Page Last Updated And Links Checked: 25 June 2003 Page Last Updated And Links Checked: 25 June 2003 
Rhino 3D Introduction
More on Nurbs
Rhino 3D provides for unrestricted free form design in a Windows based program. Uses NURBS. (Non-Uniform Rational Biezer Splines). This term occurs in AutoCad and MDT. Need to appreciate the pros and cons exporting in IGES format vs native .dwg (and dxf?). See AutoCad Users Guide under Splines and SplineEdit. Not to be confused with "Polyline Splines".
IGES and NURBS Surfaces in AutoCAD (Created In Rhino For Example)
NURBS splines are standard object types in R2000/R14/R13. Some confusion arises as to the nature of splines and surfaces. AutoCAD does not support NURBS surfaces, nor will IGES translate NURBS surfaces into AutoCAD without conversion. NURBS surfaces will be translated as either Polyface meshes or NURBS spline wireframes. There will be a great deal of accuracy lost in a model is NURBS surfaces or splines are converted into polylines or polyface meshes. Mechanical Desktop will accomplish the translations accurately, but standard AutoCAD will not. From www.teknicad.com.
For Auto/MDT, to draw a parabola set SPLTYPE = 5, draw a polyline with 3 vertices, then Pedit - Spline it; then SPLINEDIT convert it into true spline. It'll be of degree=2, i.e. parabolic curve (Vladimir Nesterovsky vnestr.tripod.com ## Not Found 1June03 ## --> found this tip in a posting). Others said slice a solid cone as a basis for a sketch while others said use a lot of point that comply with the defining equation (cf using Excel like Terry Rawkins of Bracknell College in 3D Tutorials). All agreed that all the gears in the sample Inventor drawings when investigated proved to have been done outside and brought in. Bit of a joke MCAD ..Mechanical 3D modelling and not being able to do involutes and gear design.
AutoCAD uses the ACIS geometric engine to calculate the curves of a spline for display purposes. As a result, AutoCAD doesn't need to store much information in the drawing database for splines. By using splines instead of polylines, you may reduce the size of your drawing file and increase available memory, thus speeding up AutoCAD. From www.oocities.org/cadgurucool (note he was using A2000 as at Apr 02).
rhino/myrhinonotes.html My Rhino Notes. Includes how to set up the AutoCad screen so it looks like the Rhino screen with four viewports, the origin in the center and rays to indicate the 3D directions.
Rhino 3D Websites
www.rhino3d.com For Rhino 3D, a NURBS modeler. Uninhibited free form modelling of any shape you can imagine with the accuracy needed to design, prototype, engineer, analyze, and manufacture anything from an airplane to jewelry.
Interestingly the feature that proved useful to many users is the ability to translate between 3D file formats. Rhino can import and export IGES, ACIS, Parasolid, STEP DWG, STL, 3DS amongst others. It will also convert NURBS surfaces to meshes which is useful for machine shops and rapid prototype services.
www.rhino3d.com/support.htm For Links to newsgroups and support.
www.rhino3d.com/tutorials.htm
** Requires reviewing! Many new tuts. See the helical spring for example and the maths to contol the weighting. **
Links to tutorial sites.
Starts with commercial offerings but in the For Advanced Users section the first tutorial (Fairing Curves and Surfaces) and the last four tutorials are free. This is followed by the Tutorials By Users section which has forty or more links to keen Rhino users offering tutorials.
www.rhino3d.com/scripting VBScript scripting tutorials.
www.rhino3d.com/resources Related products and services.
www.rhino3d.com/newtools.htm Newest related products and services.
www.la.rhino3d.com Latin America site. Had training material not on the main site.
www.cadserver.co.uk Rhino 3D (and Flamingo) article in Feb 2002 CadServer.
Refers to McNeel, AutoCad, AccuRender and Flamingo relationships.
Nurbs is defined. Large number of formats supported (incl A2000 dwg/dxf) fully listed. Mentions popular as tool to convert between formats.
Rhino 3D is economical and powerful and should interest anyone choosing to stay with vanilla AutoCad but would like an unlimited freeform 3D capability.
www.mcneel.com McNeel and Associates
Robert McNeel is the biggest AutoCad dealer in the US and is the man behind Accurender, Rhino 3D, and Flamingo (brings AccuRender's raytrace and radiosity rendering technology to Rhino 3D) and Penquin, their recent non-realistic renderer. Support and forums for these various products. See also EasySurf and EasySite (built on EasySurf), AutoCad add-ons for ground modelling.
www.basline.com BaseLine Technology (Note: URL spelling is basline!)
