Geometry - basic building blocks
geometry | examples of manifestations | parameters |
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points |
| x/y/z coordinates |
curve geometry | | - vertices
- control points
- degree
|
surface geometry (NURBS) | |
|
solids | |
|
meshes / polygons | | |
Boundary representation (BREP)
geometric entities | topological |
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point | vertex |
line | edge |
surface | face |
Rhino Interface

Setup:
- Turn on Point Snap (End, Midpoint, Center, Intersection, Perpendicular, Quadrant) & Grid Snap
- Turn on Gumball
- Turn on shading for the perspective window (shaded or ghosted)
- Tip: Enter or Space to enter commands
First Steps in Rhino
What | How | Visual Aid |
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navigating | - Pan (two finger swipe/right mouseclick + Shift - also Control + Shift + click and drag)
- Zoom (pinch)
- Rotate View (two finger swipe/right mouseclick - also Control + click and drag
|
|
selection | depending how you drag your selection window either everything touched by the selection window is selected (bottom right to top left) or only objects that are fully enclosed by the window are selected (top lect to bottom right) |
|
create geometry | _line _curve _circle _arc _rectangle | |
edit 2D | _move _copy _rotate _scale _dir (flip direction) _array | |
| _join _eplode _trim _split _group _ungroup _extend _mirror | |
edit with gumball | Turn on control points Turn on gumball - select control points or geometry and use handles to move, rotate or scale
- extrude: drag move handle then hold Command
- to select contour: Command + Shift + select contour
| |
create 3D geometry | primitives: _pipe _box _sphere _cylinder operations: _sweep _loft _rail _revolve _extrude | |
boolean operations | _BooleanUnion _BooleanDifference _BooleanIntersection |  |
use a reference image | _BackgroundBitmap |
|
Exercise 1: draw line and revolve


Commands:
- draw line; turning on gridsnap makes things easier
- join the line, if it is not a joined line already
- use _fillet to create the round inner edge
- revolve contour to create a 3d solid
Exercise 2 - Transform and extrude a 2D form using the gumball tool

Tip, holding command (windows ctrl) after dragging an arrow will extrude in that axis.