Final model

STEP 1

First things first. Make sure you got your Snap option turned on in the status bar, and your OSnap enabled with some of the most commonly used options like End, Near, Point, Mid and Int.

We’ll start creating this little shovel from top viewport, like we would start tracing an image of some existing shovel imported in Rhinoceros.

With Curve command, create a curve in Top viewport which has its control points exactly like on the image below. This is why Snap (to grid) is handy tool to use here.

Image 1

Then we need another copy of this curve, and for that we will use Mirror command and mirror it across x axis.After that, use Join command to join two curves.

Then we can either use Line command to close these two curves into one closed polyline/polycurve, or use Close command which will do the same thing with less clicks.

Image 2

Now, using Rectangle command we will create a rectangle like on the image below: do not worry about the dimensions, just count the grid boxes and you’ll be fine. I’ve got some dimensions for you in case you get lost

Image 3

With Trim command, we will trim the parts of the two closed polylines which will help us join all curves into one closed:

Image 4

Next thing would be to make the corners smoother. They aren’t normally that sharp, are they? So, using Fillet command we need to fillet the upper and lower corners with 1 unit, and the inner ones with 2 units, and the tip of the shovel with 0.4 units:

Image 5

Now, before we go any further, it is good to check if all these lines and curves are joined all together. Just click anywhere on the line, and if everything is ok then it will be yellow as selected. One more thing to check is if this IS really closed curve with SelClosedCrv command which will select all closed curves.

Next thing we need is a basic shape of our shovel. Since it is curved in two sides, the best basic shape would be an ellipsoid. Using Ellipsoid command create one positioned just like on the image below:

Image 6

Ok, now we will Cut the Ellipsoid with the closed curve we created. From Top viewport, we need to select both Ellipsoid and closed curve, and run Project command. It is important to do this in Front viewport because the viewport is controlling the direction of the projection.

Image 7

Now we got two projected curves. One on the top and one on the bottom of ellipsoid. We don’t need the upper one, and we can delete it by selecting it and hitting Delete key on keyboard.

Using Split command, we will first select the object we want to cut which is in this case ellipsoid, and then the curve which is the object we wish to split with:

Image 8

Now we have finally created something that is actually resembling our shovel. This is one thin surface, and we need some thickness. Using OffsetSrf command we will first offset the surface and create one on top with distance of 0.3 units: (when you start the command, it will display white arrows on your surface, those are normals, and are used to see in which direction the offset will occur. Chances are your arrows point towards bottom, click on the surface and the arrows will change direction)

Image 9

We now have two flat surfaces and we need to connect them somehow. We’ll do that with BlendSrf command which will basically create nice blend surface between two surfaces: (Use AutoConnect option in command line)

Image 10

With Join command join the blend surface with two flat surfaces. You will notice on the part where would handle start there is some weird hole. Never mind that, that part will soon disappear.

Again, we need to create another Ellipsoid. Using Ellipsoid command create one like on the image below. Again, the positioning and size is crucial here.

Image 11

Hint: When you start Ellipsoid command, just follow these steps. Input “10, -3.75″ (that will set the center in the right position), press enter while active Front viewport (click anywhere in the viewport), “6, -3.75″ (that will set one dimension of the ellipsoid – length), press enter while still in Front viewport, “10, -2.25″, press enter while in Front viewport, “10,-1.5″ press enter Top viewport is active. Do not input apostrophe signs.

Using ExtractIsoCurve command, create a extract isocurve from the middle of ellipsoid. You need to hit the Quad point to make sure the circle is in ellipsoid’s center.

Image 12

Using ExtrudeCrv command we will create a cylinder out of this circle. So, start the command, select the circle, make sure the Cap option is set to Yes, and input 15 units in command line as extrusion distance.

Image 13

With BooleanUnion command connect ellipsoid with cylinder:

Image 14

Again, with BooleanUnion command we need to connect the plate and handle part:

Image 15

If you are getting something like on the image below….

