Sizing Things In Rhino

[jdelaney44]

I'm demoing Rhino now. Maybe I'm missing the point, but I want to be able to size things by actually typing in dimensions and coordinates. I used to use Turbo CAD and it let me do that, so I was looking for the same thing here.

I searched the Rhino news group and help. So maybe I'm just not using the right terms or something. I tried line size, object size, resize, change....... stuff like that.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
-jd

[ger21]

When the command line asks for the next point, either enter the exact location, like 2,3 or to enter a location relative to the previos point, enter @2,3, which will move x2 y3 from the previous point.

[jdelaney44]

Gerry, which command or family of commands should I be looking at?

-jd

[ger21]

What are you trying to do? For most commands, Rhino asks you for points. To enter actual coordinates, just enter them. For X=5, Y = 3, Z=2, just enter 5,3,2. To enter a point relative to the previous coordinate, use the @ in front of the coordinate. Say you want to move an object six inches (units) in X, 2 in Y, and -1 in Z. There are 2 ways to do it. First, select your object.

1st way:

Rhino asks you for "point to move from. Click anywhere on your screen. Then Rhino asksyou for point to move to. Enter @6,2,-1

2nd way:

For point to move from, enter 0,0,0. For point to move to, enter 6,2,-1

Most times, you'll want to move objects relative to other objects. Do this by selecting specific points on objects using the snap tools and then entering actual coordinates to move to, or selecting other specific points to move to.


Do you have any experience with any other 3D CAD or modeling software? If not, the learning curve can be quite steep.

[jdelaney44]

I have some experience in Turbo CAD and am learning Vector XT right now. Yeah, I think I just need to learn the command syntax. It sounds like it'll get me there. I think with Vector and Rhino I could, maybe, have a really good combo. I'm going to keep playing around until I get it wired.

I really appreciate the help.

[Dan B]

If you don't like using the "@" symbol, you can use "R". For example:

Rhino asks you for "point to move from. Click anywhere on your screen. Then Rhino asks you for point to move to. Enter r6,2,-1 .

If you have ever worked with Autocad you probably already know about using the "@" key. The "R" is a nice alternative, and maybe easier to remember for non-Autocad users.

Dan