Getting Started with Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD

Rhino.Inside AutoCAD
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Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD is an addon for Autodesk AutoCAD® that allows Rhino to be loaded into the memory of AutoCAD just like other AutoCAD add-ons.

Installing Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD

Pre-requisites before installing:

  • AutoCAD 2024, 2025, 2026
  • Rhino 8 Windows

Download and run the latest Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD installer

Start AutoCAD and open a new drawing.

Launch Autodesk AutoCAD®. You will be prompted to confirm loading Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD. Make sure to press Always Load to skip this dialog in the future.

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If properly installed the Rhino.Inside toolbar should show up in AutoCAD:

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Basic use of Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD

To get started let’s create a some geometry in Rhino/Grasshopper then bake it directly into AutoCAD.

Open a new drawing in AutoCAD.

Open Rhino inside AutoCAD using thru the toolbar:

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Draw a curve in Rhino in positive XY quadrant:

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Start Grasshopper within Rhino:

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Create a Grasshopper definition that includes:

  • Curve Param
  • Number Slider for Count
  • Divide Curve
  • Circle Component
  • Number Slider for Radius

Set the values to match the image below:

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Within AutoCAD zoom into the area close to the origin to see the live preview in AutoCAD.

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Changing the values in Grasshopper will also be reflected in AutoCAD.

Bake Curves into AutoCAD

At this point the curves are simply previewing in AutoCAD. To get the curves saved into AutoCAD they must be transferred into AutoCAD thru a Bake Component.

First convert the Grasshopper Curves to AutoCAD curves using the To AutoCAD Curve in the Convert Toolbar in the AutoCAD toolbar in Grasshopper.

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Then use the Bake to AutoCAD component:

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Resulting in this definition:

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That is the basic way to get Rhino geometry into AutoCAD using Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD.

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Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD Work in Progress
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@scottd

Thank you for posting the guide. I’ve been trying out Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD and wanted to share something I noticed in my environment.

At first, the AutoCAD-related components were not appearing in Grasshopper, and the load failed. After investigating, it seems that having the Fennec plugin installed prevents Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD from loading correctly.

When I temporarily uninstalled Fennec, the AutoCAD components appeared normally, and I confirmed it works as described in the guide.

I am not sure if this is an issue specific to my environment or a general conflict, but I’m reporting this in the hope that it might be helpful to others who face the same symptom.

Thank you!

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I’m curious to know what the use-cases of this technology are. The biggest use case would be access to grasshopper and grasshopper player in AutoCAD.

Since Rhino already allows for .dwg imports and exports, what is the reason that a studio should invest in Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD for documentation instead of using Rhino’s built in documentation tools - print widths, linetypes, etc ?

I understand that if a studio already has their autocad CTBs and dynamic blocks set up, there is much more inertia in switching to a Rhino workflow, so I can see this being useful in such a scenario.

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Is this in Autocad 2024 or 2025/26?

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I have been able to reproduce this and fix it in the next release V1.0.10 :slight_smile:

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Thanks!
I tested it in AutoCAD 2025 and 2026. I haven’t tried 2024.

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Thank you for the incredibly fast fix. I look forward to the next release!!

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Part of announcing this project so early in its developments is to discover what workflows might be possible.

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There are many; it brings the power of Grasshopper to AutoCAD, unlocking computational design workflows that were not possible until now. It can also be used to automate production workflows using the intuitiveness of Grasshoppers visual programming capabilities; think automated drawing and layout production, embellishments, dimensioning, tagging, etc.

We’re also exposing data storage and management capabilities in forthcoming releases, enabling users to turn AutoCAD into a BIM authoring tool that has the potential to sync with Revit. Previously, AutoCAD users would need to either program plug-ins using C# or know how to script using AutoLISP.

Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD lowers the barrier to entry significantly and unlocks entirely new workflows ranging from computational design to workflow production procedures directly inside AutoCAD.

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Hi @thomas7 ,

I think what Kyuubimode tried to say that: functionalities you mentioned already exists in Rhino, without the need to use AutoCAD:

Rhino-Grasshopper combo can automate creation of both production drawings in Model and Layout views. Including required dimensions, tags…
And then export them to required PDF/DWG/DXF file formats… Rhino can even export production 3D models to STP file, which AutoCAD can not.

Below shown example uses just Grasshopper to automate glass production drawings. This was 5 years ago, with Rhino 7:

Youtube has few of such examples, with Rhino-Grasshopper combo used to automate production drawings and workflows, also with newer Rhino versions.

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You fundamentally haven’t recognized the potential of Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD. AutoCAD has dynamic blocks, and Grasshopper can drive the parameters of those dynamic blocks. Dynamic blocks are also self-contained and independent, enabling functionality similar to Revit families—something Rhino itself can’t achieve.

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Hi @thomas7, @Tom_Norris

Dynamic block control is the thing that excites me the most. However, after a bit of looking into it, I realized that it hasn’t been added in depth yet.

If I had to give a simple example, I think it would be a big step forward if we could access and manipulate the placement point (plane) and parameters of the dynamic block (like the Distance1 parameter for the stretch action in the example).

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This is very easy to implement—I’ve already achieved it through scripting

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If you’re talking about writing code (C#, pyhton etc.) unfortunately that’s not what I’m looking for.

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It’s a script, but it’s a script inside Grasshopper—run through wiring just like other Grasshopper components. You can even use sliders to drive real-time changes in the dynamic block. I’ll demonstrate it to you later.

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Hi @hesro, as you have noticed, we were missing the dynamic properties on the block reference component. This has now been added to the next release (V1.0.11). Once installed, it should unlock this exact behaviour seen in your screenshot, where you can drive dynamic properties via Grasshopper, I will make sure to include a graph diagram in the Release notes as an example.

Edit: I also think your idea to be able to drive the Position, Rotation and Scale of block references is a good one, which we can add to the road map.

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Is this what you mean?

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Here’s my code. I’m not a programmer—I completed it with the help of AI. I hope it’s useful to you.

Grasshopper Script Instance.txt (6.7 KB)

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@Tom_Norris I’m looking forward to the updates.

@Pan_Cheng Thank you for the post. I’ll check it out when I have time. Is it possible to control other parameters as well, such as visibility state, rotation …

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@hesro I’m not a professional—what I mean is that this project has limitless potential. Let’s look forward to the official updates together.