Image 16

… then you need to use Dir command on the plate before you use BooleanUnion. Because the normals are pointing towards the inside, while they should point towards outside.

This next part will be a bit tricky, so pay attention. We need to create a variable fillet on the edges that connect the handle part and the shovel plate. The biggest radius will be 1 unit, while all others will be 0.8 units.

So, start FilletEdge command, and set 0.08 as default radius. Select the edges:

Image 17

… press enter, and click on AddHandle option in command line. Add 7 more handles like on the image below:

Image 18

The two big ones show be set to 1 unit, and you do that by clicking on the outer dot (center of an arc) and inputing the values.

Image 19

Final rendered model of our windup clock

When approaching modeling this clock, and any other model, I first try to divide it into parts. Obviously every product has its parts, and naturally you would go model one by one. This is that kind of model where your don’t have to think about which part to model first. This is obvious, first you need a clock body, then you can go about modeling which ever part. Here I first created the body, then the back plate with screws, then the front plate without numbers, bells and hammer, legs, and then in the end made the numbers and handles for the front plate.

STEP 1

Ok, in this step we will be creating the body. Since I lost every clock I had like this, I had to model it from reference images from the internet. So, we don’t have the measures, or technical drawings, but we need to model by eye, looking at the various images and approximate the lengths, distances and so on.

I created a template for my default usage with grid extents set to 10. So, make sure you do the same with Snap command, and clicking on the Extents options and input 10.

Now, we can start modeling. Since we don’t know what the accurate dimensions are, we will need to use our old method of trial and error. We will first create three straight lines with Polyline or Line command.

img1

Next thing would be to connect these lines with curves, and that we will do with BlendCrv command. Make sure you use G1 for both ends, so we get tangency.

img2

Using Join command make sure those lines are all joined together. So, next thing would be to create a surface out of this section curve, and we’ll do that with Revolve command. But, before that, we need to turn on the Record History option, so we can work on the surface by simply editing the curve.

img3

Now, if we select our initial curve, and using PointsOn command turn on the control points and if we move those points, we will automatically update the surface as well. If we used Record History that is.

img4

Ok, next thing would be to adjust the curves a bit so the surface is little more accurate. Try to make something like on the image below:

img5

Using OffsetSrf command, we need to offset this surface to inside by 0.3 units. So, make sure you flip the direction normals when in OffsetSrf command, so they point to inside.

img6

Then, simply, with BlendSrf command blend the gaps and Join the four surfaces.

img7

Set of various vases created with this definition

So the basics here are, you change the radii of the arcs, and that way you get different vase each time you move the slider. There are couple of problems in this, since I myself am still a beginner in this Grasshopper thing, I don’t know how to constrain sliders to dynamic variables, so you might change a lot, and then the model will break.

Grasshopper display

One more thing to notice here is that some of the sliders are “connected” to other sliders. For instance, the overall height of the vase isn’t adjustable, but the radius of the neck and neck height, plus radius of bottom base (Main radius) actually define overall height. Grasshopper is as flexible as that, it really gives you freedom when making connections between objects. It really is up to you and your imagination.

Vase definition

Before you go crazy thinking you need to recreate this definition in your Grasshopper, do not worry, here is the definition file. Notice, this definition was created using Grasshopper3D WIP version 0.6.0019 and uses some commands that aren’t available in previous versions.,

Hope you create some cool vases with this

You can find all the necessary info and rules on our contest page (http://www.rhino3dhelp.com/home-appliance-2050.html#page=info).

Final scene

Since it that time in the year again, some of you might find it useful to learn how to create few Christmas decorations for your tree visualisations

Introduction

Well, basically what we will do here is use solids for basic shapes and cut them how we like it.Simple, eh?

Step 1

In this step we will be creating the simplest decoration.

