Has anyone discovered good workflows for architectural projects in Rhino?

[TheCyclist]

I’m trying to develop a good workflow in Rhino where I can model the ‘bones’ of a house and then use the Section or ClippingPlane command to begin extracting 2D information from the model so that I can go in and add detail in 2D. Yes, this is super similar to how Revit is used. I want to avoid having to use the Make2D command too often or have 2D drawings that are entirely independent of the 3D geometry (like how an AutoCAD workflow would be).

So far, a workflow I think could work would be…

1. Model bones of the house to a varying degree of detail as needed.
2. Create clipping planes that are placed in the areas you wish to create drawings (floor plan, elevations, section, etc.)
3. Set Clipping Planes such that they are only active in the Details that feature the drawing you wish to create from the Clipping Plane. Clipping Planes can also be on their own layer so they can be turned off.
4. Use HideInDetail to clean up details to not show unnecessary 3D elements or 2D lines from other parts of the model.
5. Working within the detail, add 2D detail to the drawings as needed. It would be nice if the CPlane could auto-orient to the clipping plane so that as you add 2D lines, they are drawn on the same plane as the clip. Maybe this can be achieved with the Auto-orient Cplane in R8?
6. You can edit the 3D elements of the model, and you should see them update in the detail view if they haven’t been hidden. Another option would be to make all the 2D line views their own block, and a second block could be located away from the 3D geometry that could then be featured in the Detail. Can a block have it’s own CPlane that would be active when editing it?

My disclaimer is that I haven’t really tried this yet on a sizeable residential project, but it seems like a good start toward integrating 3D modeling and 2D drafting within Rhino. Perhaps there is a much, much better way that I don’t know about though. I’d love to get some thoughts.

[Clayton_Muhleman]

Hi @TheCyclist. Yes, definitely, there are viable workflows for using Rhino as a comprehensive BIM platform (3D to 2D drawing set) for custom homes. I’d point you towards the VisualArq plugin first, since it addresses many of the points you brought up already.

[gabriel.schugut]

Hi there!

I’m in a similar situation…
So far, in R8 I’ve done something like this:
-Initial 2d sketches in separate storey-blocks laid out besides each other (only 5-7 2D-layers for different annotations, linetypes, aka visible lines, cut, projected…)
-build 3d from linework inside each block. take only most necessary building parts at first (roof, structure, facade, furniture…)
-stack all floor plan blocks together, until 3d is assembled (now you can edit either in stacked block assembly or individual blocks on the side)
-take clipping sections and generate 2D drawings on layouts from the stacked block assembly (all on a clipping layer, activate specific clipping for specific layout detail).
-adjust clipping styles with hatches etc. for specific building parts like roof, structure etc…
-adjust viewmodes for printing (adapting shader, shadows etc…)
-print to scale

-finetune and repeat with finer grain material sublayers under the building component layer (brick gets different section style than concrete, which are both sublayers in structure…). annotations can be turned on in 3d space.

-for all details smaller than 1:50 scale I extract lines from the model and draw them up in 2d, sometimes 3D them directly

DRAWBACKS:
-no vectorized output (graphically bad for competition plans, for any collaborator who wants to extract lines from pdf)!!!
-buggy representation (layout detail doesn’t display properly, but prints pdf right)!!!
-clunky preformance with more complex viewing modes (rhino sometimes shuts down completely when entering the printing menu)!!!

unfortunately, blocks and clipping sections have not yet had a good synchronization imho, so the layout details are not to be trusted graphically-> always print first to check.

I’ve tried making the “createClippingDrawing” and place it somewhere else on the sheet to get vectorized 2D linework, but again… blocks and clipping sections are at odds at the moment.

My layer setup goes something like this:

DEFAULT
DRAFTING
-thin
-thick
-medium
-projected
-hidden
-axes
-text
-annotation
3D
-ROOF
-shingles
-battens
…
-STRUCTURE
-brick
-concrete
-wood
-…
-FACADE
-glass
-metal(for window frames)
-brick(exposed)
-…
-FITOUT(drywall, floorings, finnishes)
-gypsum drywall
-parquet
-tiles 1
-…
-FURNITURE
-generic (white)
-wood
-fabric
-brass
-…

I might sometimes just change the object material to get the desired output, if the material is not used too often.

Overall i feel like the results I am starting to get with this are about at 80% of where I’d like them to be, but the raster output on final plans bothers me a lot(!).

Let me know if you have figured out something better

[Karim_tabbara]

Hy Gabriel Schugut & TheCyclist
would you be kind enough to show me or share your 3d model ?
I guess your workflow is completed in Rhino with no use of any external cad software?
I switched from sketchup to Rhino a year ago but still dont feeel completely confortable in Rhino.

Specially using Layers !

I’d love to have a chat on how your models are drawn, layers useds, blocks, …
I found e perfect method to place the model on pictures !! Would like to share with you to
Let me kow please I’ll monitor this thread

or contact me

[Karim_tabbara]

Can’t post my simple RI workflow for a tiny projects
60Mb (above 20…)
how can I check with boyh of you ?

[Karim_tabbara]

ndv_dp 001.pdf (2.4 MB)
so this is a usual RI file!
Is it out case to