Are Rhino3D skills transferable to Adobe Illustrator?

Hi,

I am wondering how, if at all, my knowledge of Rhino3D can help me learn Illustrator. Are there commonalities between the two programs? The reason I ask is that I may have a job coming up where Illustrator proficiency could be an asset.

No, not really. But on the other hand, any knowledge is transferable.
So download the Illustrator demo and start with the tutorials. Illustrator is easy to master.
And you can export both curves and hatches from Rhino, so you do not need to start from scratch.

There are tons of tutorials out there, so good luck.

Well, the curve and node editing is somewhat similar. Nodes and spines are nodes and splines.

[Illustrator is not my favorite program. For 2D I preferred Corel and Inkscape, because I felt they were more intuitive.]

I see and use Rhino and Illustrator as two completly different and independent toolsets to work with vectors.

While you can (as Holo said) trasnsfer curves and hatches between both, the way you work with them are different. Generally, any exported hatch needs to be redone in Illustrator if you want to modify it. I basically try to map out everything as curves in Rhino, then apply hatches and line styles in Illustrator.

You will find Layers, but try to avoid grouping. Illustrator will not have Groups with objects on different layers. Basically a layer in Illustrator is just a kind of global group. Illustrator curves are like interpolation curves in Rhino, so the way you work them is different but in a sense similar. The most important tool for anyone trying to draw something exact are snaps and I find those of Illustrator not really working for me. You will find CurveBoolean style tools in the “Pathfinder” section. That’s about it for comparable functionality, I think.

Proficiency probably means that you know your way around the tools… I bought a basic tutorial book to find the very basic tools and workflows. Depending on the job, those Basics might be quick to learn.

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and you will ask you’re self why illustrator doesn’t have an array tool or decent snaps

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what you might find is that you can starts your drawings a lot faster and more accurately in Rhino, then bring assets to illustrator to make them native and apply styles. You could be a lot more productive that making everything form scratch in Illustrator. I know I am.

It’s always best to use the right tools for the job, not just the one that your employer thinks it’s the right one. Embrace that , and you’ll never be hungry.

Good luck!

G

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