First Decoration

Go ahead, and create a sphere using Sphere command. Center it in the origin (0,0) and use 10 units as radius. To make this even simpler, you can set your Grid options like I have them. Just run Grid command, and where it says Extents click on it and input 10. That way you will have 10 units in your grid in every direction in the viewport which was active when you run the command. To apply this setting to all viewports, just use ApplyTo setting in Grid command. Click on it so it toggles from ActiveViewport to AllViewports. Now, simply using Snap option in your status bar we will start creating this Sphere.

Image 1

Once you got your Sphere, create another one, using 7 units as radius and position its center on 8,0. That is, 8 on the x axis, and 0 on the y axis.

Image 2

Now, using BooleanDifference make a hole in the bigger Sphere.

Image 3

We need to fillet the edges of this sphere. Using FilletEdge command fillet the edge with 0.2 as radius.

Image 4

Create a Circle from Top viewport with 5.5 as radius.

Image 5

We will Project this Circle onto the Sphere. We need to do this from Top viewport. So make sure it is active, and run the Project command to do the projection of the Circle on the Sphere. You will get 3 projected curves, and we only need the top one, so you can delete other two:

Image 6

Using Split or Trim command, we need to trim the upper part of the Sphere, with projected circle.

Image 7

Next thing we need is another Circle. This time create a Circle with 1.5 units as radius. Create it from top viewport in the origin (0,0). Then you will need to move it up (from either front or right viewport) with Move command by 17 units.

Image 8

Now, using ExtrudeCrv extrude this circle up by 1 unit. Make sure you don’t have Cap set to Yes, or BothSides set to Yes. Those two options need to be set to No.

Image 9

Ok, once you’ve done this, you need to make a surface with smooth transition from the sphere to the extruded circle. You will use BlendSrf command to do just that. As for the BlendSrf options, just leave it at default settings. Meaning AutoChain set to No, and for the Blend Bulge leave it as well at default settings, which are 1,1 and all other options unchecked.

Image 10

Next we will create a cap and a little wire to hang our decoration somewhere. So, using OffsetSrf offset the little cylinder surface outwards by 0.1 units.

Image 11

Now, using ExtendSrf command we will extend the upper edge of the offset surface up by 0.1

Image 12

Using Cap command we will close this surface into solid.

Image 13

Create another Circle, from Top viewport and use 0.5 units as radius. You should get your circle like on the image below:

Image 14

Now, using ExtrudeCrv command set the Cap setting to Yes, and extrude it up by 20 units, just so it goes through the cap:

Image 15

Using BooleanDifference command make a hole with this cylinder in the cap:

Image 16

Using FilletEdge fillet the edges of the tip with 0.1 as radius:

Image 17

Create another Circle with 2 units as radius, and position it like on the image below. Just make sure you create your circle from Front viewport. You can start Circle command, input in the command line when it asks you for the center 0,20 for the center, and then just 2 for the radius. You should get exactly the curve like on the image:

Image 18

We need a Curve starting from the circle. Using InterpCrv command we will create such curve from Front viewport: (you can start using OSnap if you haven’t already – Near would come in handy here)

Image 19

Using Mirror command we need to mirror this curve to the other side.

Image 20

Using Trim command we need to trim the Circle:

Image 21

I have almost perfectly hit the curve direction and smoothness and actually the curve is visually tangent to the circle. In reality that isn’t the case, so we need to fix it. We will match our curve onto the circle with Match command:

Image 22

Here you can see the black curve on the left, this is how the curve will be adjusted to match the tangency. So, now you see I didn’t actually hit the tangency manually. Do this same step for the right curve as well, and join all three into one:

Image 23

If necessary, using PointsOn you can change your curve a bit. But you will see if this is necessary after you make a surface. Using Pipe command we need to create a pipe surface. Use 0.2 as radius:

Image 24

Here you see this needs some adjustments. So, first, try moving it up a bit to see if this can fix it. If not, using PointsOn you will need to adjust the curve itself.

Image 25

For the purposes of this course, just moving this wire will do.

Introduction

Final rendered model

Ok, the above image shows what would your final model look like rendered.

