I'm curious if anyone uses rhino for graphic design?

since discovering rhino can export AI files I’ve found myself doing most of my graphics work in rhino as illustrators curves tools are terrible and clunky and I can build vector shapes lightning fast in comparison and bringing everything into illustrator for fills and effects. Also the fact illustrator has no auto save despite graphic designers request for several years to implement it, plus it constantly crashes (CS6). I just wanted to point out how awesome Rhino is when it comes to being able to design for different purposes with ease and the ability to export data, whether it be converting to meshes to import into packages like maya or lightwave for visual design, or solidworks for manufacturing etc. After using so many different types of software over the years, in my opinion I found Rhino to be the most versatile tool and the perfect go between when needing to get things done quickly. Just wanted to say thanks to the Mcneel team for their efforts :slight_smile:

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whatever works for you is the best way to go. i personally hate illustrator and the rest of the adobe software. there is just something about all of it that i just find unintuitive and commands are overly complicated. while i love rhino i dont think i would use it for my graphics design. i personally use CorelDraw. so much faster than AI and their commands and tools seem very natural to me and makes sense. rhino would just take me too long.

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I’m with you. I used Rhino to design this logo and graphic/font branding. I don’t use illustrator all that often and I find it a struggle to remember the commands. I can’t imagine illustrator being faster or doing a better job. At least for me,

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I have been a long time PS user for jewellery design. Since starting Rhino I find the combination of the two is really good.

Sometimes editing a design in Rhino is really easy, other times taking a photo of my rhino model and editing it in Photoshop is quicker to show the customer variations. I use what ever works best, would hate to be without PS but would rather work in Rhino.

My main complaint with using PS now is my muscle memory from Rhino. Don`t know how many times I have tried to move a photoshop screen like Perspective view or tried to zoom in or around a photoshop screen like I do in Rhino.

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vector control on rhino is much easier than illustrator. ive taught graphic designers rhino and they also comment its much easier to control vectors. CC 2015 has autosave now. Also tracing using pictureframe command is a brilliant way vectorise stuff.

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appreciate the comments, I dont want to put PS in the same category as AI though, PS is one of my favorite programs to work in lol I just see tutorials of people showing techniques in illustrator and I’m scratching my head thinking “well heck? rhino can do that but a lot faster…” I guess the only thing I haven’t figured out yet is to be able to tell rhino to specify compound paths before exporting. Well anyways, I was just curious if anyone else is using it for that purpose or I’m strange for finding it enjoyable to use a CAD program for menu layouts and graphics lol

Exactly, for me Rhino feels more like PS then illustrator which is weird because its not vector, PS has pretty much the same layer system whereas AI’s layers are clunky ( still haven’t figured out how to select multiple layers) lol so I just do the effects I need and get out of AI as quickly as possible. Rhino’s picture frame tool is fantastic for setting up graphic layouts that can be quickly edited if changes are needed on the fly. I like to take chunks of workflows from different software to piece together for graphics, I’ll use Maya’s particle system for effects that can be seperated into layers to composite with cad models for product shots like if I wanted water splashing around a shampoo bottle etc.

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I use Rhino for all types of graphics. From business cards to large presentation boards. I find Rhino’s workflow superior to Illustrator’s. The big downside of using Rhino is the quality of the tiny splines and arcs (and hatches too) when printed so for small size graphics I end up in AI adding final touches.

ah you mean printing directly from rhino? yeah My workflow is Rhino to AI/PS and final layout using indesign for print. I guess since Rhino isnt a print graphics program you still need to rely on Adobe.

You’d be surprised what Rhino can do in talented hands :wink:
Check this out
http://discourse.mcneel.com/t/what-cant-you-do-in-rhino-but-can-in-autocad/31470/17?u=piotr

WHAT?? I wonder how they got such clean lines from rhino? I haven’t actually rendered anything in rhino so i guess it has antialiasing? amazing

I find your lack of knowledge about Rhino disturbing :grinning:

HAHA yeah I run to keyshot lol well I’ll definitely have to check that out as I also didn’t know there was a color selection filter…:open_mouth:

That’s a BASIC stuff I use hundreds time in a day.

You mean the color selection filter? I use layers and groups most of the time and seems to do the job :wink: but as I’ve stated before I haven’t dived into to the rendering tools so you gave me another excuse to stay within rhino lol

If only Rhino would support blend modes and transparency… I like to dream ; )

HAHA yep thats the only reason i find the need to enter the AI realm…lol

Re transparency I find what Rhino offers fine for me but my requirements are quite low. It preserves transparency in the picture frame and if needed I can adjust the transparency of the graphic in the properties panel.

yes, thats what I do with a background plate so I can preserve the correct size when importing into AI, its difficult to see what color schemes work best without having fill and gradient tools though.

On my forum, which makes paper models, mixed media models, and everything is free, I find Rhino is excellent for cutting up"PictureFrame" pics and using what you need to add the part , such as making a flat surface look like a mag wheel. For those who actually wish a “real” modeled Mag Wheel, by using the texture commands, it becomes easy to approach this, and end up with really beautiful model, all done in Rhino. Like the one below, which had some CorelDraw, but was essentially a Rhino Project.

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