I would argue that 2D drafting that would be a massive job no matter the CAD tool. Can you give us an example?
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Our drawings are mostly for the construction team.
In this particular case, the layout of elements is done in a schematic way, as the project lends itself to it.
As I said, we are lucky that our sub-contractors do the workshop drawings in-house.
They open our STEP files with Inventor, and use the drafting module.
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As we are finding all along this thread there are multiple approaches that work.
The creation of great looking assembly style drawings like @osuire shows. Is a step that seems common in these completed shaped projects that demand digital fabrication.
Here is the approach where the detailed shop drawings continued down thru with rhino: Morpheus Hotel webinar video now available
Or there is also Radius Track that does the assembly drawings similar, then goes directly to bending Gcode right out of Rhino: https://www.radiustrack.com/develop-solution
A proper drafting tool is always needed at one point or another, even if you’re heavy on direct fabrication data through Grasshopper as we do routinely.
The Morpheus Hotel link does not work here for some reason.
I’m really curious how one can produce shop drawings efficiently with Rhino, other than something rather simple that you can automate through GH…
Again here, without GH, Rhino would really show it’s age.
Looks like the links are back up now. Update: Looks like the wiki is running now. We will keep an eye on it…
In the Morpheus case the shop drawings were simple. There were just more the 11,000 drawings that needed to be made of the 1.6 million parts including every panel, bend and bracket. Along with some assembly drawings on how the parts fit together.
We are also excited that Grasshopper is part of Rhino, I agree with your that it adds a lot to what everyone can do with it.
The Morpheus Hotel video is at The Morpheus Hotel: From Design to Production: Live Webinar on Vimeo
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Well that’s some serious beating around the bush ; you are Kellyanne Conwaying here…
Please tell me frankly : “Why can’t we get in Rhino the same drafting tools which have been ubiquitous and are much appreciated in almost all the other CAD programs ?”
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Hi Scott,
I am testing SectionTools for drafting structural layout of yachts.
I need to generate layouts with Views and Sections dynamically synced to the model.
SectionTools is not straightforward as I am used to with Microstation but can do the job.
What I would ask to be improved in SectionTools, is:
- to be able to move Grip point of Sections 2D layout once placed.
- Have more control on Grip point adding to actual Min/Center/Max a Zero Option which equal X / Y / Z axis, as shown on attached screenshot.
Hoping this is clear enough, Thanks!
I thought so…
No answer, as always. This is the “taboo” subject.
Well, since there’s already a NURBS plugin for this NURBS software, I wish there was a a drafting plugin too, because nothing serious is ever going to happen in this area.
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Behind the marketing hype XNURBS is a specialized surface creation plug-in, essentially an alternative to the Patch command with significantly enhanced capabilities. It does not have general NURBS capabilities. An equivalent to XNURBS in 2D drafting might be a clipping plane plug-in with enhanced capabilites, not a general purpose 2d drafting plug-in.
All it would take is a knowledgable individual with sufficient access to the necessary resources. No connection to McNeel required.
I know. It is still quite embarassing that an extra plugin has to be purchased to do patch surfaces properly.
I think that it would rather take an individual willing to licence D-Cube’s tech, make it into a Rhino plug-in and sell it with a profit margin.
Or maybe the guys at FreeCad would take pity and do one for free… dunno ; I just hate how the McNeelians play dumb each time this subject comes up.
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Here are some specific options that I think are a must for rhino:
- Sections with hatches that update — but please let us control the line thickness of the hatches separately from the cutting line or the object boundary line otherwise it is useless
- "Pens" as an attribute for objects (also blocks and groups) — like classes or something like that in order to get that interlayer controllability when making docs
- Simple hatch maker for insulation and all the common materials because hatches are one of the reasons we do CAD
- Easier scale control in the layout (Scale of the object in relation to the page and also scale control of text/annotations. If you draw in TOP-View and switch to layout it is always a mess with the scales)
- Smart annotations
- Transparencies
- Metadata readout option as a box option that is moveable in the layout like (wood 80x40, pine, factory cut or just numbers in general etc.)
