Rhino Overview
Welcome to our Rhino documentation section. Rhinoceros 3D (aka Rhino) is a powerful 3D program that can turn your site design into a vivid 3D rendering. Your Land F/X license gives you access to both the Land F/X 3D Connection (available in CAD) and the Land F/X Rhino plugin (available as a free download from our website).
Rhino is a separate piece of software from AutoCAD or our plugins. Need Rhino? Download it here
Our 3D Connection works on Rhino 6 for Windows. On a Mac? Use virtual Windows software such as Parallels or VMware Focus.
Resources for Rhino
Do you use Rhinoceros (Rhino) and wish you could get your CAD tree and shrub design in there for some stunning visuals? Now you can. Land F/X has a plugin for Rhino that allows you to go back and forth between multiple platforms, making edits to all your production drawings seamlessly. This Power Tip shows you how to get started right now. Note: The installation process has changed for the plugin since the release of this Power Tip. See our instructions for installing the Planting F/X Plugin for Rhino.
Browse the rest of our Power Tip videos.
Why beta, and what does it mean for you?
We're so excited about our Rhino plugin that we wanted to give it to you as soon as possible, as a beta version. What does that mean for you? It means you have the chance to be part of the development process. Although we won't be able to offer full support for the Rhino plugin, you'll be able to help us discover and work out some of the inevitable kinks.
As with all our products, we invite you to send us a technical support ticket to let us know about any issues you encounter. Keep in mind that our development team will likely need more time than usual to build a solution.
Get Help from the Land F/X Community
Although we will provide as much assistance as possible, it's always a good idea to reach out to other Land F/X users who, like you, have chosen to be pioneers in the Rhino frontier. We encourage you to use our Community Forum to ask questions. Another user may very well have run into the same issue and may be able to help. Forum posts tend to factor prominently in beta releases, and we want to make sure you're covered.
Getting Started with Rhino
Before you can bring your designs between CAD, SketchUp, and Rhino, you'll need to complete a few setup steps, as well as get to know our 3D Connection. Here's how to get started.
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Download and install the Land F/X Rhino plugin, which drops some essential tools into Rhino and allows you to connect with CAD.
This article includes a video. -
Our 3D Connection is included in your Land F/X installation. It allows you to send blocks and layers between CAD, SketchUp, and Rhino. Learn how it works and how to use it to turn your CAD drawings into 3D models. This article includes a video.
- It's imperative that your units be set correctly and consistently in CAD, SketchUp, and Rhino. Learn how to set the units in Rhino and CAD. (coming soon)
- Set a User Coordinate System (UCS) in your CAD drawing before bringing it into Rhino.
- Additional Rhino Resources: Need help learning Rhino? Find it here.
Rhino Tools
Our Planting F/X Plugin for Rhino adds a familiar set of planting design tools to Rhino. Here's how to use them.
Articles
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3D Connection: Though you access it from CAD, this feature is among the most essential of our Rhino tools. This article includes a video.
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Projects tool: The Rhino version of the Land F/X Projects tool, this feature gives you access to all the plants and site amenities you've added to each of your Land F/X projects. As with any of our plugins, remember to create a new project for each of your designs. You can even create new projects and build your plant palette and your inventory of site amenities from within Rhino. This article includes a video.
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Import Layer from CAD: Use this tool to bring individual layers from another platform, such as a CAD drawing, into Rhino. This article includes a video.
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Export Design: Ready to bring your design into CAD, SketchUp, or Revit? Export it first. You can then use the 3D Connection tool to import it into the platform of your choice. This article includes a video.
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Plant Manager: This project palette of plants listed with all their data, organized into Trees and Shrubs, serves as your hub for your project's planting data. Here, you can add plants to your projects and place them in your Rhino model. This article includes a video.
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Site Amenities Manager: Like the Reference Notes Manager in CAD, the Site Amenities Manager lists all the amenitites you've added to your Land F/X project in Rhino, allowing you to add new site amenities to your project and place them in your Rhino model. This article includes a video.
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Component Info: Use this tool to view information about a plant or site amenity you've placed in Rhino. This article includes a video.
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Import Design: Grab the plants and site amenities you've placed in another platform, such as a CAD drawing, and send them to Rhino. This article includes a video.
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Settings: Update our Planting F/X Plugin for Rhino to the latest version, manage the location of your Rhino Library folder, and validate your Support ID. This article includes a video.
Customize Rhino
Did you know that you can use your own custom symbols in our Rhino plugin? Find out how.
Articles
Contact
- Land F/X
Our software tailors AutoCAD®, Revit®, SketchUp®, and Rhino® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.