At the same time though from a design perspective this software can also be highly useful for creating 3D images and logos for sites, reports and packaging. Here's how to get a handle on the basics.
When You Load Up
When you load up Rhinoceros 3D you will be greeted first by the option to select a template which will allow you to pick the rough scale you want to work with. Decide on whether the item you're going to be designing would be served better by being measured in centimeters or millimeters and then choose appropriately. Note however that once you begin you can go to View > Grid Options to change this specifically and to set the distance between squares on your grid.
This is very useful if you are prototyping because it lets you create images of a specific size accurately and conveniently. Now you will be greeted by four panels which give you your top view, front view, right view and 'perspective view'. The first three are schematic views allowing you to precisely measure the shape of images, while the top right one allows you to rotate your image around in 3D.
If you want to see what it would look like as a solid object then select this view and then click 'render' or 'shade' for a preview of what it would look like. By clicking on layer you can meanwhile edit the materials and the colors that your object use an even set textures in order to make your item look like a real 3D object rather than a block of dough.
Getting Started
Now to get started you will probably want to select one view to work in. You can double click the title of any view to expand it to fill the whole screen and click again to switch to the four plane view.
Now you will begin to draw onto the grid and you can do this by drawing individual lines, shapes or 3D objects by selecting the tool from the left toolbars or from along the top.
Drawing individual lines gives you the most control, and to use this you should select 'near' (a check box down the bottom of the screen) so that the lines start and finish in the same place when you want them to (otherwise you can have minute gaps between lines which is very frustrating when you try to join them) and hold 'shift' while dragging if you want your line to be completely straight.
Going 3D...
Draw yourself a box or a triangle or whatever to start with and now you will want to make that a 3-Dimensional objet. To do this you have several objects. First select all the lines and click 'combine' down the left (it looks like a jigsaw piece) and that will become a flat outline.
Now to pull that outline upwards to create a box or a sheathe click 'extrude planar surface' and then click on your new shape to drag it up or down along the Y-axis. This object will be hollow, so to close it off click 'cap planar holes' to turn it into a box or pyramid.
Another option is to simply change views and to draw the other sides going up and along the top manually – as long as you connect them all you can then choose combine again and then Surface Curve Network in order to turn those lines into another box or pyramid – but remember to use cap again as well.
Finally if you want to use one of Rhino's fancier abilities, try selecting your shape and then typing 'revolve' into the command box (you can learn a lot of functions by playing around in here). Now draw the line along which you want to revolve your object and then choose the degrees. Type 360 degrees and you will make a tube out of your shape – which is how you make things like vases, cups and cylinders.
Play around and make a few shapes, and then drag them to overlap (making sure they are solid shapes and not just outlines) because selecting 'Boolean Union' to combine those two shapes into one shape. And with just this basic knowledge you can pretty much get started.
Daniel CooperAbout the Guest Author:
Daniel Cooper is an avid blogger and is keen on writing about financial parameters. Explore the field of finance and learn more about integrated reporting by clicking on the specified link.