Nice to have:
- Hatches when sections are in 3D or perspective view
- Multipagelayout and export
- BIM functions in general
- Direct text edit like InDesign
- A solid ‘block’ or ‘smart’ object workflow
-
Drawing on the grid no matter what
-
Nurbs sections as in: freeform sections—either from primitives or your new tools in Rhino 7; — actually like booleans as in difference, intersection or union just with hatches (if you combine that with a line drawing or transparencies you can show stuff that is important for 3D printing or complex details in architecture). how fun would that be to challenge the simple sections
- Easy smart naming of objects either via simple groups or layers or blocks or grasshopper
- Working with others on the same project — mouse parties
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Thank for all the suggestions. We will take a look at all of them. There are a couple here that can be tested today in Rhino 7:
Just for inspiration, here is the result of my custom section tool:
It asks you to draw a line in top view, select the objects to section and then:
- adds a clippingplane, sets cplane to clippingplane, sets up a floating view, sets the display mode, captures the view, inserts the image, sections the objects with a curve, extracts the clipping geometry from the clipping plane, turn those surfaces into hatches and reorients all the data to top view and closes the floating viewport.
All done in a few seconds.
After adding some details, texts and colors it quickly looks like this (not from same project though)
We needed a quick and reliable tool to make sections that also captured the background data in a quick manner that also didn’t occlude the section too much, so a custom display mode was used for that.
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If you could create the section tool that ArchiCAD implements, that would save me so much time that I would never consider using any other software again.
This is what I dream of: https://centralinnovation.com/technical-resources/tips-and-tricks/marked-distant-area-elevation-or-section/ or watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf5mlWuOO7A
Specifically, I’m talking about the faded background and the ability to draw staggered sections.
Right now, to achieve this, I place a clipping plane to section through my model looking the direction I desire, and then I create a vertical surface on its own layer which will be positioned beyond the clipping plane obscuring the contents of the background. Then, in the detail view in Layout, when active, I select that vertical surface and SetObjectDisplayMode to a custom display mode I’ve named ‘faded’, which has a transparency applied to it. Sometimes a single sectional elevation requires multiple vertical surfaces at various distances to achieve this ‘faded background’ approach, and then of course, I have to do this for every elevation, for example, for an entire floor of a home. This ultimately leaves me with a 3D model flooded with a bunch of vertical surfaces.
A section tool is a necessity for any industry - we beg you! Also, hatching clipped objects would be a game changer, I swear! The modeling side of Rhino is tip-top, I have no complaints, only complete gratitude for creating something so efficient and intuitive.
One other wish is: custom shapes for detail viewports.
Please answer the initial post for this thread and tell us what else we can expect in Rhino 7 in regard to drafting/layout, or just tell us to stop dreaming and instead insist we purchase and solely rely on VisualARQ. Thank you!
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We love the dreaming. There is a lot of good material here in this thread from multiple people.
We do not answer questions about future development, because that is about features we do not have yet. Everyone that has 6 has access to what we are currently working on, so what you have what we have, that has always been central to our process.
As to what is in Rhino 7 might be better answered by asking Is anything in Rhino 7 right now that helps your workflow? I know everyone always wants more and of course we all can talk about what it does not have and want we want next, but is 7 helpful now?
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Well, I still didn’t test it, but the TextField video example does look promising, the more properties/commands we can get the better.
Also, LayerBook can kinda help if we could attach an Detail to a LayerBook state, that way it would be easier to detail assemblies, because we could use the layer composition to select the object in question and prevent the detail from zooming out and having too much information at once in the paper.
I can answer that by saying… right now I am not inclined to use Rhino 7. I love the new feature, SubD - I will certainly make use of that at some point, but for me, it isn’t essential to my everyday workflow. Again, personally, I am not limited by Rhino’s modelling abilities, but obviously this isn’t about me and I understand McNeel’s focus is just that, accurate and efficient 3D modelling.
But, other than SubD, the only thing that truly excites me is the ‘Layout Panel’ feature. You’re probably thinking, ‘this guy has no idea what he’s missing out on’, but the truth is, I can’t fault the design process Rhino enables me. The only thing slowing me down is the process of documenting. I use Rhino 10-12 hours per day for my job and if I could contain my workflow to just Rhino as a result of the implementation of the couple, simple features I dream of, then I would support you until the end of time!
I hope that’s helpful
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Super helpful, that is why we ask.
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