• Repeat the last 4 steps with "PLAN MAIN DECK". Bring it up to a height of 6000.

 

• Use all positioning techniques you've learned by now to position the command-bridge view. Use a height of 8000
• Save the file.

Final steps

Exercise 16: Transparency and saving [caption id="attachment_8695" align="alignright" width="254"] Fig.26: Material tab in theproperties panel[/caption]

• Make sure all layers are turned On
• Use the _Show command to make sure nothing is hidden
• Select all 4 pictureframes
• In the properties panel select the Material tab (Fig.26)
• Under 'Basic Settings' set the transparency to 80%
• Make " Default " the active layer
• Zoom extends the "Perspective" viewport
• Synchronize the orthographic views by running the _SynchronizeViews command with the "Perspective" viewport active
• Save the file.

                           

Worksessions

Set up a worksession

1. The new interior file in which we’ll work
2. the GA we have prepared from the DWG
3. the hull file.

Exercise 17: Set up a worksession [caption id="attachment_8697" align="alignright" width="487"] Fig.27: The worksession manager dialog[/caption]

• Start Rhino with a new empty file (template: Large Objects - Millimeters.3dm)
• Save it as "pilot-vessel-Interior.3dm"
• Run the command _Worksession
• In the appearing worksession manager dialog click on 'Attach' (Fig.27)
• Browse to "pilot-vessel-GA.3dm"
• Click 'Close' to dismiss the worksession manager dialog.

 

Exercise 18: Attach another file

• Right-click in an empty space in the Layer manager panel and choose "Attach Model.."
• Browse to "pilot-vessel-HULL.3dm".

           

There are even more ways to start a worksession. You can drag & drop a file to an open Rhino window and choose the "Attach" option in the "File Options" dialog, or in the main menu select File >Worksession>  Attach... Which way is the best depends on your workflow and personal taste.

Saving a worksession

Exercise 19:  Saving a worksession

• Run the command _Worksession
• In the worksession manager dialog click 'Save'
• Save it to the desktop as "Session.rws"
• Click 'Close' to dismiss the worksession manager dialog.

 

Saving a worksession doesn't save the active file! The active file with all your modeling work has to be saved separately.

Using curves from an attached block

Exercise 20:  Extrude curves from an attached block

• Turn off the layer "[pilot-vessel-HULL.3dm]"
• Expand the layer "[pilot-vessel-GA.3dm]"
• Turn off all sub-layers of "[pilot-vessel-GA.3dm]" except "_DWGlayers" and "PLAN BELOW DECK"
• Run the _CurveBoolean command
• On the "Select curves:" prompt, select the in Fig.28 marked curves and press [Enter]

[caption id="attachment_8671" align="alignnone" width="320"] Fig.28: Select the marked curves[/caption]

• On the "Click inside regions to keep:" prompt, click inside the selected curves and press [Enter] (Fig.29).

[caption id="attachment_8672" align="alignnone" width="320"] Fig.29: Click inside the selected curves[/caption]

• With the curve still selected run the _ExtrudeCrv command with the (BothSides=No) (Solid=Yes) and (DeleteInput=Yes) option
• Type 3000 > [Enter] to set the extrusion distance.

Exercise 21:  Extracting curves from an attached block

• Turn off the layer "PLAN BELOW DECK" and turn on "CENTERLINE SECTION"
• Select the " CENTERLINE SECTION "-block and run the  _Copy command
• Click the (InPlace) option or type [I] [Enter]
• Hit [Esc] to deselect all.

There is a difference between the block instance and the objects inside the block. The objects which made up the block definition are still on the referenced layers. If you'd turn off the referenced GA file in the layer-manager even the copied instance will disappear from screen (try if you like) because the object layers are all inside the attached _DWG layers... yep, blocks can be pretty complicated.

[caption id="attachment_8674" align="alignright" width="225"] Fig 30: Block Editor[/caption]

• Run _SelLast to select the last created objects i.e. the copied block instance
• Now use the commands _Invert and _Hide to hide all other objects
• Double-click the block visible on screen (or use the command _BlockEdit). This will open the BlockEdit dialog (Fig.30)
• Select the propeller-shaft centerline (Fig.31)

[caption id="attachment_8675" align="alignleft" width="320"] Fig.31: Select the propeller-shaft centerline[/caption]    

• Click "Remove Object.." in the BlockEdit dialog and OK to exit BlockEdit mode
• Select and delete the block
• Run the command _Show to make the hidden block instance visible again
• Turn off the layer "[pilot-vessel-GA.3dm]".