I am wondering if someone might know a way of stream lining a particular workflow in rhino.
I use Rhino to design custom foot orthotics. One of the first steps is to extract the target feet models from an STL scan (deleting all other surrounding scanned data), and then align the target foot models to a flat construction plane based on a 3 point system (1st metatarsal head, 5th metatarsal head, and center of calcaneus). After these steps, I would proceed to designing the insole on top of the feet.
At the moment, what I do is import the scanned data, use Meshsplit tools to cut out the feet, then manually rotate the feet using eyesight to the below construction plane. Are there any commands or scripts/technique that anyone can think of to simplify the steps between importing the mesh into Rhino and fullying balancing the foot to the construction plane?
I have seen other programs like LutraCad that runs over top of Rhino that seems to have an automatic function to balance the cast. They seem to just manually select the 3 target points on the STL mesh of the foot and the program would “pull” the entire cast to the construction plane, sort of like a _ProjectToClane command.
I have included a sample file to give more context to what I would like to do.
Thanks for all the help I have received so far on this forum.
Hello - Orient3Pt seems like it might come in handy, from your description, for the alignment part - maybe that is what you’re using. If you have three points you care about and the part is already in close to the right place, snap to the three points and then turn on Project in the OSnaps and snap to the same three points in the same order.
@dannytso123 - Here is a python that automates the process somewhat - see if that does anything useful.
I just made a script to do this for large scan data of landscapes where the entire mesh can be slightly off axis. Maybe I can tune that to fit your spesific need.
My script uses as many points as you like to define the plane, but it can easily be limited to three.
Thank you for this. I tried it on my Rhino 5 on mac. It asked me to choose the object to orient. I chose the foot and then the 3 reference points but nothing happened. The foot stayed in the same place. Am I applying this script correctly?
Yeah… looks like it fails in V5… I’ll have a look.
@dannytso123 - I ran it in 5 Windows and it failed once - with a message that makes me think some wires are crossed someplace behind the scenes, but then worked after that. Hm.
I’ll have a look on V5 Mac shortly.
Thanks for looking into it. Orient3Pt works really well. One question I have for Orient3Pt is that I seem to get my result only when I have added the 3 target points directly on my mesh. If I don’t have the 3 points made and I just select the regions on the mesh, Rhino will move the foot but it stays suspended. It does not place the Mesh in contact with the surface. Any ideas?
Hi Danny - using Orient3Pt, you need to hit the exact same points for each set (first three, second three) but the second set is picked with Project on the OSnaps and the first set not.
(works as expected in V5/mac, btw… make sure Project is not on in the OSnaps)
I wonder if Kangaroo could automatically–put your foot down. : )
It would seem that it does gravity. As long as the foot was placed so it was close to being righted, and not fall over, perhaps it could do the rest for you.
