Steven’s Guide to Managing Layer Visibility in Rhino Design Documentation

Posted on 2021-05-212022-08-04 by Steven

Rhino is more and more advantageous as a primary design AND drafting solution. (Rhino Forum “does anyone use as primary app”, …). Advances in Rhino modeling and Grasshopper have made Rhino more and more attractive, at the same time that major, big-budget architectural firms are increasingly frustrated with the established players (Dezeen). That being said, there are difficult sticking points, including managing layer visibility in 2d drawings (aka layouts & details). Hopefully these methods are easily adaptable for your application, the principles should be applicable to architecture, exhibit design, etc.

HideLayerInDetail: the obvious method

It’s the first method you learn about, but it also has a major downfall: if you create a new layer, it will be visible in ALLLLLLLL of your details. The only way to turn it off in all of them (that I know of) is to double-click into each of them and run HideInDetail (or use the layer palette). Extremely annoying :*(

Method 1: Print Width

EDIT 2022-08-04: I don’t recommend Method 1. The main pitfall is that Layout Layer visibility AND Detail Layer visibility must be changed for each layer you wish to change visibility for. This leads to 2x the number of clicks for each layer you wish to edit. I believe this is a bug in Rhino, but I’m not sure. Either way, I no longer recommend this method.

Controlling Layer visibility with Print Width

By using the Layer Print Width, you have the opportunity to keep a layer off in all existing details / layouts by default. Downsides of the Print Width method:

The most annoying thing: print-display does not show actual printed lines: layers that are on in the detail but not in the layout will appear in Rhino but not in the output PDF :*/
Layers will still be visible when you double-click into a detail, I haven’t found a workaround to this limitation, but it hasn’t been a dealbreaker for me
More tedious to maintain consistent linewidths between drawings
… haven’t figured out any other issues, maybe you know of some?

Here’s how to use the method, for a few situations:

Layer visible in most details

Print Color = black or gray – whichever will be used most commonly
Print Width = as desired
Layout/Detail print widths = No Print or custom, as appropriate. If you want to turn a layer off in all details on a layout, use the layout override instead of the detail. It will allow you to turn off the layer in all details on that layout.
No overrides for layout or detail color, except where needed

Layer off in most details

Print Color = black or gray – whichever will be used most commonly
Print Width = No Print
Layout/Detail print widths = set override per-detail, as appropriate. Ensure that you set both Layout and Detail print width, setting one and not the other will have no effect. Set detail print width as desired, and set Layout print width to Default
No overrides for layout or detail color, except where needed

Layers on in ONE detail

Print Width method works, but the built in Layer on in this Detail Only feature is easiest:

Duplicate Existing Layer?

If you’re creating a new layer that is similar to others: consider duplicating an existing layer rather than creating new ones from scratch.

Method 2: Standard methods + Scripts

I’d almost given up on the standard Rhino methods of controlling detail visibility (Rhino 7 help), but then I discovered the two scripts on this Rhino forum (as of this writing, there are 2 scripts: one by egdivad and the other by Lahos). After a small amount of testing, it seems possible to use standard Rhino methods in conjunction with these scripts to make everything wonderful and easy as puppies and butterflies. I hope to update this post once I find out.

Edit 2022-08-04: the SafeLayout plugin is a higher performing version of the scripts mentioned above. I believe this plugin is written in C, and so is much faster than the Python scripts.

Other potential controls:

These other methods offer some additional control / potential, but I haven’t personally found them to be game changers in regards to this challenge:

Set individual object to NoPrint using SV Script “SV_NoPrint.py”
“ShowHideinDetailPlusV5.tb” > via this Rhino forum post. Have not used a lot but could have some utility. Use with caution…
HideLayerInLayoutDetails.py and ShowLayerInLayoutDetails.py from the same forum post. I’ve tested these briefly and they are a bit clunky to use, but some people may find them useful.

Mural: Bay Area Discovery Museum

The exhibit was in-progress when I finished my mural…more photos to come!

As of May 2021 I’m posting progress photos to instagram, and will be adding full-exhibit photos as they’re available…

Huge thank you to Marlene Chen and Alan Maskin of Olson Kundig for the opportunity to contribute, and to Elizabeth Friedrich of BADM and Alex Meyer for coordinating the install!
Mural design and install by Steven
Exhibit design by Olson Kundig
Project management by Alex Meyer of Meyer Technical
Exhibit Production and Install by Pacific Studios. Special thanks to Morgan Womble-Dahl for his implementation ideas.
Final thanks to Mark Sabatino & Gizmo Art Production for commissioning the little mural that inspire this big one!

