Robert McNeel and Associates headquartered in Seattle offers Rhinoceros 3D (or Rhino 3D), a 3D modeling and design application. Rhino can create, edit, analyze, document, render, animate, and translate NURBS curves, surfaces and solids, subdivision geometry (SubD), point clouds, and polygon meshes.
$995
one-time fee
Pricing
Rhino 3D
Editions & Modules
Rhino 3D for Windows & Mac
$995
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Rhino
Free Trial
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
Discount available for students and faculty.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Rhino 3D
Features
Rhino 3D
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Rhinoceros 3D is very well-suited for buildings with repetitive bay layouts as a design can be quickly be updated (span, number of bay, height etc) simply by updating a couple numerical sliders. It is also well suited to quickly update one model (for example Revit) based on the changes in another model (either another Revit model or an analysis model). Rhinoceros 3D is not well-suited for teams that are not interested in learning GrassHopper as most of Rhino's value is in GrassHopper.
A majority of the support for Rhinoceros 3D does not come from the company itself, but from online forums and boards where other Rhinoceros 3D users outline their issues and solutions. The Rhinoceros 3D website does not offer much in-depth support and just outlines general how to's. At the same time, online forums allow for more specific issues to be addressed and solved by the Rhinoceros 3D community.
Rhino is a generic platform. For BIM, you can combine it with Revit or ARCHICAD or look for extensions, such as VisualArq or the GeometyGym extensions for Grasshopper. Due to its good interoperability, I often use it for reviewing AutoCAD drawings or converting 3D models. That said, the most efficient and fast mesh modeling for non-organic geometry is still SketchUp, due to its many smart approaches to automatic mesh cleanup.
Personally a lot of really cool designs have made it into the real world thanks to my good friend Rhino. Being in the architecture, the ROI is elevated design through giving talented designers the right tool to pull it off.
