Rhino Brand 2d: diagramming in Rhino & Illustrator

Illustrator is an excellent programme for creating simple, clean line diagrams to bear witness the progression and evolution of a project. Withal, if you desire to use specific 3D forms to customize the diagram to your project, it may mean using a combination of a digital design software with Illustrator. This is where Rhino comes in.

This tutorial shows how Rhino'south Make 2D command can be used to draw 3D forms that tin can exist made 2D and turned into a line diagram in Illustrator. The best part is that information technology is quick and easy!

Earlier you start drawing, know what the goal of the diagram is and how best to simplify it so that y'all tin quickly represent it in Rhino. For the example used in this tutorial (diagram to a higher place), I wanted to illustrate how I arrived at the 'final' form of my design. I boiled the process downwardly to these steps: I started with a simple box, split it into smaller parts, moved those parts, reconnected the parts, and and so reoriented them to go to the end production. At present I volition use Rhino to illustrate this, and bring the Rhino drawings into Illustrator to make my process diagram.

1. Depict the base shape in Rhino. To brand the procedure easier, give it its own layer and re-name the layer.

Notice I also created my own view so that all of my diagram pieces volition consign at the aforementioned perspectival bending.

To Fix the View:

Set the view you desire using orbit and zoom

Save the view

To save the view:

Right click the View box > >Gear up View > Named Views > Relieve > proceed to name the view > OK > Close

This view should evidence upwardly under your prepare views now.

2. Each stride that you lot desire to bear witness in the diagram to be drawn on its own layer in Rhino, just with the same base of operations point.

My diagram has five steps, and so there are at least five layers in my cartoon. Other layers that I have created are used for the elements (planes or objects) that affect the formal alterations of the box that I also want to testify in my Illustrator diagram. Information technology is easiest if everything that you want to represent in your Illustrator diagram is drawn in Rhino.

3. Later on all of the steps of the process are created in Rhino, the model is prepare to Make 2D and then export into Illustrator.

    • Yous must Make 2d and export each footstep individually, so bring up your starting time step and brand certain information technology is being seen on your screen under the view you created earlier.

    • At this part, I also like to have the Tiptop View up next to my custom view.

    • Select your model in your custom view infinite, and type the command Make2D in the Rhino control line. Press Enter.

    • The Make2D options toolbar will come up. Y'all may choose whether or not you can see the hidden lines, and what layers the visible and hidden lines will appear. I recommend having checked "Show Hidden Lines" and "Maintain Source Layers". Cull your settings and press OK

    • The 2D representation of your model will show up at the origin (0,0). This is all-time seen from the tiptop view.

    • It will automatically be highlighted after information technology is created, and then before y'all unhighlight it movement it out from underneath the model.

    • Echo this for each of your diagram steps.

    • One time you have all the 2d line drawings of your diagram steps y'all can bring them into Illustrator.

    • Highlight the second lines yous want to bring into Illustrator. In the File menu, cull Export Selected. Choose the file type Adobe Illustrator (.ai) and relieve the selected linework in your designated folder.

    • It will ask if you lot want a Snapshot of Current View or Preserve Model Scale. Since I didn't draw my box at specific dimensions, I will cull Snapshot of Current View.

Annotation: The to a higher place is an example of making the linework of a Perspective cartoon 2d. You may also export linework from an Axonometric view or making Plans/Section from your 3D model. Click on the respective links for those instructions.

Importing 2D Linework into Illustrator

1. Open up your file in Illustrator. Illustrator can be used to practice any simple editing like colour filling or line alterations. For example:

    • My hidden lines came in as white, so I changed the line colour for lines on that layer to grey so I could see them if I need to edit them at whatever point. I will later turn that layer off for now.

    • For unproblematic line modification instructions such equally line weight, line color, and transparency, click here.

    • I want to differentiate the planes intersecting the box from the box itself. I realize that these lines didn't evidence up in my Make 2nd in Rhinoceros. Considering they are not complex, I tin can 'freehand' them in Illustrator with decent accuracy. If this were a last diagram, I would desire to go back to my Rhino model and add together them in there for accuracy.

    • To add color, highlight all the lines and make the object a Live Paint object. Y'all tin can do this by using the shortcut, Alt-Ctrl-X , or get to the dropdown card Object > Live Paint > Make

    • Use the Paint Bucket tool and colour palette to fill up your diagram parts with the desired colors.

five. Practice this with the rest of your diagram steps in Illustrator, and add any arrows or annotations necessary for clarity. You may also want to put some parts of the diagram on unlike layers for ease of editing.

***Find in the Rhino and Illustrator files fastened that I have a site element on its own layer, every bit well equally another set layers that create 'axis ribs' from my objects. To create these I used the Project command in Rhinoceros. To make them into their ain set of diagrams, however, I followed the same steps described in a higher place. ***