# Section Tools for Architects

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183>\
**Category:** Rhino for Mac\
**Created:** [February 9, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183 "2017-02-09T16:53:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kevin\_Baxter](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/kevin_baxter/32/642199_2.png) [@Kevin\_Baxter](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Kevin_Baxter)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183/1 "2017-02-09T16:53:02Z")

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One essential tool for designing and representing a building design is the ability to cut live sections thru the model (Sketchup does this very well) - is there a tool in the works that will do this?

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**Author:** ![anon55473861](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anon55473861](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/anon55473861)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183/2 "2017-02-09T17:50:45Z")

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i guess you are talking about the plug in Skalp for Sketchup? i am not sure if you get such a plug in for Rhino at least i have not seen one yet, but with a little trick and not much effort you could quickly achieve something similar easy.

first create a clipping plane which functions as the visual part of this, then you create a surface matching the corners of the clipping plane, uncheck isocurves on it for a better visibility and use `SetObjectDisplayMode` setting it to wireframe. then group both together you now have a tool which actually does the same as your plugin and simply use the command `Intersect` on this grouped tool with any of your objects. it will not offer any fancy immediate hatches but if you want such a complete package and one can script a little python i am sure you can do that pretty fast or maybe even with a macro.

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**Author:** ![msmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/msmr/32/502914_2.png) [@msmr](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/msmr)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183/3 "2017-02-09T18:37:59Z")

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There’s VisualArq ([http://www.visualarq.com](http://www.visualarq.com)), which is actually available just for PC Rhino as a plugin.

Even here ([VisualARQ on Rhino Mac? When?](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/visualarq-on-rhino-mac-when/30654/3)) is no time mentioned when this could be migrated to OS X.

But I’d be also interested, as some others might, too.

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**Author:** ![Kevin\_Baxter](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/kevin_baxter/32/642199_2.png) [@Kevin\_Baxter](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Kevin_Baxter)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183/4 "2017-02-09T19:05:02Z")

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Yes thank you - this is very helpful.

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**Author:** ![Vanessa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/vanessa/32/673342_2.png) [@Vanessa](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Vanessa)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183/5 "2017-02-09T21:44:16Z")

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@Kevin_Baxter Maybe this can help as well, [https://wiki.mcneel.com/labs/sectiontools?s[]=section&s[]=labs](https://wiki.mcneel.com/labs/sectiontools?s%5B%5D=section&s%5B%5D=labs)? Again, it’s also only available for the Windows version.

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**Author:** ![Kevin\_Baxter](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/kevin_baxter/32/642199_2.png) [@Kevin\_Baxter](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Kevin_Baxter)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/section-tools-for-architects/41183/10 "2017-02-09T21:58:46Z")

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Thanks - I’ve seen this before and would be a great tool for Architects - hopefully it will be MAC compatible soon…