Rhino vs. Solidworks compare/contrast

Rhino Rhino for Windows
21

This is a little bit silly comparison, because the programs made for different purposes.

Some people here doesn’t like parametric modelling. But engineers love it. And engineers don’t want to create such penguins, maybe artists do want.

If I want to download a model from internet, there is no .3dm. Never.
There are .step and .igs always, and then SolidWorks, and Solid Edge and AutoCAD and Catia … so on… I don’t list all, but never Rhino. Negative for Rhino.
Engineers don’t use Rhino.

And this is sad, because I’m engineer and I love Rhino, one of the most genius 3D proggy of all. And this is true at SolidWorks as well.
Rhino is strong in everything, intuitive and very easy to learn. Most probably Rhino has the best training videos, you can be a real Rhino Master if you have time and patience to watch all.

SolidWorks can’t made everything, no penguins, but if you wanna make a mechanical part, if you know exactly what do you want to model, with measurements, and then you are going to manufacture it with your home CNC milling machine, SolidWorks is unbeatable. Its another genius program in a different way.
It has dozens of tutorial videos as well as Rhino.

Silly comparison, no winner, it depends what do you want to create.

Unfortunately these programs usually don’t eat each others file type. This is sad, because if they could, then you could keep them next to each other in the piggery, like the good master.
This is not the case, so you are forced to select between these programs at the start.

Sach said that, he used Rhino->SW/Pro/E workflow, I have no idea how, its not impossible but not so easy at all, if you wanna keep the original layers.
Theoretically Rhino is able to load .sldasm, .sldprt, but its usually not working, probably version mismatch, I got Rhino5 and SolidWorks2015 . SolidWorks is able to load .3dm, but its not working neither, simply it fails, never worked.

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Great comments.

Rhino will load SolidWORKS files just fine --IF-- the other person knows what they are doing. (It’s MUCH better lately, so you might be thinking of prior versions which did the import pretty poorly.)

More often than not, vendors & freelancers send me SolidWORKS assembly files and forget the part files. That’s why you get empty files. This is after we specifically tell them that their file structure uses separate and inter-dependent external files, “so make sure you send us all of it.” We still get empty or partial files and have to repeat the process another time or two… but it should work.

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Continuing the discussion from Rhino vs. Solidworks compare/contrast:

Well…maybe I donno. I just push load then I select the .sldasm, or .sldprt file. Sometimes its working with downloaded SW files. But never with my own created SW2015 files.

No, nothing missing, its not the case. I have just saved the files in SolidWorks, and it can reload everything, anytime. The files are not damaged.

When I try to load (open file) it in Rhino, I get no error message. Simply nothing happens, the load command returns with an empty work area. I can’t find any model by zooming out. If I load the same model with “import”, then I get a short error message : “import failed” . Thats all. Rhino is not a babbler tabby, thats a fact.

I’m suspecting SolidWorks file version strategy. They modify the file format with every SolidWorks version 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 …all different. But I’m not sure.

If you have any idea, if you have any advice at importing to and from Rhino, I would be sooo happy and beholden to you.

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Do you have a .sldprt file you can upload. It might help getting the translator updated and I’d be interested to try loading into some other software as well.

Thanks Mark.

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Rhino 5 will not import SW 2015 or later files, only 2014 or earlier. The Rhino WIP should import SW 2015 files.

–Mitch

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What Mitch says…

@margaret, perhaps the help file should inform the user of this?
@lowell, can you make sure that in RH6, there is feedback about the cause of failure if Rhino is fed a 2016 version?

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Awww. Thank you. Now I understand the reason.
What is Rhino WIP ?

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The Work In Progress version of Rhino V6… --Mitch

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Thx, I feel a little stupid now.

And what about SW2016 ?
Its been released already.

If the next Rhino understands SW2015 only, there will be a year leeway again, same situation → Rhino can’t load SW2016 .
.

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Yep. most likely. That’s just how it works.

31

I am aware of some of the features of Solid Works for modifying an existing design. I should think that at times Solid Works would be easier for modifying objects. Though, I seem to do more devising/inventing with Rhino than anything else. I found that many times, I don’t tweak my designs rather than make generational changes. I often look at what I have made, and figure out a better way to make it.

Often, I am not resizing parts, where I need the bolt spread the remain constant from an edge, inasmuch as changing the whole part, where some of the modification advantages of Solid Works are negated.

Thinking about it, I find Rhino3D fast enough that I usually don’t need to sketch what I want before I draw it.

Also, I do some sheet metal in Rhino3D, and I might post an idea that might make it a little better.

32

After reading and considering some of the detailed comparisons, etc., already presented, one could consider this analogy:

1.You need to insert both a nail and screw into a block of wood.

2.The tools at your disposal are both a hammer and a screw driver.

To insert the screw you could:

a) use the screwdriver
b) hammer the screw
c) bang in the screw with butt end of the screw driver

To insert the nail you could:

a) hammer the nail
b) bang in the nail with butt end of the screw driver
c) scratch a slot into the nail and use the screwdriver head (maybe)

Question: Which is the ‘better’ tool (for any job)?

Answer: Depends!

(finesse vs power vs logic)

1 Like
33

No one mentioned Grasshopper in this whole Solid vs Rhino debate??

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Or the options to macro , script and program for Rhino. Something (afaik) is virtually non existing in SW . Correct me if I’m wrong.

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I have heard from SW users that SW does not import meshes which limits it. Anyone confirm?

36

You are wrong.
Menu → Tools → Macro → …

1 Like
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I love the heck out of Grasshopper but IMO it is NOT a substitute for a parametric modeling interface with sketches/constraints. Grasshopper can do quite a bit for making things parametric to some degree in Rhino, but it is still a programming interface and not a graphic modeling interface.

–Mitch

38

Correct

Until one programs GH. Thereafter it can be a graphical powerhouse.

Extreme example:

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It’s still programming and you need to have knowledge of programming. Not the case for putting parametric constraints on a sketch model.

–Mitch

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agreed! (though graphical programming)