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Thecursorcanalwaysmovefreelyinspace,butchancesare,youwillwanttorelateyourmodelingelementsto
theconstructionplanegrid,existingobjects,orcoordinatesinspace.Youcanrestrictthecursorsmovementto
thegrid,enterspecificdistancesandanglesfromapoint,snaptospecificlocationsonexistingobjects,and
enterCartesiancoordinatestolocatepointsin2-Dor3-Dspace.
Tip:Toreadmoreaboutacommand,clickthered,underlinedcommandnamelink.
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Chapter 5: Accurate Modeling
Orthoisactiveafterthefirstpointforacommand.Forexample,afterpickingthefirstpointforaline,the
secondpointisconstrainedtotheorthoangle.
4 Clickacheckboxtoturnonanobjectsnap.
4 Rightclickacheckboxtoturnanobjectsnaponandturnoffallotherobjectsnaps.
4 Whenanobjectsnapisactive,movingthecursornearaneligiblepointonanobjectcausesthe
markertojumptothatpointandatooltiptoappear.
ThebuttonsontheOsnaptoolbarallowsingle-useoverridesforthepersistentobjectsnaps.
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Chapter 5: Accurate Modeling
To turn on one object snap and turn all others off with one click
4 IntheOsnaptoolbar,right-clicktheobjectsnapyouwanttoturnon.
Cursor constraints
Whenenteringpoints,youcanconstrainthemarkertoadistanceoranglefromthepreviouspoint.Onceyou
havesetthedistance,dragthelinearoundtoanyangle.Youcanalsousefurthersnapstopointthelineina
specificdirection.
Distance constraint
Duringanycommandthatrequirestwopoints,suchastheLinecommand,placethefirstpoint.Thenatthe
nextprompt,typeadistanceandpressEnter.
Themarkerwillbeconstrainedtothespecifieddistancefromthepreviouspoint.Dragthecursoraroundthe
firstpointandthenpickapoint.
Angle constraint
Angleconstraintissimilartoortho,butyoucansetanyangleanditisaone-timesetting.
The<symbolisusedbecauseitissimilartothesymbolusedingeometrytoindicateanangle.
Themarkerwillbeconstrainedtolinesradiatingfromthepreviouspointseparatedbythespecifiedangle,
wherethefirstlineisthespecifiedn umberofdegreescounterclockwisefromthex-axis.Ifyouenteranegative
number,theanglewillbeclockwisefromthex-axis.
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Chapter 5: Accurate Modeling
Elevator mode
Pickasecondpointtospecifythez-coordinateofthedesiredpoint.Itiseasiesttoseethisinadifferent
viewportorusethePerspectiveviewport.Dragthemousecursoraroundtoseethemarkermovevertically
fromthebasepointalongthetrackingline.
Pickthepointwiththemouseortypetheheightabovetheconstructionplane.Positivenumbersareabovethe
constructionplane;negativenumbersarebelowit.Youcanusefurtherconstraintslikecoordinates,object
snapsorgridsnapforthefirstpoint,andyoucanuseobjectsnapsfortheheight.
Tomovethemarkerintheconstructionplanez-direction,holdtheCtrlkeyandclickapointonthe
constructionplane,andthendragverticallyfromtheconstructionplaneandclicktopickapoint.This
constraintiscalledelevatormode.Usingelevatormodetomoveyourpickpointverticallyfromthe
constructionplaneletsyouworkmoreinthePerspectiveviewport.
SmartTrack
SmartTrackisasystemoftemporaryreferencelinesandpointsthatisdrawnintheRhinoviewportusing
implicitrelationshipsamongvarious3-Dpoints,othergeometryinspace,andthecoordinateaxesdirections.
Temporaryinfinitelines(trackinglines)andpoints(smartpoints)areavailabletoobjectsnapsverymuchlike
reallinesandpoints.
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Chapter 5: Accurate Modeling
Youcansnaptointersectionsofthetrackinglines,perpendiculars,anddirectlytosmartpointsaswellas
intersectionsoftrackinglinesandrealcurves.Thetrackinglinesandsmartpointsaredisplayedforthe
durationofacommand.
Coordinate systems
Rhinousestwocoordinatesystems:constructionplanecoordinatesandworldcoordinates.Worldcoordinates
arefixedinspace.Constructionplanecoordinatesaredefinedforeachviewport.
Cartesian coordinates
WhenRhinopromptsyouforapoint,ifyoutypexandyCartesiancoordinates,thepointwilllieonthe
constructionplaneofthecurrentviewport.Formoreinformationaboutcoordinatesystemsandnumeric
constraints,seewww.mathopenref.com/coordinates.
Right-hand rule
Rhinofollowswhatiscalledtheright-hand rule.Theright-handrulecanhelpyoudeterminethedirectionof
thez-axis.Formarightanglewiththethumbandforefingerofyourrighthand.Whenyourthumbpointsin
thepositivex-direction,yourforefingerpointsinthepositivey-direction,andthepalmofyourhandfacesin
thepositivez-direction.
World coordinates
Rhinocontainsoneworldcoordinatesystem.Theworldcoordinatesystemcannotbechanged.WhenRhino
promptsyouforapoint,youcantypecoordinatesintheworldcoordinatesystem.
Thearrowiconinthelowerleftcornerofeachviewportdisplaysthedirectionoftheworldx-,y-,andz-axes.
Thearrowsmovetoshowtheorientationoftheworldaxeswhenyourotateaview.
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Chapter 5: Accurate Modeling
Theconstructionplanerepresentsthelocalcoordinatesystemfortheviewportandcanbedifferentfromthe
worldcoordinatesystem.
Rhinosstandardviewportscomewithconstructionplanesthatcorrespondtotheviewport.Thedefault
Perspectiveviewport,however,usestheworldTopconstructionplane,whichisthesameconstructionplane
thatisusedintheTopviewport.
Thegridliesontheconstructionplane.Thedarkredlinerepresentstheconstructionplanex-axis.Thedark
greenlinerepresentstheconstructionplaney-axis.Theredandgreenlinesmeetattheconstructionplane
origin.
Tochangethedirectionandoriginofaconstructionplane,usetheCPlanecommand.Presetconstruction
planes(WorldTop,Right,andFront)giveyouquickaccesstocommonconstructionplanes.Inaddition,you
cansaveandrestorenamedconstructionplanesandimportnamedconstructionplanesfromanotherRhino
file.
NoteIfyouenteronlyx-andy-coordinates,thepointwilllieontheconstruction
plane.
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Chapter 5: Accurate Modeling
Relative coordinates
Rhinoremembersthelastpointused,soyoucanenterthenextpointrelativetoit.Relativecoordinatesare
usefulforenteringalistofpointswheretherelativelocationsinsteadofabsolutelocationsofthepointsare
known.Userelativecoordinatestolocatepointsaccordingtotheirrelationshiptothepreviousactivepoint.
For example
1. StarttheLinecommand.
2. AttheStart of lineprompt,clicktoplacethefirstendoftheline.
3. AttheEnd of lineprompt,typer2,3,andpressEnter.
Thelineisdrawntoapoint2unitsinthex-directionand3unitsinthey-directionfromthelastpoint.
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