Item: Rhino 3D
Rating: 9
Author: Antoine Carpentier, E.I.T

Overall Satisfaction with Rhinoceros 3D

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My organization uses Rhinoceros 3D in different ways:

When quickly iterating through different designs during the schematic design phase of a project.
Rhino is perfect for parametric modeling. It allows to easily change for example the span of a bay, or the number of joists between two girders simply by using a slider.
As a presentation software.
Most modeling software quickly feel sluggish when a project starts to grow big which can be a problem when sharing our model with stakeholders during live presentations. Rhino is always fast and smooth, making it ideal for this purpose.
As a programmable bridge between different AEC software we use.
Thanks to Grasshopper (which is a user-friendly visual programming language and environment included in Rhino), it is possible to automate various repetitive tasks and save time and some sanity when putting together construction documents.
Rhino quickly becomes the central hub linking all your analysis models and Revit models together, allowing you to overlap them to highlight differences and even import elements from one model to another.
There is a learning curve to Grasshopper but it allows the user to gain full control over the workflow of their modeling tasks.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Parametric modeling
Fully programmable
Lightweight models
Integration with other AEC software

Cons

Sharp learning curve
Not meant to create construction documents - need for another software

Most Important Features

grasshopper
Rhino.Inside.Revit
Parametric
Customisable/Programmable

Return on Investment

2 hours saved per week and per model when comparing our structural Revit models to the weekly architectural Revit models we receive
Reduce by 90% the time needed to import elements from other AEC software
A LOT of sanity preserved, which is invaluable

It's hard to compare Rhino to other modeling software as Rhino is in a niche of its own. No other software (to my knowledge) is as customizable/programmable and has such a large community and such a large amount of free, open-source addons.
Rhino (and Grasshopper) can be intimidating at first but once you get familiar with it and grow your toolbox with your own scripts, so much time will be saved.

Key Insights

Do you think Rhino 3D delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Rhino 3D's feature set?

Yes

Did Rhino 3D live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Rhino 3D go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Rhino 3D again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Revit, Unreal Engine

Likelihood to Recommend

Rhinoceros 3D is very well-suited for buildings with repetitive bay layouts as a design can be quickly be updated (span, number of bay, height etc) simply by updating a couple numerical sliders.
It is also well suited to quickly update one model (for example Revit) based on the changes in another model (either another Revit model or an analysis model).

Rhinoceros 3D is not well-suited for teams that are not interested in learning GrassHopper as most of Rhino's value is in GrassHopper.

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Rhinoceros 3D - An AEC software in a league of its own