Rhino plug-ins for boat design and boat design tutorials. Reasonable prices.
AutoCad site expanding into Rhino. Tips and free stuff of interest to AutoCad users.
Rhino 3D Articles
CadenceWeb articles by John Wilson, a practitioner, who normally writes on 3D modelling in AutoCad and Mechanical DeskTop.
An Introduction to Rhino (Dec 01).
Building Rhino Frameworks (Jan 02).
Scratching the Surface of Surfaces (Feb 02).
Digging Deeper Into Rhino Surfaces (Mar 02).
Points and Solids (Apr 02).
Rhino 3D Tutorials (McNeel List)
The following are four of the forty links to keen Rhino users listed in the Tutorials By Users section of the Rhino3D website who provide Rhino tutorials on their sites.
3drender.com Jeremy Birn's website (author and film graphics creator).
Instruction on lighting, rendering and modelling. Can access Secrets Of Rhinoceros that use to be on the Rhino CD which includes making a dinosaur. A lot of other content and discussion.
www.3drender.com/models/index.htm Access to the Rhino and Nurbs modelling tutorials including the Secrets Of Rhinoceros CD contents (the Meshmaster and the Imagesoft tutorials do not apply to Rhino learners).
3drender.com/rhinoThe Secrets Of Rhinoceros page. The contents of the CD Rom available on-line.
www.3drender.com/rhino/dinohtml/index.htmThe dinosaur on-line tutorial page.
3drender.com/rhino/dino/
The dinosaur images downloads page. A jpeg profile of a brachiosaur to import into Rhino3D and ten .3dm ("3D Model"?) files of various parts of the mesh made to create the 3D model which come down unzipped as .3dm ready to open in Rhino3D. Page 6: Completing The Head is not listed but can be accessed directly by entering the URL 3drender.com/rhino/dinohtml/6.htm.
There is also a jpeg of a rendering of a brachiosaur group in a forest setting (12Mb).
brachiosaur/brachiosaur.html My local copy of the brachiosaur profile sketch (jpeg image) to play with in Rhino3D (or AutoCad?). Includes a jpeg of completed dinosaur in a forest scene.
www.hydraulicdesign.net/tutorial_splash/ball_tutorial_page.htm
Large tutorial done in Ver 2.0. A drop splashing into liquid (note only para's 1 to 3 printed ..try printing a screen capture using Print Screen and MS Paint).
Author says use Curve>Curve not Curve>Interpolated Curve as much as possible and to mock those who use Interpolated Curve. I don't know what's behind this and it does not correlate with Version 2's Menu anyway.
www.renderosity.com/tutorial.ez/../ Renderosity's Rhino Tutorials page.
Tutorials are submitted. The first tutorial gives a Not Found error but don't be put off. The second is a first class explaination of how to plot manufacturing level layout drawings from a Rhino 3D model taken out as a wavefront.OBJ file into ArchiCAD v6.5 R2 (a Windows version). The third (related to the next listing) is the link to the space they have made available to Spike to host his Rhino site which includes an excellent collection of 34 tutorials. The fouth is an excellent detailed walk through on how to draw a faucet (hot/cold water tap set). There are 12 more.
(Note: You have to become a member to access their Rhino forum).
www.renderosity.com Click on Tutorials then Rhino3D.
Links to 2 odd good tutorials.
*** ## 1 Nov 02. Can't see the Spike stuff. Maybe moved. Still good link.
The hosting space is provided by Renderosity to Spike. This page is blue writing on black background and hard to read and does'nt say anything signifigant anyway but the thumb nail of the finished model is sufficient to tell you if you want to check it out (they are all good ..just that some a a bit shorter and more suitable for beginners than others. Click on any thumbnail and you get a bigger pic of the rendered model and a (thankfully not blue on black) readable paragraph about the tutorial.
10th listed item in McNeel's User Tutorials section. Misleadingly labled as Lighting Tutorials pehaps because or Renderosity's are of interest but it is actually space provided to Spike to store tutorials he has collected (includes some from various Challanges). Some of the original author's websites no longer come up so this is a valuable repository.
www.3dcafe.com/asp/tutacad.asp The 3D Cafe.
Good tutorial site. 3D emphasis including Rhino3D but other tutorials and topics too. Useful for those people starting in Cad, graphics, design or web development.
