We all know Revit sits on the BIM throne like a medieval king, powerful, expensive, and not always that generous. For years, it’s been the “industry standard” by default… not necessarily because it’s the best, but because everyone else is stuck there too.
But what if we could change the game?
That’s where Rhino + VisualARQ (and Lands Design!) come in. This combo offers real BIM workflows without locking you into a closed ecosystem. It’s flexible, affordable (a single license, imagine that!), and it speaks IFC fluently. Plus, it pairs beautifully with Grasshopper, opening up design workflows that actually feel… fun again?
The only thing missing? A stronger community voice.
I’m working to connect designers, architects, and landscape professionals who want to explore this ecosystem seriously. If we share our templates, sample files, workflows, or even struggles, we can start shifting the tide together. Let’s connect, the more, the merrier!
Let’s build a smarter, more creative, less repetitive and less boring BIM future. Rhino may be a wild beast, but with the right people and tools, we can definitely tame it.
PS: If you’ve ever wrestled with the Rhino learning curve or felt unsure about diving into VisualARQ or Lands Design, you’re not alone! Let’s turn that challenge into collaboration. Drop a comment, share a project, or even just say hi. Would love to hear how others are using (or thinking about using) these tools in their workflow.
That’s a brilliant idea! We need Rhino 3D to speak both fluent 2D like Rayon and BIM like Revit or Archicad. But for that, we need people to rally around the cause! With the right energy and collaboration, we can absolutely make it happen. One team, one dream and turn ‘this beast’ into the BIM tool we’ve always dreamed of… through VisualARQ.
If you’re looking to share your work but feel limited by Google Drive, you’re in luck, there are several great free alternatives out there! OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Mega, and pCloud all offer solid file-sharing and cloud storage features, with varying strengths in security, integration, and ease of use.
Let’s make it easier to showcase how far VisualARQ can take us in the world of BIM. Whether you’re sharing templates, workflows, or full project examples, these platforms give you the tools to inspire others and help push this amazing plugin further.
You don’t need to flood this forum with large files either, just share a simple link using one of these free services. Some workflows can be heavy, so if you’ve got something worth showing, now’s the perfect opportunity.
Go ahead, share your magic, your contribution might be exactly what someone else needed to break through a wall (pun intended).
One Team, One Dream, Let’s build smarter together!
Hey Denzel, You know, one of the hardest things in any community is figuring out how to make it truly worth our time. There’s often a lot of blablabla, plenty of talk, but not enough walk. What we really need now, especially in the VisualARQ community, is to roll up our sleeves and start building a serious resource library.
Imagine it: a massive, shared hub of Blocks, VA GH Scripts, Templates, Workflows and samples… using VisualARQ, Lands Design, Rhino, and Grasshopper. Different workflows, different strategies, different minds tackling the same tool in creative ways. That’s how we grow skills and speed, and stop reinventing the wheel every time we start a project.
So if you’ve got anything useful: Sample files, examples, clever tricks, Useful NON Usani tutorials, just drop them into your Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link here. Doesn’t have to be perfect; just useful!
The goal is simple: create momentum and make VisualARQ the go-to creative BIM tool, not a ghost town of good intentions, but a thriving, living toolbox for real architects doing real work.
Let’s stop wandering in the wilderness and start building something amazing together.
These are VAQ model templates I found during my exploration. Although most may not have been created with VA 3.X, they are invaluable case studies for public project resources.
For a rendering workflow based on VA and Twinmotion, I suggest that after the model is built, if any details are modified, those changes and related objects should be isolated and not merged back into the original rendering model.
This can resolve the annoying issue of having to reconfigure materials due to mismatched GUIDs.
Alternatively, creating native Rhino objects for the modifications can significantly improve efficiency.
Collaboration with AutoCAD Users
Has anyone collaborated with team members who only use AutoCAD? This kind of workflow would require Grasshopper and Elefront to clean up and organize floor plans and sections.
Before the VA team implements a feature similar to Revit’s real-time plans—including block-ified doors, windows, or furniture — my simple GH + Elefront script provides a semi-automated solution for a portion of this tedious task.
The last time I tried this there were issues with the DWG exports especially with annotations. Lots of things seemed like they’d otherwise be easy to fix - Like I would literally be able to export a .txt file with the object data using Python in Rhino, then create an AutoLISP routine that would read that .txt file and import the objects correctly - If I can do that then I simply cannot believe that it would be much work to fix the CAD exports.
Imports work a little better. I can import title blocks almost perfectly. Blocks, especially dynamic, are quite wonky. Similar to above, I know how to work with anonymous blocks in AutoCAD - there really isn’t much to it.
If you’re lucky you won’t have any issues at all with CAD imports/exports. It could be a winning workflow. People just don’t get how good the annotation features are in AutoCAD.
This is indeed a pain point. That’s why I usually only use the Rhino + ARQ combination for very small single-person projects. Even then, there are times when I need to collaborate with other professionals who use AutoCAD. In such cases, I pray that they only need my floor plan layouts rather than elevation drawings. Even if conversions are required, the workload won’t be too heavy. This is also one of the features I desire most in the current Rhino + ARQ workflow - perfect DWG drawing export.
That is an absolutely brilliant list you’ve shared, it’s going to help so many people quickly grasp the essence of the VisualARQ plugin, its current limitations, and how it plays with renderers like Twinmotion. I think this kind of practical, hands-on knowledge sharing is exactly what will encourage more people to experiment, test, and refine their workflows with VA.
By comparing notes and sharing our own experiences, we can feed valuable feedback to the developers, which could very well accelerate the plugin’s growth. The more we collectively experiment and document, the faster we’ll see improvements, and maybe even a few long-requested features show up sooner rather than later.
We’re not a “cheerleading squad” like you might find in the Revit community, they’ve got more than enough pom-poms over there, both paid and unpaid. Instead, we’re just a bunch of folks who love Rhino, want to make BIM actually work in it, and are willing to roll up our sleeves to make it happen.
Your workflow tips, especially about isolating changes in VA + Twinmotion to avoid those GUID headaches, are golden. Same with your AutoCAD collaboration ideas and that clever GH + Elefront semi-automation. Those are the kinds of practical gems that save people hours of frustration.
So let’s keep this momentum going. Keep sharing your stuff, your scripts, and your hard-won lessons. Every shared file, every experiment, and every discussion like this gets the ball rolling toward a better, more robust, and most importantly a more secure BIM future with a VA(4) for those of us who choose Rhino as our creative toolkit of choice.
In Rhino, you can set up a font style called simplex, which can be helpful for converting characters in the UTF-5 range. This can also reduce some issues when converting to the .shx format later on. The need for this workaround is directly correlated with the number of people in your collaborative environment who cannot accept TrueType fonts.
Also, I have two primary methods for converting dimensions
Method A => Splitting dimension layers and using Rhino’s native .dwg export method.
Method B => Exporting to .dxf. This method, compared to the .dwg export, will lack specific line weights and styles. It essentially acts as a vector layer group, but using it as an exchange format can help you avoid some of the unexpected issues that can arise from different annotation styles.
Brilliant news, Usani Slowly but surely is moving in the right direction, progress may start small, but that’s always how the best things grow. We just need a few thousand more of these little victories!
Thank you so much for sharing this new file, we really appreciate it. The project looks fantastic clean, inspiring, and beautifully put together. Honestly, it makes me want to pack my bags and move to Hawaii… purely for research purposes, of course!