Open Rhino 3DM Files Without Rhino and Save Rhino 8 as Rhino 7 (Free, Online)
Open Rhino 3DM files for free, right in your browser, with no Rhino licence and nothing to install.
This tutorial opens a garden pavilion saved in Rhino 8 and walks through everything the free Rhino viewer does: orbit and zoom, the Rhino layers with their nesting, object properties (name, type, layer, material, size and Rhino user text), a floor plan cut 1.2 m above the floor with a measurement, and DWG floor plans for AutoCAD. Then it saves the Rhino 8 file as Rhino 7, so colleagues on an older Rhino can open it, with Rhino 6, 5 and 4 a click away. The surfaces, curves, layers, materials and user text are copied as they are, with nothing turned into a mesh. The model is read in your browser and every file is written there too, so it stays on your device.
Convert Rhino 8 to Rhino 7, Rhino 8 to Rhino 6, Rhino 8 to Rhino 5, Rhino 7 to Rhino 6, 3DM to DWG, 3DM to DXF, 3DM to STEP, 3DM to IFC, 3DM to OBJ, 3DM to FBX, 3DM to STL, 3DM to GLB, 3DM to PDF
Transcript
Intro
Here is how to open a Rhino 3DM file without Rhino, for free in your web browser, and save a Rhino 8 file so Rhino 7 can open it.
Open the Rhino viewer
Go to innerscene.com/tools/rhino-viewer. There is no account and no Rhino licence needed, and the model is read right here in your browser.
Open a Rhino file
Click Open a Rhino 3D File, or drop it on the page. This garden pavilion was saved in Rhino 8: a curved NURBS roof on steel columns, a glass enclosure and a timber core.
Look around the model
Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, and right-drag to pan.
Rhino layers
Tools, then Layers, lists the Rhino layers with their nesting: the pavilion and the site, each with its own sublayers. Switch the roof off to look inside.
Object properties
Click any object to see its properties: this column is an extrusion on the Columns layer, in steel, with its size. The Rhino user text comes along too: the mark, the profile, CHS 300 by 10, and the fire rating. At the bottom, the model itself: saved by Rhino 8, in metres.
A floor plan
View, then Floor plans, cuts the model 1.2 m above the floor: the columns, the curved glass and the core, drawn as lines. To measure, open Tools, choose Add measurement, and click two points. The floor slab is 26 m long.
Floor plans as DWG
Export, DWG floor plans, saves the plan for AutoCAD at true size. DXF works too.
Save Rhino 8 as Rhino 7
Rhino opens files from older versions, but never from newer ones, so a colleague on Rhino 7 cannot open this Rhino 8 file. In the Export menu, the Rhino row saves a copy for Rhino 7. Choose 6, 5 or 4 for older versions. The surfaces, curves, layers, materials and user text are copied as they are, nothing is turned into a mesh.
Convert 3DM to DWG, STEP and OBJ
The same menu converts the model: DWG and DXF for AutoCAD, STEP for engineers, IFC for Revit, and OBJ, FBX or GLB for rendering.
Summary
That is the free Rhino viewer at innerscene.com. Links are in the description.
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