Gizmo Mural

Approximately 8×12 feet size, this mural depicts a few of the sculptures that Gizmo Art Production has built and installed in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Other fun stuff scattered throughout: a playful jab at the CEO’s music habit, Janis Joplin’s house, Miss Doubtfire’s house, 3 bikes, moustaches, a very prominent paintbrush, and grafitti by Barry McGee.

Medium: India Ink

Science & Main

Goals

Take a stack of exhibit ideas dreamt up by the Education staff, and turn them into an exhibit in one year, on a tight budget. The exhibit must be movable so that the exhibit hall can be used for large rental events.

Results

Science & Main is one of the most popular exhibits at the Museum, and was achieved at a fraction of the cost of most other exhibits in the museum. See the captioned photos below for details and process photos…

The Explora-inspired marble wall is adapted for MSC's needs: large plastic balls instead of marbles, and more durable components.

A photo of the marble wall shortly after opening. I added rubber edge-protectors and replaced the wooden pegs with plastic.

The bicycle gearing activity allowing visitors to compare the differences in gear ratios.

Instructions for the paper airplane launcher

We prototyped and tested the paper airplane launcher to determine the best layout for the paper airplane activity.

A view of the airport control tower with launchers in the background

The 'Food fight' catapult. The device is quite precise: if you determine the correct variable to hit a given target, you will hit it reliably with those variables.

Some visitor creations

More visitor creations

A view of the bike gearing activity and the bike shop facade.

Initial concept rendering

Revised concept rendering, after construction methods and components were refined, Science & Main.

Music Ideation - Construction Details copy

Styling detail, which informed the construction methods.

Logos, desiged by intern Qian Zeng

Setting up the facades with the help of a budget-friendly gantry crane. The yellow scaffolding was later used as part of the backdrop of the construction site.

Oops, sorry George...

Guts of the paper airplane launcher

The marble wall pieces were built using this setup. A pin-router attachment was used for the curved pieces.

Cole demonstrating some of the high-tech tools we used

It turns out handwheels with revolving handles are not MSC-kid-proof, so we added keyways to fixed-handle handwheels. In this photo: enlarging the bore with a boring bar.

Adding a keyway with the lathe, since we did not have an arbor press.

We initially used an off-the-shelf pulley as the drive wheel in the paper airplane launcher, but it was quickly shredded. In this photo, machining a new wheel, which held up well.

Sub-Projects

View these projects in more detail:

Drop Tower
Pipe Organ

Roles

I managed the project and completed the much of the labor, from design to install and documentation. I worked closely with the Education, Facilities, and Marketing departments to get the project done. I also recruited, trained, and organized volunteers from the community, and interns from MICA.

Other Contributors

Interns

Cole Pritchard
Cait May
Qian Zeng
Kelsey Hunter
Sofia Maranto

Advisors

Karl Palm
David M Storey Inc Pipe Organ Builders
George Moran, Explora
CK Wong, Hong Kong Science Center
Franklin Institute Exhibit Team

Volunteers

Karl Palm
Kevin Johnson
Mark LoPresto
Terry Nixon
Tom Riley

Location

Maryland Science Center, Baltimore MD

Installed

2015

Drop Tower

The Drop Tower enables visitors to repeatably drop a racquetball 20 feet onto an angled surface. The angle and material of the surface can be changed, enabling users to experiment with the 2 variables and discover how they affect the trajectory and bounce height of the ball. The targets provide a goal for visitors to aim for, though many simply experiment on their own.

Process

We built and tested several prototypes to determine whether or not our plans were visitor-friendly, the reliability of the ‘dropper’ mechanism, and the feasibility of the chain conveyor. See images below for more details…

Challenges

Reliability was a serious concern since some of the working parts are 20 feet in the air, and difficult to access.
The height of the design was difficult since the museum lacks an appropriate lift or convenient ceiling lift points. The shop ceiling is not much over 8 feet, and the freight elevator is very small, so the components were built in sub-assemblies, test-fit and finished in the shop, and fully assembled on the exhibit floor

Design Details

Gear reduction and a rotary damper prevents visitors from spinning the Prism in an uncontrolled fashion
Controls for steps 1,2, and 3 (Load, Adjust, Drop) are arranged in sequential order for intuitive operation
An angle indicator makes the experiment replicable

Detail of bounce-height scale

Detail of prism rotation indicator

Detail of top module and electrical boxes

Detail of user controls

Our first prototype was designed to test some of the mechanical elements, and see how visitors would interact with the component. We found that having 3 different ball types was too much for most visitors, so we eliminated the wiffel ball and golf ball, and kept the racquetball.

Testing to determine the trajectory of dropped balls

2nd prototype to determine reliability of top module mechanism. The testing revealed some reliability issues that we were able to solve before the Drop Tower was installed.