Rhino 3D Tutorials (Not In McNeel www.rhino3d.com Tutorial List)
These are additional tutorials I have found which are not in the Rhino Tutorials By Users section.
3dfuturebits.org/../ Simple Rim Tutorial. A car alloy wheel rim. Smasher (poster).
rhino/simplerimtutorial/simplerimtutorial.html Local file. *Good. Set up for splitting on screen to left with Rhino up on the right.
perso.wanadoo.fr/3d/main.html
Lot happening. All his own tutorials. See detailed instruction on how to make a Gaelic Knife from one ellipsoid. Command Listing for v1.1. Links to tutorials that can be ftp'ed from McNeel.
perso.wanadoo.fr/3d/tutorials/architectural/index.html **Convert a dxf or dwf mesh file to a nurbs file. Use for angular flat surfaces not for spheres or rounds. Directions suitable for taking a Autocad or Mechanical Desktop model into Rhino. Also directions for creating 2D views.
perso.wanadoo.fr/3d/tutorials/splines/exportimport/index.html **Export (ie File Export>Selected) from Rhino as a spline curve into native .dwg to go into 3DMax for rendering . **Presumably you can take it into AutoCad!
Hat in Rhino3D Local version of the Hat tutorial in perso.wanadoo.fr/3d/main.html above. my png is about 1KB compared to his 16KB jpg's.
SGI Logo tutorial
Lost for a year and I fnally deleted the dead link. Could reconstruct from a printout I have in my Rhino folder.
Original blurb:
Good summarised tutorial. Circle sweeps along a rail to create pipework, undo, then do again with pipe command (quicker). Note that the line and the pipe are separate objects and can be moved apart. Selection of objects close (in "pick range") or occupying the same space is resolved by an on-screen drop-down at the cursor offering you to select the (in this case) curve or surface object. Some toolbar icons.
Alturnative:
Searches on net could not find the tutorial however the following link gives a general way of going about it in general terms.
sgilogo/sgilogo_paulbourke.html SGI Logo. Local file.
sgilogo/index.html Index Of SGI Logo Folder. Awaiting a home after evaluation. At present this call is in Autocad, Customizing (script), MDT and here in Rhino (where it all started because the above tut link went dead.
members.tripod.com/~fyre3d/hat.htm Absolute beginner tutorial by Ryan Knope on a wannabe site.
Rev(olve) (Surface>Revolve) a line (actually a curve using interpolated points -called a spline in AutoCad) created using InterpCrv (Curve>FreeForm>InterpolatePoints) about an axis to form a hat (or a frisbee!).
Apply a texture using Edit>Object Properties (select Basic and choose a texture) then Render>Render. Note his dialog box for object properties is probably Ver 1.1 or something ..not the same as Ver 2.0 dated Feb 2002.
www.oocities.org/SiliconValley/Horizon/4419/shotglass.htm Beginner tutorial by Ryan Knope. Use solid truncated cone (Solids>Tcone) to make shotglass. Create liquid line in glass. Apply texture. (Enlargement of first thumbnail does not come up (send email?).
Done pre-ver2.0. Note that "scale" and "stretch" are not two commands. Stretch is now only an alias for Scale1D (see List of Command Aliases and the menu dropdown Transform>Scale which has 3D, 2D, 1D and Non-Uniform options). Yet frustratingly, if you do type in "stretch" the command line echoes stretch as the issued command (AutoCad echos the typed in alias sure but then the actual command occurs in capitols after it. (Send Email to McNeel?)
Looks like the glass used in the next tutorial listing.
members.tripod.com/paintedcanvas/drawing_a_glass.htm
Good tutorial. Beginner. Glass on table. Make 3D model, apply textures and render.
www.sumrallworks.com/freebies/rhino/tutorials/mushroom Mushroom tutorial.
Good. Makes model of a mushroom but with more control points and done in a way that may have application to an animal body or a boat hull. Not a simple revolve but four mutually perpendicular curves are made then put lines through all of the curves to create cross section curves that define a tweak-able and loft-able mushroom cap. Uses the CSec (Curves>Cross Section Profiles) and Loft (Surface>Loft) commands
web.northernnet.com/kreeg/rhino.html Face (alien) tutorial. Compliments the mushroom tutorial above.
