Object Positioning

I am looking at Rhino because I am in search of a native Mac solution. Have been using Turbocad in emulation.

One of the most useful features of Turbocad is that each object has a reference point that that can be repositioned. Whenever you select an object, TC displays the X/Y/Z coordinates and the X/Y/Z rotation of the object using the reference point. Once can then reposition the object by entering an X/Y/Z position and a rotation.

Is there some equivalent to that in Rhino?

Yes, is called Gumball

Ah, not in the user’s guide.

Now, how do I do precise positioning? If, I more the Gumball to a a corner, how do I position the object to say (50, 25, 100) and rotated 45 degrees on the X axis?

Hi Jim,
Under the Transform menu, you will find the standard commands … Move, Copy, Scale, Rotate.

  1. With these commands, select an object or a set of objects.
  2. Next select the Base pt for the transformation. This is the point you move from, or the rotate or scale origin.
  3. Next you are asked for the “to point”, you and enter precise coordinates like described here. OR you can enter a rotation angle to rotate the object relative to, or a scale factor for the Scale command.

Here you can enter:

  • Absolute coordinate: 20,20,40
  • Relative rectangular coordinate: @20,20
  • Relative Polar: @20<45 (this is distance & the angle to move on the current clane.)

You can also use the gumball for a relative move, but you will be restricted to the directions of the gumball widget. It may take longer than using a relative polar coordinate.

This steps are the same you are Rhino for Mac or Rhino for Windows.
You will find these details in the Rhino Level 1 training guide.
Chapter 4 Page 49-55 & pages 106-112.
Osnaps are also important for precision.
There may be other ways, that are suggested from other user.

Let me know if this helps.
Sincerely,
Mary Ann Fugier