So, how will we approach modeling this stool? You must be asking yourselves where should you start? Well, it doesn’t matter where you start. If you prefer tackling “harder” parts first, then it is your way of starting. However if you like to start with easier, more “solids” objects (like spheres, boxes, cylinders etc.) then you might want to start with the base and leg first. But I like to throw myself in a project head on first. So, I would go with the seat frame first then move to the wooden seat part, then go to the leg base, and then the leg.

So. lets start with the seat frame. How are we going to do that? Well, using Sweep1 command. For that we need one rail curve, and one section curve. What Sweep1 command does, it basically “drives” the section curve along the rail curve, and by that it makes a surface.

Lets start.

STEP 1

From your Right viewport, we will start creating straight lines. For that we will be using PolyLine command, and for extra help on creating we will turn on Snap and Ortho options from the Status bar of our Rhino window.

We need one PolyLine which will be made out of two lines:

Image 1

Ok, in the image above you can see our PolyLine. What I did is started from the Origin (the place where y-axis green line meets x-axis red line). So, we turned on the Snap option so we can easily snap to the origin. Starting our PolyLine from there, I then input in the command line the number which will be the length of the first part of our PolyLine. So, I typed in 2.7 and confirmed it with Enter key. After that you can see that your line in viewport is now exactly 2.7 units long, and you can set the direction in which it will go. Now, our Ortho option comes in handy because we want this line to be straight along x-axis. After you aimed it, just click so you confirm the other end of first part of PolyLine. Next, we need one line 3.5 units long, and going along y-axis. You need to do all this while still in PolyLine command.

Then, you will need a small line 0.8 units long and under certain angle of 60 degrees. We will start again our PolyLine (or in this case it is enough to use just Line) command and start our line from the origin, and inputting in commandline a number 0.8 and confirming it with enter key we will lock the line’s length, and after that you just input in the commandline <60 and confirm it with enter key. This way you will have locked both length and angle you need that line to be made.

Image 2

Ok, when you’ve done that, we now need to “smooth” the transitions between the line parts. We want them to be rounded under certain radius, and we will do that with Fillet command. So, go ahead and start the Fillet command, and use 0.5 units as radius. You need to click on the two ends of two matching lines. You should have something like on the image below:

Image 3

After filleting the corners, we need to Join all the curves into one open curve. Just selecting all (CTRL+A) and running Join command will do just that.

Now, we need the same set of curves on the other side, and the distance between those two will be 2.75 units. So, using Copy command we will copy that line exactly by 2.75 units to the right (working from Front viewport) by inputting the 2.75 and confirming it with enter key. That way we are locking the Copy distance on 2.75.

Image 4

Ok, now we need to use some OSnap. If you aren’t familiar with it, you should check out OSnap introduction. Using End OSnap option, we will snap to both ends of two curves and create a Line between them:

Image 5

Now we need to Fillet the corners between our newly created two lines and two curves. The radii are the same as before:

Image 6

Now, again, using Join command join all the cruves and lines into one closed curve. And there you go, we made one very nice and accurate rail which we will be using to create a seat frame in just few moments.

Before that we need to create a section curve.

We’ll do that with Rectangle command from Right viewport. Make sure once you start Rectangle command you click on the Rounded option in the command line. That way after creating the rectangle the command will ask us to input the corner radius for all four corners. So, for the first corner we will input 0.25 units, and for the other 0.1 units. For the corner radius we need to input 0.02. Then you should get something like on the image below:

Image 7

Ok, you noticed we created this Rectangle in god knows what position. No fear, we just need to move it  a bit with Move command. In this moving process, we will use OSnap option Mid as it will come in handy because we need to move that rectangle from its midpoint to the midpoint on the closed rail curve.

Image 8

Ok, now we have both our rail curve, and section curve. And now we can go ahead and create a surface out of the two. Using Sweep1 command we will do just that. For the Sweep1 option, leave it as it is:

Image 9

Great, we got our seat frame surface. Moving on to the seat surface. For that we also need a set of curves, as you already figured that out for yourselves, for each surface creation we need curves. But, in this case, we won’t be creating new set of curves, but rather using the existing ones.