Testing the 2nd prototype at full height to determine how the chain would act. Thankfully, we found no problems!

I completed the final Overall design in Rhino at the same time Cole was completing the Top Module design in Solidworks. I then combined our designs and completed final construction drawings in Solidworks.

Fabrication in the shop

We had to set up during off-hours, since the museum was open 7 days a week

Karl helping with final electrical hookups before final assembly

Construction Drawings

Below are examples of construction drawings I created with Solidworks. They were given to a commercial welding company, who fabricated and delivered the pieces.

Roles

SV: project management, design, fabrication, graphics, electrical, install, break-in, documentation
Cole: ball-dropper mechanism, top-module design, fabrication

Other Contributors

Karl Palm: volunteer advisor for electrical and mechanical engineering
Cole Pritchard: museum employee
Nilam Sari: museum intern
Jacob Nemec: museum intern
Paul Stankiewicz: volunteer

Location

Maryland Science Center, Baltimore MD

Installed

2016

Pipe Organ

Goal

Build a kid-proof pipe organ with exposed inner workings. As far as I know, this is the only pipe organ in the world that is available for public use.

Design Details

Kid-proof keyboard with 1-piece plastic keys
‘Drop the bass’ button for the big zinc pipe
All mechanisms visible

Detail of the pipes, donated by David Storey

The moving valves are visible from the player's perspective as she presses the keys

Detail of regulator, blower, and electronics

Detail of kid-proof keyboard

Illustrator rendering of the design, before I handed design and fabrication responsibilities to Cole.

Roles

Special thanks to David M Storey Inc Pipe Organ Builders for donating parts and providing invaluable advice.

SV: management, technical research, initial designs, electrical
Cole Pritchard: final design, fabrication, tuning, general wizardry

Location

Maryland Science Center, Baltimore MD

Installed

2015

Portable Demo Devices

Goals

Build demonstration devices for the MSC Traveling Science Program, which visits schools in Maryland and surrounding states and performs science shows on stage for large audiences.
Improve on older designs, which were difficult to set up and take down, and just didn’t work very well
Keep items compact for easy transport

Design Details

We used simple yet durable materials to make the experiments more relatable, especially since audience members would not be able to touch the experiments.
Designed to be maintainable by Education staff, who may not have mechanical experience

Pendulum snake box. The snake comes off the stands and straight into the box. The box is divided to prevent tangling.

Pendulum snake string length adjustment jig

Newton's cradle in action

Detail of the string adjusters. The nylon washer is easier on the fishing line than metal, and is registered to prevent rotation while the cap screw is tightened.

Newton's cradle box

The stands are designed for quick setup and takedown.

CO2 gun demo

Roles

SV: management, design, fabrication, documentation
Cole: design and fabrication of CO2 gun demo

Location

Maryland Science Center

Completed

2016

Handy Hydros

Goals

Design and build portable activities that demonstrate hydraulics in action

Design Details

Challenge: Facilitators can set up a challenge, such as saving a metal toy dinosaur from a vat of acid, and the user moves the magnet to complete the challenge
Durability: I wanted to make the activities out of everyday materials, but it still had to be durable enough to withstand being disassembled and packed for school visits. The devices didn’t need to be bombproof because a staff facilitator mediated the activity at all times.
Service: I used shoulder screws, bushings, and threaded inserts (tee-nuts) to make service as easy as possible. The syringes are held by a press-fit collar and can be removed without tools.

Roles

SV: Completed all tasks from design to documentation. Worked with Education staff to ensure their needs were met.

Dino Re-do

This dinosaur exhibit refurbishment consisted mainly of graphic work, with the exception of a fossil-replacement project.

The documentation on the 12-year-old exhibit was sparse, and the original builder would not return our calls, so we had to conduct experiments to determine the concrete formulas that would best match the existing concrete.

The structures could not be moved, so we built a dust containment structure and worked on the concrete in the gallery.

We cut out the old pieces using a large angle grinder, hammer drill, reciprocating saw, hammer, and cold chisel.

We supported the new pieces with concrete, and made future replacement easier by adding a layer of plastic between the new fossil and the concrete below. The fossils are secured by the concrete around the perimeter.

Above: a new fossil, ready for exploration

Roles

I served as project lead. In addition to museum staff, I had help from high school interns Ben Lapidus and Avi Wilcox. I taught them fabrication skills and they provided labor and dad jokes. Fossil casts were provided by the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Underwater Touch Wall

Goal

Replace an aging maintenance nightmare in the MSC Kids Room with a touchwall inspired by the deep sea.

Roles

SV: project management, design and fabrication oversight
Nilam Sari (intern): design, prototyping, artwork
Cole Pritchard: final design and fabrication