*** ## Not Found 2May02 to 25June03. *** ## NorthernNet seems to be down. Check later.
*** ## Whole web.northernnet.com gone. Try to search for kreeg but remove this link as dead.
Uses the CSec (Curves>Cross Section Profiles) and Loft (Surface>Loft) commands used in the mushroom. Introduces Bend and you can use Stretch. Make sure you loft from a point and finish on a point ..just starting on one loft curve and finishing on a loft curve results in holes at each end like a tube (which you could surface individually).
www.mtv411.com/3d-studio-max-resources-tutorials.htm A Max site that had the above web.northernnet.com/kreeg/rhino.html url in it for the Face (alien) tutorial. Scroll down to Rhino. A number of excellently presented Rhino drawing tutorials.
www.amazing3d.com/services/tutrhino.html The Rhino Tutorial listing that the Mushroom and Face tutorials above were found in.
rhino/toilet/toilet.html My toilet bowl (two objects). Uses what I've learnt in the Face and Mushroom tutorials. Also a translation exersize. Besides a jpg you can view there is the Rhino ver2 3dm(126kB) file I made plus the various formats I chose to Export to, namely 3D Studio Max 3ds(125kB), AutoCad2000 dxf(413kB), AutoCad2000 dwg(114kB) all in individual zip files.
What I was able to do with the various formats created from the Rhino file:-
The 3ds was brought into AutoCad2000 by Insert>3D Studio and was a polyface mesh. This was done in the Object layer and it created three layers namely ASHADE, OBJ_1 and OBJ_2 (an object was on each OBJ layer).
The dwg was brought into A2000 by File>Open. It created it's own DEFAULT (the objects were in the Rhino Default layer) layer containing the two objects and was a polyface mesh.
The dxf was brought into A2000 by File>Open. It created it's own DEFAULT layer containing the two objects and was a polyface mesh (identical to dwg).
Note: There were 24 formats under File>Save As, or the same 24 formats could be File>Export Selected to. Also of interest (to me) are IGES (has Inventor 5 option) and ACIS.
* Four sites related to Duga *
duga4.tripod.com/cogtut.htm Cog tutorial (Found in 3D Cafe). (1 Sept 02 -No index or email I can see.)
Solid models a gear. Uses the command Group introduced in Ver 2.0 (contrast this command with Join).
www.netcolony.com/arts/d5uga/Pshop/tuts.html ## Bit slow comming up but does come up. ##
Simon Wolf (aka Duga or Duga Longsbi or Sy) of Israel.
(sywolf@netvision.net.il) ..the email address off this site I must have used when I contacted him. On 1 Sept 02 it failed to reach him. Try email one more time.)
PhotoShop and Rhino. This page is a Paintshop Saturn planet tutorial but listed at the top of the page are his Rhino tutorials. All very helpful. CoolTruck is an interesting demo of the Sweep With 2 Rails surface command. Uses AceHTML 4 Pro to make his website. Emailed him 9 Apr 02 that his 2nd rhino tut link was broken (car wheel). He replied the site was abandoned and provided URL below as his new (better) site.
duga7x.150m.com/index.htm *** web Hosting Message only 28Aug02. *** Duga's new site. Rhino3D only.
At 10 Apr 02, the first two Duga sites above had Rhino tutorials not included in this new site.
duga4.tripod.com/f2002ork.htm Fork Tutorial. Done as solid model. (In his new site.)
(1 Sept 02 -No index or email I can see.)
www.computerarts.co.uk
Was an exceptionally high quality British site. Was 36 tutorials ..many applicable to Rhino and all excellent. See DownLoads (interesting). Some of the Rhino applicable tutorials did include:-
( *Note as at 1 June 2003, most tutorials and articles have been removed but I have hard copies of the following two tutorials and could reconstruct them.)
Nurbs and a making a spacecraft in Rhino 3D. Film production quality.
Creating solid text using Rhino's text function. Three parts:- Chamfered, 3D ("routed") and Animated.
www.renderosity.com/tutorial.ez?Sectionid=15 Listing of 16 tuts I have not looked at before. There is a Rendosity listing in McNeels tutorial list which is definitely related but it seems to be two different sites.
www.smercure.com/rhino_tuts.htm Rhino3D Tuorials page (supposedly) of a Rhino and Poser site.
Lists some Rhino mesh settings for drawing organic shapes but no Rhino tuts!
Has generic links lifted from Renderosity concerned with modelling human anatomy (Poser is a low cost program intended for modelling the human form).
www.3duser.net/preview/rh_preview.html Economical Rhino (and other) training courses.