Now would be a great idea to move this frame surface into another layer and hide that layer. Lets go create a new layer and name it “Seat Frame”. Now, select the frame surface, and right click on the “Seat Frame” layer, and select Change Object Layer. Now our surface is in this layer. We can easily lock or hide the layer by clicking on the little yellow bulb so it becomes blue (turned off).

Image 10

Image 11

Image 1

The model used will be a model provided by Rhino in the Tutorial section.
(C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\English\Tutorials\Camera-SLR.3dm)

Our object is going to be creating a custom toolbar with a custom button that will turn a “blueprint” preview on and off of our viewports.

Image 2

You should already have your Command Window open. ALWAYS!
Your command window will provide you with just about everything that is going on in the Rhinoceros program. (Including the commands you will need to use to initiate macro commands.)

Next you’ll need to have your macro editor open.

Image 3

As stated earlier every button/tool in Rhinoceros initiates these so called Commands in the Command window.
To test this out, go ahead and push the move button in your toolbar and watch the command window. Notice the _Move command which was initiated?
What does this mean? This means you can run Rhinoceros without ever having to click a button in your toolbars. (But the defeats the purpose of having easy to use buttons!)

Rhinoceros has been built to be very straightforward with commands such as Move, Delete, Rotate, Grid, etc.. If you ever are unaware of a command you can simply initiate the tool however you would and see what the command window is using as the actual command. For this tutorial we will be using the Grid and GradientView commands. Seems simple right? Simple but powerful!

No more wasting time, let’s get to the dirty work!
In our macro editor, let’s initate the grid command so we can control the properties of a grid(s).

Image 4

Why did we use ! _Grid?

The ! Character will stop any current processes you may have running in Rhinoceros. This will keep you from accidentally running the macro when it shouldn’t be ran. You should always start your macros with the ! Character.

The _ right before Grid is a way of telling Rhinoceros to ignore the specific word Grid and use whichever word is identical in the current language of the current user. It’s always good practice to code this way, however, if you have no intention of sharing your macros then you may omit this while writing your macros.

Ok, so we’ve initiated the Grid command and now see several options we are able to change within the Command window. All we are going to do is type the commands we want to control exactly how you see them.

Image 5

As our code is stating:

ShowGrid=No        We are telling the Grid option we don’t want the grid shown
ShowGridAxes=No        We are telling the Grid axis option we don’t want the grid shown
ShowWorldAxes=No    We are telling the World axis option we don’t want the grid shown
ApplyTo=All        This is telling the Grid command that we want these options applied to all of our viewports. (You can choose to have it apply to only specific viewports if you wish.)
Enter This command is doing exactly what would happen if you were to hit the enter/return key on your keyboard. In this case it’s submitting all of our changes and finishing the grid command.

All commands in the macro editor must be separated with a space so watch closely as so you don’t insert or miss a space where it is necessary.

Check it out! We have turned all of our grids and axes off in our viewports!

Image 6

Let’s jump ahead and finish our macro!

Image 7

One thing to pay attention to is the -GradientView command. We are using the – at the beginning because without it, the command editor will actually skip any of our input and by default turn on/off the GradientView ability.

As you’ll notice I’ve input all of the settings I wish to change while in the GradientView command and closing the command with the _Enter after I’ve changed any settings I felt necessary.
Your viewports should now look something similar to mine.

Image 8

Congratulations, you’ve completed your very first macro!

“But wait a minute…. How do I save and use this macro by pressing a button?”
Have no fear my Rhinoceros minions!

INTRODUCTION

Ok, this tutorial is pretty simple modeling wise, and probably doesn’t bring you anything newer than the previous tutorials, but none the less it is a good practice. Again, in this tutorial we’re not designing but rather just sharpening our modeling skills in Rhino. And by wide range of different models to model through these tutorials, you just simply learn to model. So, lets begin with this one.

