1. How To Download Rhino
2. Rhino For Free

by Dan Belcher (Last modified: 13 Dec 2018)

AppNee provides the V-Ray for Rhino multilingual full installers and unlocked files (cgauth.dll, vray.dll, vrayBRDFScanned.dll, etc.) for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit. // Installation Notes // for v3.60.03/v4.00.02/v4.10.0x: Download and install V-Ray for Rhino (there is no need to. Download Rhino for Mac and Rhino 6 for Windows here. This license can be installed on Win OS as well as Mac OS. One license of Rhino can open Rhino on only one computer. However, on one computer you can open more instances of Rhino next to each other.

This guide explains how to create a plugin installer for Rhino for Mac.

It is presumed you have a plugin that successfully builds and runs already. If you are not there yet, see Your First Plugin (Mac).

Overview

Rhino for Mac does not (yet) have a Plugin Manager. However, installing plugins is very easy. You simply rename your plugin’s containing folder with an special extension (.rhp), compress the folder, and change the extension from .rhp.zip to .macrhi. Once this is done, you can double-click the archive and Rhino will launch and install the plugin. You can also drag the .macrhi onto the dock icon of a running instance of Rhino and it will install the plugin as well. You will, in any case, need to Quit an Restart Rhino for the plugin to activate.

Step-by-Step

1. Locate your plugin folder in Finder. Let’s imagine our plugin is called HelloRhinoCommon and we have built it for Release…
2. Single-click the name your plugin’s Release (or Debug) folder to Rename it. The new name should be your plugin assembly with a .rhp suffix. For example, if your plugin is called HelloRhinoCommon, rename the folder that contains this file HelloRhinoCommon.rhp…
3. You will be prompted to confirm this change. Click the “Add” button:
4. The icon of the folder¹ should now look like this…
5. Archive the plugin folder. Right-click (option-click) the plugin .rhpfolder you created in the previous step and select “Compress (your plugin name).” This creates a zip archive of the contents of the folder.
6. Single-click the name of the new archive you created in step 5. This allows you to rename the archive.
7. Change the extension from .rhp.zip to .macrhi.
8. You will be prompted to confirm this change. Select the “Use .macrhi” button:
9. Notice that the icon changes from a zip archive to a Rhino RHI:
10. If Rhino for Mac is open, drag the.macrhi archive onto Rhino for Mac’s icon in the dock; OR:
11. If Rhino for Mac is not currently open, double-click the .macrhi archive to launch and install the plugin…
12. Click OK then Quit and Restart Rhino. Your plugin should load.

Behind the Scenes

The .macrhi extension is a file extension associated with the Rhino for Mac application (both Rhinoceros.app and RhinoWIP.app). This extension denotes a “Rhino for Mac plugin installer.” Rhino for Mac knows that such files are actually .zip archives that need to be decompressed and copied into the user’s Library folder at the appropriate location, specifically the ~/Library/Application Support/McNeel/Rhinoceros/MacPlugIns/ folder².

When Rhino for Mac launches, it searches the contents of the

~/Library/Application Support/McNeel/Rhinoceros/MacPlugIns/

folder scanning the sub-folders looking for .rhp files. When it finds such “file” (which are actually packages), Rhino for Mac attempts to load the assembly with the same name contained within this package. If it cannot load the plugin, it will show an error at launch time.

For uninstallation/removal instructions, please see Uninstalling Plugins (Mac).

User Library

By default, the User Library folder is hidden from view.

To make your Library visible in the Finder:

1. In Finder, navigate to your Home (~) folder. You must be in your Home folder for this to work.
2. Press Command+J to bring up the Finder View options dialog…
3. Check the Show Library Folder check box. Now your Library should show up in the view. You may want to drag this folder to your Favorites area of the Finder sidebar for easy access later.

Related topics

Footnotes

1. macOS (and Unix) has a special kind of folder that masquerades as a file. These are called “packages.” (Most apps found in /Applications/ are actually packages called “bundles”). You can access the contents in Finder by right-clicking on the package and selecting Show Package Contents. ↩

2. Do not confuse this path with /Library/Application Support/McNeel/Rhinoceros/, which is the system-wide Library location. ↩

Rhinoceros and Grasshopper – developed by Robert McNeel & Associates – are considered market leaders in industrial design modeling and algorithmic design.
Now, designers have various options to connect Archicad’s professional BIM work environment with the modeling power of Rhino and Grasshopper.