Click on Free Tutorials for the introductory free tutorial. See the section on customising (my word) the toolbars.
Statements made suggest if your 25 saves run out you can re-download and start again. (note:- someone told me that the www.rhino3D.com site says that after the 25 saves the software keeps working. You just have no saves left)
www.d.umn.edu/~shilyard/classes/art3014/index.html
University of Minnesota, Duluth. 3D Digital Design Course (Art 1014). Interesting reading.
Select Art1014 then click on Tutorials to download Rhino Tutorials and Exercises in PDF.
Information and PDF tutorials to on Inspire, a rendering program that looks and feels like Lightwave. Used for rendering Rhino models (I am going down the Accurender (AutoCad) and Flamingo (Rhino3D) rendering track (VIZ, 3D Studio too expensive and too hard to learn).
See Javascript that brings up the larger mountain model from the thumbnail (I used in dinos).
www.grottoazura.com/Products/Tutorials/3dgfx.html First of two sites in the Rhino3D Webring offering tutorials.
2 May 02. Cant resolve hostname. I'm sure this tut can be accessed, from Mcneel. Find Alt link!
Breastplate tutorial. Lofting and cutting holes. Excellent. Does not lead to the site of Creating A Breastplate author Sergio Martinez. (search net!)
Introduced me to the Notes Command which is how Sergio provides his instruction in the form of a Rhino drawing file you download as a .zip file. The file is 10kb expanded, same as if you opened a new file to do the tutorial ..except you using his with a file which has the notes included. See my thoughts in my Rhino folder rhino/notes_command/copied_rhino_notes.txt
Next thing to do is try to figure out how the McNeel introductory Rubber Duckie tutorial which looks like it's based on this note business displays images.
www.computersculpture.com Rhino very cheap. Modeling hardware. CNC and Taig.
See Rhino Notes for hints and tricks compiled from forums.
See Links for other users and good links.
Rhino 3D Forums
news2.mcneel.com/scripts/dnewsweb.exe?cmd=xover&group=rhino McNeel's Rhino Support Web.
news2.mcneel.com/scripts/dnewsweb.exe? McNeel's Support Web listing.
groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=alt.3d.rhino Google's Alt-3D-Rhino.
www.postforum.com/forums/list.php?f=26 Post Forum -very active.
www.3dlinks.com/owforums/owforums.cfm?siteid=2 3D Links Forums. Scroll down to
Rhino.
www.eng-tips.com/../ Eng-Tek Tips General Engineering programs.
//cnczone.com Scroll down for CNC Zone's Rhino Forum.
Rhino 3D Webrings
x.webring.com/webring?ring=rhino3d;index Rhino 3D Webring (index of the 13 sites ..only 2 offer tutorials 2 May 02. Down to 12 sites and the missing site appears to be the 2nd of the two offering tutorials and the first one, grottoazura.com/../ does not come up anyway ..get the breast plate tut from elswhere (McNeel?) and ditch grottoaz.. and webring (no tuts!)).
rhino3d.3dark.com ## 400 Can't Resolve 26Apr03 to 25June03 ##
3D Ark. The Rhino 3D Webring ringmaster's homepage.
Flamingo Renderer In Rhino 3D
www.flamingo3d.com For Flamingo 3D.
This Rhino plug-in brings AccuRender's raytrace and radiosity rendering technology to Rhino. Radiosity involves an iterative processin which the effect of light reflected from surfaces is shown
Education price US$195 Rhino only US$295 Rhino and Flamingo option.
Evaluation version of Rhinos and Flamingo have less materials and thin lines across the rendered image.
AccuRender material and plant libraries also work in Flamingo.
Flamingo brings the features of AccuRender's raytrace and radiosity rendering technology to Rhino. This plug-in includes:
Rendering
Photometrically accurate images with reflections, refraction, diffusion, translucency, transparency, color bleeding, shadows, depth of field, depth attenuation, ClearFinish™, and indirect lighting.
Animation
Viewpoint animation for walk-throughs and fly-bys, and sunlight animation for shadow studies.(does not compile frames into animation files ..need 3rd party software). Note: Jasc's Animation Shop (included with PaintShop Pro7 or US$39 standalone) can be easily used to position and edit animation frames and create the the avi files (html code is also generated). Animation Shop is one of several programs recommended by McNeel.
Types of animations
There are five types to choose from:
Turntable Animation
This is the simplest type of animation. The camera rotates once around the object, capturing the number of frames you specify.
