Rhino - Arkio

Importing models from and to Rhino requires a Pro or Enterprise license. You can learn more about our paid features and start a free trial to try this.

Rhinoceros 6-8 are currently supported, allowing the export of large models to Arkio and back, converting all Arkio geometry and markups into native Rhino meshes, materials and blocks. Our Rhino plugins are included with Arkio's Windows Installer, available on our download page.

Rhino to Arkio

To export models from Rhino, you must have the Arkio plugin installed and open Rhino in a 3D view with all the elements you want to export visible. Then, press the Arkio > Export button. If you don't see the Arkio buttons/toolbar, install Arkio on your PC first, or enable the buttons by right-clicking your toolbar. (A restart of Rhino might be needed to make the Rhino plugin work as expected)

Clicking "Export to Arkio" will export your current 3D view to Arkio and prompt you to specify the required level of detail: Level of detail <1.0> (a value between 0.0 and 1.0). The default settings should be sufficient for most models. You can click OK or hit enter to confirm. If you need fewer triangles to load models on mobile hardware, you can export with lower values to reduce the number of triangles for round objects.

After a model is exported, Arkio opens on your device and displays the newly exported model in the Create > Import tab. You can open the model to preview it and place it at the origin in your current or a new scene from the import panel or place it manually by clicking in the scene.

Synchronize imports with other Arkio devices

If you wish to synchronize newly imported files across multiple Arkio devices, such as your PC, Meta Quest, and iPad, you can link your PC and other devices to the same Arkio Cloud group from Create > Imports > Cloud. After linking, new imports will automatically be shared with all linked devices.

You can also share your scenes, including all placed imports, using a live meeting or via an Arkio Cloud URL

Placing models in Arkio

You can open the imported file by clicking on the Rhino model name in the Import panel. Here, you can set placement settings for Arkio, such as the scale and orientation of models. As our plugins prepare your file in the correct scale and orientation for Arkio, you can mainly control the loaded version here.

You can click anywhere in the scene to place an instance of the model. Or select "Place at origin" to place the model pinned in the current or a new scene following its origin. Models placed at the origin can be aligned with other loaded models, allowing for a round-trip between your design tools when exporting Arkio-added geometry back to your existing tool.

Placing instances by clicking anywhere in the scene lets you place files where you want, enabling you to place separate, movable elements in Arkio from all our supported design tools.

Model location and orientation

Rhino's origin will be used for placement. From that placement, you can use the map feature to load a site around your design and enable more precise sun studies for your project.

If the model has geometry modeled under the xy-plane (origin), the Arkio table surface can be cut away using Arkio's modeling tools. Making the void bigger than the loaded model enables teleporting on underground geometry.

If your model is far from the center or floating, it means it is far from its origin. It's best to keep your geometry close to the origin in 3D tools to prevent model inaccuracies. You can address this in two ways:

1. Place the model manually by clicking in the Arkio scene and pin it in place. When you export from Arkio back to your design tool, you must manually align your imported geometry to your original coordinates.

2. You can adjust your Rhino model coordinates by moving your geometry closer to the origin point and exporting again.

Layers

Your Rhino-exported files contain layer information in Arkio that is mapped to the (flattened) layer information in your Rhino project. If you would like to have more control over your Layers in Arkio, for example, to present your design options, you can make changes to your layers and then re-export your model.

You can export different Rhino models into one Arkio scene (and models from other supported design tools) and load them at the exact origin to gain additional control over layers in your scene, as you can control the visibility of all loaded files separately.

Updating a Rhino model in Arkio

You can update an existing imported model by overwriting your Arkio import files with the same name. In Rhino, this can be achieved by re-running the export with the same file name. Arkio will then recognize and process the new version, displaying a green arrow above the model to indicate that a new version is available. You can click this arrow to replace the older file in the scene with the new version on the current coordinates.

Arkio will retain the older versions of your imported models, allowing you to also revert to a previous version by selecting the desired date in your menu and clicking "Update"

Arkio to Rhino

Arkio scenes can be exported by opening your File browser and selecting the desired export format. You can export your scene locally or via Arkio Cloud by toggling the cloud toggle at the top of your export panel. Depending on your device, you can then directly import or download the latest cloud files using the Arkio>Import command in Arkio's plugin. You can find your local exported files in \Documents\Arkio\Export\Rhino.

If you like to get your Arkio geometry into editable Rhino Brep's, you can also use our integration with Autodesk Revit to first convert your Arkio scene to solid CAD geometry and then export to a DWG. For more information, please refer to this workflow here: Import other custom 3D models

Troubleshooting:

• A restart of Rhino might be required when you run the Arkio plugin for the first time.

• Our plugin currently only exports one-sided faces. Please ensure that your Rhino models have closed polysurfaces and that single-face surfaces are modeled with outward-facing normals to prevent missing or inverted faces.

• Avoid issues and long processing by exporting only the geometry you need. See tips to optimize your geometry on this page

• Sometimes, failing imports affect other files from loading in Arkio. Clearing your temporary resources often resolves most issues.

• If you have models that don't load well in Arkio, we'd love to review the file to improve Arkio’s importer. You can contact us at support@arkio.is