B: Introduction to Rhino Grasshopper Interface - DavidJenny/Digitales-Entwerfen-ZHAW GitHub Wiki

Here you can find an introduction to the Rhino and Grasshopper interface.

Rhino Interface
Area Description
Menu Rhino commands by function.
Command window Displays the command history and output information.
Command prompt The commands are written here. (when the Rhino window is on, whatever is written will appear here)
Toolbar Graphical icons for initiating commands. Some icons also have cascading windows with more command options.
Osnap control Selection of object snap toggles. (selection sticking to specific parts of the geometry)
Viewport menu Dropdown menu to select view options.
Viewport tabs Selection of views.
Status bar Information about the position of the cplane, pointer coordinates and selection functions. (more information in the table below)
Panels Control panels (more can be added from "Windows".

Actions

The buttons for the actions to move around the modelling space are located in the Standard tab of thetoolbar. The shortcut information appears when hovering over them.

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Status Bar Functions

Button Description
CPlane/World The construction plane/world coordinates toggle.
x The mouse cursor x location.
y The mouse cursor y location.
z The mouse cursor z location.
Units/Delta The current units setting.
Layer If objects are selected, the Layer pane displays the layer of the selected objects. If no objects are selected, the Layer pane displays the current layer. Click the Layer pane to access quick controls for setting the selected objects' layer or to change layer visibility and status.
Grid Snap Click the GridSnap pane to toggle Grid Snap.
Ortho Click the Ortho pane to toggle Ortho mode.
Planar Click the Planar pane to toggle Planar mode.
Osnap The Osnap control lets you select which object snaps are currently in effect.Click the Osnap pane to toggle the display of the Osnap control.
SmartTrack Click the SmartTrack pane to toggle SmartTrack mode.
Gumball Click the Gumball pane to toggle auto Gumball mode.
Record History Click the Record History pane to toggle history recording on/off state.
Filter Click the Filter pane to open the Selection Filter control.
Info Click the Info pane to display information about the current Rhino session. The Info pane cycles through the list of specified categories.

Display Modes

The display modes can be selected from the viewport menu. The view can be exported with the command ViewCaptureToFile and can be copied to the clipboard with the command ViewCaptureToClipboard

Views

The views are useful for visualizing geometry from specific angles.

You can visualize all the active views by pressing Control+M or double click on the viewport menu.

Right click on the viewport menu allows to select between view types and view orientations.

Layers

Geometry can be assigned to different layers. This can be done by selecting the geometry + right-click on the layer to assign.

Grasshopper Interface
Area Description
Menu bar Additional commands and canvas controls.
File browser When clicking shows active files. When selecting, the view switches to that file.
Components panel List of available components.
Canvas toolbar Quick access to visibility features.
Canvas Main workspace to place components.
Radial menu Quick access to actions such as group, cluster, enable, disable, display, hide, and bake components. Displayed by clicking with the mouse wheel on the canvas.

Components can be dragged from the component buttons in the Canvas toolbar or searched by double-right-clicking in the Canvas.

Toolbar

Action buttons Description
Open Browse and open files.
Save Saves file.
Zoom factor Zoom factor for visualization.
Zoom extents Zooms to the extents of the components in canvas.
View tool Saves the current view for future use.
Sketch Pencil type tool to sketch on canvas. By choosing and right-clicking sketches it is possible to load from and to Rhino.
Preview options Description
No preview Geometry is not shown.
Wireframe Geometry shown in wireframe mode.
Shaded Geometry shown in shaded mode.
Boundary preview Geometry of components within the selection boundary are shown.
Selection preview Geometry of selected components is shown.
Preview settings Control of preview colors.
Preview mesh quality Control for the quality of the mesh.

Component control

With a right click on the components it is possible to select to access multiple control options.

Option Description
Preview Turn visualization on or off.
Enable Activate or deactivate the component.
Bake Import the geometry to Rhino.
Help Get more information about the component.

Plug-Ins

It is possible to add additional functions to Grasshopper using plug-ins. These can be installed using the Package Manager, which appears when typing in Rhino. When installed, the Plug-ins will appear alongside the other Grasshopper commands or on the Menu bar of Rhino.

More information on Plug-ins can be found in Food4Rhino.

Images and tables with "*" are sourced from other websites.

Websites:

⚠️ **GitHub.com Fallback** ⚠️