How to setup a Turntable Animation.. Includes viewing a car rotating using 50 frames.
Path Animation
Path animations allow you to vary the distance between the camera and target. Both the camera and target can follow a path curve, or can be stationary at point objects. This allows three different styles of animation: moving camera with fixed target, fixed camera with moving target, and moving camera with moving target.
How to setup a Path Animation and view an example.
Fly-through Animation
Fly-through animations look ahead as the camera moves along the path.
How to create a Fly-through Animation.
Other features
Procedural clouds, fractal-generated 3-D plants, procedural 2-D and 3-D materials, progressive-refinement for quick preview, and extensive material, plant, and background libraries.
Penquin Non-Realistic 3D Renderer
www.penguin3d.com For Penquin 3D.
Gives freehand sketching, watercolor painting or cartoon-like rendering to Rhino3D models.
Free download Beta2 version expires 2 September. Watch for Beta 3?
IronCad's Inovate and Rhino Combination
Get a complete solid and surface modelling system for only US$995 (20%-25% the cost of a mid-range modeller).
www.ironcad.com/rhino/rhino.asp For IronCad's Inovate and Rhino combination.
Inovate gives Rhino a solid modelling and animation capability (30 day trial available).
www.ironcad.com IronCad's homepage.
Alibre Design And Rhino3D Combination
Get a complete solid and surface modelling system for only US$950 (20%-25% the cost of a mid-range modeller).
www.ironcad.com/rhino/rhino.asp For Alibre Design.
Inovate gives Rhino a solid modelling and animation capability (30 day trial available).
www.cadalog.com CADalog. Where you can purchase at a good price.
Posting
SolidWorks and Inventor are midrange so-called parametric solid modellers. I say "so-called" parametric because if the model is changed you may have to recreate some drawings. SW has some surfacing capability, IV has none.
Note: MDT has a very fair surfacing capability and the AutoCad capability to produce annotated drawings
plus some other functionality that has yet to be available in IV (as at IV5.3). This and other considerations is why MDT will be around for some time yet despite the marketing hype. I know one IV user who produces his drawings in MDT!
Cavet ..SW2003 and IV6 are both due out by Nov 2002. I do expect substantial improvements but sadly both companies do have a history of producing additional bells and whistles rather than fixing documented failings and introducing new (core) functionality.
Rhinoceros 3D, which costs a fraction of the price of even stand-alone Autocad, is a non-parametric nurbs surfacing package that allows unresticted freeform modelling. If you had the artistic skill you could model a car, ship or plane and if you had the engineering skills the car, ship or plane could become a design reality. For most of us it's molds, electric handtools, consumer goods and the like.
Rhino3D is often used as a utility. You could take a component done in Rhino into your core package or model the base in your core package then take it into Rhino for complex surfacing. Rhino opens and saves (or imports and exports or whatever) in about 26 formats so consultants or small shops can keep a seat of Rhino as a file translation utility and conceivably never draw with it.
SW has a free download plug-in to allow Rhino to open and save SW files.
Rhino has recently got together with IronCad and now has a Rhino3D-Inovate deal that gives solid modelling capability along with the excellent surfacing capability. Currently you can get the bundle for $1,690 (support included).
Rhino uses NURBS surfaces but beware ..AutoCad mentions NURBS a lot but they are talking about curves and they can't produce NURBS surfaces. Also watch ..you may be able to make a surface or import a surface in some other package that claims surfacing capabilities but you may not be able to edit that surface. Rhino's strength is surface modelling.
I found out about Rhino in an AutoCad forum ..someone advising someone else how to get out of a jamb.
Rhino provides a free download of their latest version which allows 25 saves and continues to work without the save facilty. There are three tutorials included that can be brought up onto the screen while you work in the editor. This makes all the difference when you are trying the package out.
Rhino give students and teachers a good deal on a full version and allow (demand!) that the student install it on their office computer when they get a job or during their internships or whatever. The new kid churns out the goods, the employer orders more seats, the new kid trains the older hands (they teach the kid how to draft!) ..it's win-win-win.
Rhino3D ver3 probably due out Nov 2002. I suspect that a seat that has Rhino3D and IntelliCad (for the 2D drawing output) would be a powerful and economic combination. I further suspect that by the end of 2003 this combination will probably run under the Windows emulater Wine on a Unix box.
Well that's my take. I look forward to hearing others views.
All the best,
Aussie John.
