I’ve been having trouble setting up some bitmap reference images for a vehicle tutorial I’m trying to follow (trying to really take the time to learn Rhino thoroughly by doing something a little challenging, for me anyway). I’ve managed to do the top and right view but when it comes to doing the front and back I can’t seem to show both on their respective viewports as when I add one it “overlaps” the other. I seem to have gotten round the problem by using the: “named views” panel.
My bitmaps were saved on a dedicated layer but they don’t all disappear when I turn the layer off.
Also my curves seem to disappear in certain views (in my case they don’t display in the right and top view ports but are visible in the other view ports.
Maybe it’s just me as I’m still a noob or a bug. I know the software is still in development for OS X so there are issues to be resolved but I thought I should ask on here to see if anyone has similar issues or a work around.
On this issue, you probably only think you have them all on the same layer. I know that I frequently inadvertently put things on a layer different than I want to. The diagnostic technique is just to turn the layers on one at a time to discover where they really are. Then select what you want to move and use the layer manager tool to move the selection to the layer where it really belongs. After a few weeks or a month of this you will start to realize what you’re doing to cause it and the problem will eventually go away.
There are actually two ways of getting an image into Rhino for tracing or reference: BackgroundBitmap and PictureFrame.
I am assuming you are using background bitmap because that’s the way you described it, but it’s not 100% clear.
BackgroundBitmaps are associated with a viewPORT. They are only visible in the viewport where they are set, no matter what view is showing in that viewport. (there is a difference between views and viewports). Background bitmaps are not associated with a layer, you cannot turn them off by turning off a layer, only with the BackgroundBitmap command itself.
PictureFrame objects are actually an image attached to a plane surface. They are real Rhino objects and are associated with a layer (can be turned on and off with layer visibility). On the other hand, they are not associated with a view or viewport, they will be visible in all views - the only way to turn them on and off in model views is to show/hide them or turn the layer on or off.
For your purposes either one will work, but for only one background bitmap to be visible between Front and Back views, you will need to have those two views in two different viewports. Otherwise, use PictureFrames (preferred), and control their visibility by layer…
Thank you for clearing that up Mitch. I didn’t know there were two distinct ways of doing it. Trying to do these things without sleep and not finishing the process in one go was my downfall.
