Go to TOOLS > OPTIONS > MESH and set your mesh to "Jagged & Faster" If that is still too slow you can set it to custom and play around with those settings a little. If you want more in depth advise you can use the Rhino newsgroup, it's a very active, very helfpful group of people. Go to HELP > HELP ON THE WEB > RHINO NEWSGROUP. Often you'lll get a response from the programers themselves, they might be able to help you change the openGL settings to help it shade a little faster.

turn down the anti-aliasing & use the automatic ground plane instead of making one yourself (raytrace-properties-enviroment-advanced-ground plan)

render window will quickly render parts so that you can get an idea (tweak) for final render.

unchecking soft shadows will speed things up, but also obviously cut down on the realism.

And finally in properties-mesh if you set the mesh to a lower setting it speeds things up.

Sorry to bump in but those comments were pretty useful to me too!

I have another question regarding rhino though: how can i render the visible wireframe--no hidden lines--of an object? The top prize would be for anyone that can tell me how to only render--or include in a render--the edges of the objects--forgetting the actual wireframe mesh lines that rhino uses to define planes. Am I making sense?

Thanks a lot in advance. I appreciate it.

export as iges
open in maya 5+
make sure maya vector plug in is checked
set render to maya vector
under render globals set output to adobe illustrator
you can adjust settings on second tab for either/or entier mesh or outlines
batch render

or

duplicate borders or profile (for edges) of view that you want-->put on seperate layer (for ease)
then export those as adobe illustrator

for entire wireframe
select everything and export as illustrator

If you are not fortunate enoguh to have a copy of Maya handy....

You can either create a 2D drawing using the 2D drawing tool under the DIMENSION menu leaveing the "create hidden lines" box unchecked and then export tose lines into whatever format you chooose, or when renedering with Flamingo check the "render wireframe" box off that is uner "Render Options." The only downside is you may want to change all your layer colors to black so all your wireframe lines come out black, rahter than the crazy rainbow you used to set up your drawing.

can anyone suggest a good online guide or a book on rhino? looks like i will have to learn it...

thanks!

Thanks for that.

Anyone found any easter eggs in Rhino? I have yet to find one.

i have a couple quick flamingo questions.....

how do you deal with shadows in rhino/flamingo? the interface doesn't seem to allow as much control as formZ in this area. is there a way to adjust the opacity of shadows, the softness of them (clicking the 'soft shadows' button doesn't seem to do anything) and whether or not they project onto adjacent surfaces?

also, how the hell do you deal with lights? can you do point lights, distant lights, etc. or just cones? why the hell does the light always paint everything black. ahhhgg!

Raton,

To expand on FOG Lites suggestion, if you check "render wireframes" only, you get the surface rendered with the wireframe on it. If you also change the material properties to be transparent you will get a complete wireframe with no surfaces. Render both ways and you can combine them in Photoshop for a mix of the two. I'd suggest saving a seperate copy for the change to transparent.

ok one more, is there any way too change the color of a sinle isoparm in rhino. The idea is that I am unfolding an entire mesh and I want to have a reference point on the result that will allow me to align various members. I thinki it may not be possible but thought Id give it a shot

le bossman-
Sounds like you need to change your ambient light, the default is black, change it to a gray or white and you'll get better shadows. With ambient set to black you only get black shadows. Once you do this you'll see that soft shadows make a difference, although the added render time usually isn't worth it.

For the setting whether or not an object casts shadows, go to the object properties (the little rainbow circle icon) and set the dialog to 'Flamingo' and uncheck 'cast shadows.' Make sure you have flamingo selected as your current renderer, otherwise you won't be able to do it.

Caste-
Flatten twice, each time on a different layer, selecting only that curve the second time after you've changed your current layer. They should be flattened in the same location, giving you the different curve. At least I think that's what you are trying to do. All that talk of 'meshes' has me thrown.

Hope that helps. I think I've said it before, but the Rhino newsgroup is outstanding, just go to help>help on the web and you'll be there.

Kentucky-

You suggested exporting as an iges file and opening in Maya.. I've always had trouble doing this- any tips? Is this how you would recommend rendering? I don't have Max or flamingo so this would be a big help.

I hate Rhino.

thanks FOG....i'll try it out