Prerequisites

Before installing any connections, make sure that Archicad, Rhinoceros3D and Grasshopper is installed on your computer.

Table of Contents

Grasshopper – Archicad Live Connection
Rhinoceros Import/Export Add-ons
Rhinoceros – GDL Converter

Grasshopper – Archicad Live Connection

Important Notes:

• The v23 & v24 of Grasshopper – Archicad Live Connection supports Rhino 5 and Rhino 6 on both platforms (Win & macOS).
• On Windows both v21,v22 of Grasshopper – Archicad Live Connection supports Rhino6.
• On macOS both v21 and v22 of Grasshopper – Archicad Live Connection supports Rhino5. They don’t support Rhino6 WIP.
• Grasshopper – Archicad Live Connection is not compatible with Archicad STAR(T) Edition.

Rhinoceros Import/Export Add-ons

Important Notes:

Rhino 6 format is not supported in the built in Rhinoceros Import/Export function in Archicad 22.

From Archicad 20 on these Add-Ons are part of the Archicad package. In Archicad 19 and 18 install these free Add-ons to enable Archicad to import and export models using Rhino’s native (.3dm) file format.

Import Rhino Model to Archicad

Rhino Importer Add-on enables Archicad users on both the Mac and Windows platforms to pass on the model or part of the model produced in Rhino to Archicad. This Add-on, available for Archicad 18 and 19, enables you to open or merge native Rhino (*.3dm) files directly in Archicad.

Export Archicad Model to Rhino

Rhino Exporter Add-on enables Archicad users on both the Mac and Windows platforms to pass on the model or part of the model produced in ARHICAD to Rhino. This Add-on, available for Archicad 18 and 19, enables you to save the Archicad 3D model as a Rhino file (*.3DM).

Rhinoceros – GDL Converter

Install these free plug-ins to convert Rhino models to native Archicad GDL elements – standalone objects (.gsm) or library containers (.lcf).

Please watch this video to find out more about how to install the necessary plug-ins, and how to import a model created in Rhinoceros into Archicad as native GSM objects. The video first presents the “Single Object Import” workflow using.gsm files and then the “Complex Structure Import” using .lcf files.

Steps to import Rhinoceros models to Archicad

Download and install plug-in for Rhino

Download and launch this “GSM-LCF exporter for Rhino 5” Rhino plug-in to be able to save/export Rhino models.

GSM-LCF exporter for Rhino 5

Choose import method

Depending on the size of the Rhino model, choose one of these two import methods:

Single Object Import to Archicad

Use this workflow to import small-sized single objects or groups of small objects saved in GSM format to Archicad.

Save Rhino model as GSM file

In Rhino, select the model or its parts you want to export and save them as GSM Object File using the “GSM-LCF Exporter for Rhino 5” plug-in. Go to File/Save or File/Export Selected and in the upcoming dialog choose the “Archicad GDL Object” file type (extension .gsm).

Place the object in Archicad

In Archicad, add the object to the Embedded Library, then place it into the Archicad project as an Object.

Complex Structure Import into Archicad

Use this workflow for larger and complex Rhino models to convert them into a set of (smaller) GDL objects. This process enables the user to retain separate logical parts within the same model while providing a functionality to monitor and easily update the imported Rhino models in Archicad. The LCF option is also advised to enable Archicad’s performance optimization algorithm to work seamlessly on an imported large Rhino model.

Save Rhino model as LCF file

In Rhino, select the object(s) you want to export as a reference model to Archicad. Go to File/Save or File/Export Selected and save them as LCF Container File using the “GSM-LCF Exporter for Rhino 5” plug-in. In the upcoming dialog choose the “Archicad GDL Object Library” file type (extension .lcf).

Download and install the “Rhino LCF Observer” Add-On for Archicad

Rhino LCF Observer 20 for Windows

Rhino LCF Observer 20 for Mac OS X

How To Download Rhino

Rhino LCF Observer 19 for Windows

Rhino LCF Observer 19 for Mac OS X

Rhino LCF Observer 18 for Windows

Rhino LCF Observer 18 for Mac OS X

Place LCF model in Archicad

In Archicad, add the LCF file as a Linked Library in Library Manager, then place it into the Archicad project as an Object. Using the “Rhino LCF Observer” Add-On you can place all objects from the LCF files, and/or to update any placed instances as needed.

Rhino For Free

Guides for Rhinoceros-GDL Converter