Rhinoceros 3D
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| Developer(s) | Robert McNeel & Associates |
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| Stable release | 4.0 SR5 / January 2009 |
| Operating system | Windows (2000/XP/Vista) |
| Type | 3D computer graphics |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | http://www.rhino3d.com/ |
Rhinoceros (Rhino) is a stand-alone, commercial NURBS-based 3-D modeling tool, developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. The software is commonly used for industrial design, architecture, marine design, jewelry design, automotive design, CAD / CAM, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering as well as the multimedia and graphic design industries.[1][2]
Rhino specializes in free-form NURBS modeling. Plug-ins developed by McNeel include Flamingo (raytrace rendering), Penguin (non-photorealistic rendering), Bongo (animation), and Brazil (advanced rendering). Over 100 third-party plugins are also available. There are also rendering plug-ins for Maxwell Render, Brasil and V-ray. Like many modeling applications, Rhino also features a scripting language based on the Visual Basic language, and an SDK that allows reading and writing Rhino files directly. Rhinoceros 3d gained its popularity in architecture design because of WIP Grasshopper plug-in for parametric modeling.
Rhino's increasing popularity is based on its diversity, multi-disciplinary functions, low learning-curve, relatively low cost, and its ability to import and export over 30 file formats, which allows Rhino to act as a 'converter' tool between programs in a design workflow.
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[edit] Development
Rhino was originally distributed as a free, open beta. A broad community of users whose input debugged and added features to the program developed as a result.
The development is on-going; version 4.0 Service Release 5 is current[3] with version 5.0 expected in 2009.[4] Development of a Mac OS X version in progress http://www.irhino3d.com; Beta version on request. Rhino owners can download the latest beta versions and participate in the development process. Free trial versions are available for download.
[edit] File format
The Rhino file format (.3DM) is useful for the exchange of NURBS geometry. The Rhino developers started the openNURBS Initiative to provide computer graphics software developers the tools to accurately transfer 3-D geometry between applications. An open-source toolkit, openNURBS includes the 3DM file format specification, documentation, C++ source code libraries and .NET 2.0 assemblies to read and write the file format, on supported platforms (Windows, Windows x64, Mac, and Linux). The McNeel Wiki has more current information.