This is the model you will create:

Final

STEP 1

We will start out from Top viewport with couple of Circles. It is always good practice to start modeling your model from origin. Usually things are symmetric and this way you are able to control your model even more, not to mention model one half if the other is the same.

Go ahead, and create two Circles with Circle command using 12 units and 8.75 as radii.

img1

Then you need to move the smaller Circle up on the Z axis by 4 units. Do it either from Front or Right viewport.

img2

Now, you need to Copy that Circle and move it up by 44.5 units.

img3

Using ExtrudeCrv command, and with Cap option set to YES, you should extrude bottom (bigger) circle up by 4 units. To do that without measuring and typing in the command prompt the values, you could easily just use Object Snap (OSnap) with Near option turned on.

tap4

Do the same for the smaller circle. Using the bottom one extrude it, all the way up to the upper one.

img5

Now, with Point command, create a point from Front viewport with x,y as -18,31 (x=-18, y=31).

From that Point, working in Right viewport create another Circle with radius of 8.45. If you turn on the OSnap “Point” option you will snap with center on the point.

img6

Using that Circle, we will create another extrusion. Using ExtrudeCrv command again we will extrude that Circle by 18 units. Just to the y axis.

img7

Using BooleanUnion command, join the three surfaces to form one. Then with FilletEdge command, you will create filleted edge.

img8

Ok, before you go and create a FilletEdge with default 1 unit as radius, you just need to start the command and select the edge like on the image above. Now, click on the AddHandle option to add handles. We are not going to have the same radius. We are going to have 4 handles, where we already have one. So using Quad OSnap option (it would be good to turn off the others) we will add 3 more handles on quad sections. Then, clicking on the handles dots you can input the radius for each one. So, for the upper and lower we will set 0.5, and left and right 2 units.

img9

img10

Again, using FilletEdge fillet the edges like on the image below (use 0.2 as radius):

img11

Now we will create two more circles. You can use the existing one to Copy it and make two more instances 0.8 units and 10.3 units left of the original circle looking from the top viewport.

img12

Using the same original circle like on the image above, we will Offset it by 2 units inwards.

img13

We will extrude that offset circle by -3.8 (the minus sign means it will extrude to the left, rather than the default right – towards positive).

img14

Using BooleanUnion join that cylinder with the rest of the tap body. Now, using FilletEdge and 0.2 as fillet radius fillet the edges like on the image below:

img15

Using the two single circles we created earlier, make a solid with ExtrudeCrv command:

img16

Now, isolate the cylinder you just created and the circles on the edges of that cylinder. You can use Hide and UnHide commands, or just use Layers and put them in different layers. Either way you need to isolate your objects you’re working on.

img17

Using Offset command again, we will offset the Circle which is near the tap body. The right one looking from Front viewport. The offset distance will be 1.2 units towards inside.

img18

Using Split command we will split the cylinder object with inner circle. Then the surface which is left inside the circle needs to be moved by 2 units left looking from Front viewport.

img19

Now, using Loft command we will fill in the gap between the surfaces.

img20

Join all surfaces and using FilletEdge with 0.2 as radius fillet these edges:

img21

When you unhide everything, you should have something like this:

img22

Now, we will edit a little this cylinder we worked on. Using MoveFace we will move left face of it like on the image below. The distance is not very important:

img23

If you done all the measurements like I stated, then you should make a Point next. From any viewport this time, because we will define all three axis values. So, go make a Point with -26.35,0,74 (x,y,z).

After you’ve done the point, copy it using Copy command and move it down by 31.5 units:

img24

Next we need another Circle. This time with a radius of 1.7 units, and a center in the lower point. You can easily do that by starting the Circle command then snapping to the point (use OSnap Point option) and clicking to set the center of the circle, then move to Top viewport (make it active) and input 1.7 units as radius.

img25

Do the same for the upper Point, but create a circle there with radius of 2 units.

img26

Ok, so here are the images

Tap

Vase

Mini shovel