Free or Low Cost CAD or 3D Graphics Software
See also my Intellicad, TurboCad and Rhino3D pages for free evaluation versions and economically priced commercial versions. Also note (in the freebite.com link) a free evaluation version of ProEng which is the first established midrange cad modelling package to do so (been feeling the heat from AutoDesk and Solidworks of late).
acadproe.html Here is my Pro Eng Resources page.
www.freebyte.com Well presented free software listing. Look for catagories of software that interest you here.
www.freebyte.com/cad Their free Cad software listing.
www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm#mechanicalcadsystems Covers 2D/3D, Mechanical, Architectual, Electrical and more.
This last page states it was last updated 6 June 2002. Further there are good little one paragraph descriptions of the softwares capability, size and limitations.
I saw a listing for FEA (Finite Element Analysis). Getting into math here but getting the numbers right is he difference between designing and doodling so this is an opportunity to look into this area. Don't think I saw Strand7.
Oddly I did not see a catagory of listings for 3D Modelling. Don't think I saw Rhino3D.
www.eland.org.uk/pages/Misc/cadnotes.html Peter Eland. This page lists all the free and cheap Cad and 3D modelling software he can find. His particular interest is bikes and athe moment he has taken up Rhino.
www.askoh.com For FreeCAD6, 3D CAD with Motion Simulation by A-S Koh.
Suitable for anyone interested in learning for free before using more sophisticated packages. Ideal for teaching and learning geometry, kinematics, dynamics, vibrations, mechanisms, linkages, cams, machine design and physics. Runs on Windows, Macintosh PPC, Linux PC and other Unix's. Assembly data are unchanged across platforms. Freeware.
www.armanisoft.ch/webdesign/default.htm Armin Mueller. Check the freeware Spiralizer and his links.
3dgraphics.about.com/cs/free3dsoftwarepc Free 3D Graphics software. Other Interesting Links.
www.softcad.com/index.asp SoftCad International.
You can download their SoftCad 3D Lite version free. Their full packages cost $200 or $300. See their gallery and tutorials.
www.aliaswavefront.com Alias/Wavefront.
Mayer Personal learning Edition (free!) released Mar 2002. Mayer Complete and Mayer Unlimited reduced to approximately one third of original price. This is 3D graphics software used in movie making.
www.blender3d.com Blender 3D. Free renderer for non-commercial use. Open GL (really? ..then why "restructuring"?). 3D Studio Max like capability but interface different to other windows software. Download some standalone games. I first heard of it as a possible tool for animated walkthroughs in Rhino context.
ib.ksc.komi.ru/ftp/pub/Linux/X11/3D/Blender
www.blender3d.com Where I finally downloaded Blender 3D Version 2, the Demo Ver 2 and a Ver 1.6 Tutor. I hear there was a Ver 2.25 just before NaN Technologies "restructured".
www.download.blender.pl ## 400 servor Error 1 June 03 ##
Where I found Blender2Manual_Quickstart.zip. Much other Blender stuff there.
www.discreet.com For GMax (based on their 3D Studio Max). Free for consumers (based on their 3D Studio Max). Referred to as 3D Studio Max's little brother. I first heard of it as a possible tool for animated walkthroughs in Rhino context. GMax has simple keyframe animation and Ver 1.1 and can import dxf and 3ds. Download the modules you need.
www.openfx.org/about/index.php For OpenFX, an open source 3d graphics modelling editing program.
Animated 3D Walkthrough Related
From Google search on "autocad walkthrough tutorials". Note preocupation with VIZ but but tantalizing references (with no substance) to Accurender (McNeels economic alt to Viz/3D Studio MAX) and Jasc's Animation Shop 2 (US$40)
Note www.blender3d.com Blender 3D. Free renderer for non-commercial use with Sudio Max like capability and www.discreet.com For GMax. Free for consumers. Based on 3D Studio Max. Both mentioned as possible animation tools in Rhino context (helpful with AutoCad?). See Free or Low Cost CAD or 3D Graphics Software section.
www.cadtutor.net/dd/studio/walk/walk.html Animated walkthrough tutorial.
www.oko.com.au/softlink.htm Australian site. Animated walkthrough tutorial, tutorials and free software.
Affordable substitute for AutoCad. Rhinoceros - NURBS modeling ... Free 3D modeling, walkthrough, and rendering software ... CAFE Models, Tutorials, Textures, Software
www.accustudio.com Includes tutorial for walkthrough using Accurrender in AutoCad. www.accustudio.com/forum/tutorials/course-3.pdf The walkthrough tutorial (pdf). Note the Google listing of this page provides a html translation. Search for autocad walkthrough tutorials. Google's HTML Version
archone.tamu.edu/~ENDS270/assignm.html A Uni study program with interesting information and references. Some animation objectives (see the research listing for alt software):include:-
1. The use of the 3D Studio VIZ program for the generation of a walk-through or fly-through animation and the understanding of the multiple variables that determine our perception of space and time in a digital animation.
2. To demonstrate the ability to perform the following operations: generation of a walk-through (or fly-through) path within a 3-D model, calculate a relevant time configuration for the animation, generate and control a walk-through camera, rendering of the animation for display on the WWW.
Hints: The command tags for embedding an AVI or MOV file in an HTML file are:
EMBED SRC="xxx.avi" WIDTH=320 HEIGHT=240, or
EMBED SRC="xxx.mov" WIDTH=320 HEIGHT=240
www.techweb.rfa.org Radio Free Asia. Scroll down to 3D Project. Useful Autocad guidance. Panoramas and animations done with Accurender3 I understand. Interesting. Dwg and jpg/bmp image (textures and decals) downloads. Quite involved. Consider an acoustic tile texture. You can right click and save the 100x100 bmp thumbnail, or left click for a 300x200 png download or click on the FTP button below and select the 300x200 bmp (or 600x400 option) download from the appropriate folder. Bit of javasacript going on. Note I can't make a .dwg, raster image (or an exe) download using yahoo-geocities unless I zip them.
CAD For Unix
In the CAD arena, several established software makers are already offering Linux versions, and others have announced that they are under consideration or development. They include Pro/Engineer and SolidWorks. SolidWorks have also ported Macsyma maths software and a 3D Java viewer to Linux. Spatial Technology, developer of the widely used ACIS solid-modeling kernel, has announced a release of the kernel written for Linux, which will facilitate several CAD systems moving onto Linux. Bentley has a Linux version of MicroStation under development.
Inprise (Borland) has announced their commitment to create a Linux version of Delphi. There is a useful tool to work with.
AutoCad have elected to get into bed with Microsoft and may yet pay a price for that (if the have not already with OLE!).
www.cadforum.com/lcad/lcadfreeware.asp Cad Forum's Cad for Linux page.
## 9Dec02 to 25 June 2003 ## www.cadforum.com does not come up.
www.freebyte.com/operatingsystems A free operating systems page. You need the operating system first. Warning to long time Windows and commercial software users ..think of the word free as in free to choose not as in free beer. The two main varients of Unix you might consider is Linux which is flavour of the month helped by the attractive fat and happy penquin logo and Free BSB which has a lot to offer but not recieving the same hype. My recomendation is pay the modest charge and get the box with the CD and manuals.
www.freebyte.com/programming/#other_languages A free programming languages page.
www.qcad.org QCAD. An open souce cad project. Unix and Windows versions. Written in C++ using the multi platform C++ toolkit Qt (in fact that's why it's called QCad). First public release Oct 1999.
www.ribbonsoft.com CAM Expert. A commercial extension of QCAD for converting the drawings into NC programs or other individual text based formats. Usually it's used for LASER cutting and engraving but it's very flexible and can be adjusted for virtually any numeric controlled machine. There ia also a trial version available.
www.softwareforge.com LinuxCad. Commercial US$99.
www.tech-edv.co.at/lunix/CADlinks.html Tech EDV's collection of Cad for the Linux system links.
pfrostie.freeservers.com/cad-tastrafy/ Cad-Tastrafy. PFrostie's page for CAD, Modelers, and Graphics in Linux/FreeBSD
www.freelists.org/webpage/cad-linux A mailing list he set up.
www.cadstd.com CadStandard. Commercial. Has free Lite version. Written in Delphi and currently runs only on Windows 95/98 or NT. Inprise (Borland) has announced their commitment to create a Linux version of Delphi. Since Linux is a version of UNIX, and I have over ten years of programming experience writing software for UNIX, I intend to begin creating a Linux version of CadStd as soon as Delphi for Linux becomes available.
www.go-mono.com Ximian's Mono project to create an open source implementation of the .NET Development Framework. From Mono FAQ:
Question 99: Do you plan to port Rhino to C#?.
Answer: Eto Demerzal has started a Rhino port to C#.
Contact: Aussie John wpsmoke@yahoo.co.uk