Setup Rhino 3D OSX Keyboard Shortcuts like a Pro. Part 2 of 3

by SEFERINO on NOVEMBER 20, 2011

This is part 2 in 3 of my series of Guides on getting the most out of Rhino 3D OSX WIP.  Rhino 3D is an incredibly flexible, powerful NURBs modeler. The OSX version stands to revolutionize 3D modeling again, now on the Mac platform.  However, the WIP (Work in Progress) necessarily has some things that aren’t ironed out yet. Especially in the User Interface (UI). These Guides should help.

Perhaps the biggest hindrances to users new to the OSX version especially, is a lack of quality instruction on How to Use and Control Rhino in the most efficient manner possible. As the Rhino 5 Help files are neither complete, nor polished yet, I feel new users really need some guidance from existing Pros to distill the interface elements down to the most important.

This is about simplifying the learning process.

80 / 20 Rule: Approximately 20% of the Interface elements and controls do 80% of the work. Which ones? Read on.   This is obviously very subjective, these are MY 20%, and I’m fine with that.

Jog then Run: Once you can perform the basics efficiently, digging deeper into the powerful commands becomes more fun and productive.  Without the basics… any complex program is frustrating.     I’ve had ten years modeling with Rhino 3 & 4 for windows, and 15 with Adobe’s Creative Suite, working as a professional furniture, product and interior designer.  For me, Rhino is king for speed.

Give us a Tip, Maestro

I will integrate any well-thought-out tips, advice and suggestions from other professionals into this Guide, just email me.Or comment if it’s real simple, but I prefer an email.

Since Rhino OSX has not yet implemented in-program Keyboard Shortcut management (henceforth: KeyCuts),  nor are we certain they will be, we’ll need to rely entirely on OSX’s configuration.  This means that only Single Commands accessible from the top Menu, e.g.  “Dimension > Linear Dimension” can be set in Mac Keyboard Shortcuts, not multi-command macros.  This is a limitation of Mac OSX, which is  otherwise broadly useful. While inconvenient, and death to Macros, lets hope this is a temporary state of affairs.

AKA: Aliases?

Aliases are closely related to Keyboard Shortcuts, since both can drive Rhino 3D by the command line.  They involve typing one or more keys followed by space to trigger a command, or a command macro. This is way more flexible than Menu Commands as I will explain in part 3 of 3 of these Guides, on Aliases.  For now we’ll focus on KeyCuts that can be triggered with one quick motion.  Commands that need only Picks or Selections, or Tools are ideal for KeyCuts.  More complex? We’ll use Aliases.

Some may argue, “Aliases and KeyCuts seem nearly the same”… but only superficially.  When you’re clicking literally thousands of buttons a day, being forced to repeat the same few wasted motions over and over is mentally distracting, it obviously slows the construction & iteration process and impedes the efficiency of ‘craft’ in 3D modeling.

But I like the mouse!

John_Brock recently jibed in the R-osx forums:  ”If one hand is on the mouse and the other on the keyboard, how do you eat your Cheetos?”

You don’t!  Cheetos stain your brain!  Nightmares of Cheetos squashed on Keyboard.

Mac Key Symbol conventions

⌘ : Command key,  ⌃ : Control key,  ⇧ : Shift key,  ⌥ : Alt/Option key

Lefties get Loosy! These are written for a Right ‘Mousing’ humanoid, using the Left hand for Shortcuts.  If you’re one of those special folk, get a grip on shortcut placement, reach and priority. Then set yours up for the right side of the keyboard. i.e: F8-12 & = – 0 9 8 are Prime real-estate for you.

KeyCut CAD Jockey Jargon

• Modifier Combo: ⌘,⌃, ⇧,⌥ and combos thereof, held down with Thumb and/or Pinkie finger.
• Single Key: The keyboard key you press after the modifiers are held down, defined for clarity.  See 59 Single Keys below.
• Command: This is the Rhino OSX Command, like Document Properties, not the command key, where I’ll use the ⌘ symbol.
• Prime real-estate: Are all the Single Keys which are the shortest distance away from the ⌘ Modifier keys, this varies per user.  Generally, 1234 & F1-4, maybe 5,6.  Some Letters too.
• Reachability: How hard it is to reach the Single key, while holding down the Modifier Combos.  This depends on the complexity of the Modifier Combo.  Single Modifiers & Duplets are preferred to increase Reachability (see below).

Note: That if you’re a Rhino 4 pugilist, only Menu Commands can be set from within Mac Keyboard Prefs, we can’t use the Command Line version of familiar commands like ExtrudeCrv, you must find and use the Menu full-name version, such as Extrude Curve.

“Drunken-Rhino” Style

 This is where your NURB jabbers go.

590 ways to Kick-Ascii

Mac Keyboard Preferences can program a rough total of 590 possible shortcuts. Thats just too dorky for words, so we need to ‘chunk’ them into Prime & Sub-prime real-estate groups, but for the “wow thats Math!” factor, here’s the raw dorkness.

10 Modifier Combos: Only Shift ⇧ cannot be used as a modifier alone.

• ⌘, ⌥, ⌃, (Single-Modifiers)
• ⌘⌥, ⌘⇧, ⌥⇧, ⌃⌥, (Duplets)
• ⌃⌥⇧, ⌘⌥⇧, (Triplets)
• ⌃⌘⌥⇧ (All Four)

59 Single Keys:

• 47 Single Keys with a character on it: =-0987654321\][poiuytrewq’;lkjhgfdsa/.,mnbvcxz
• 12  F-Keys F1-12 keys, not counting 13-15.  (These count twice, as they also run without a Modifier Combo)

“Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys” must be checked in Keyboard Prefs to use them as such. You’ll need to us Fn + F-key for Volume, Brightness, etc.  I Hope you have a Fn key!

That’s a metric ton of shortcuts, requiring Mensa Memory to recall a fraction of ‘em. I think 20-30 is PLENTY to give you that Speedy Finger Feeling, and a few dozen more can be hidden under Single Keys that start with the same letter as the Command.

Prime Real Estate

Worth Park Place ($350) and Boardwalk ($400) combined, charge your clients a mint when you land here.

Rhino OSX KeyCuts by Category

I’ve ordered these roughly by their priority, and commonness.

Keep in mind, I almost never use 4 Viewports (Top, Front, Right & Persp all at once) , which is something of an outdated method if you ask me, but work in the Perspective Viewport exclusively.  For this reason, I change my Construction Planes a lot, and my KeyCuts reflect the preference.  I believe working mainly in the Perspective Viewport maintains a better sense of artistic proportion, sense of 3D space, gives you 400% more screen space for your model, and generally makes you a better modeler over time.  It’s like removing the training wheels, and requires YOU to know ‘which way is up.’ Rhino has PLENTY of tools to constrain movements in X Y Z or any other vector, without switching your view.

Setting Cplanes

Command	KeyCut	Description
Origin	F1	Sets (Resets) the Cplane Origin to a picked point.
3 Points	⌘F1	Pick 3 points to establish the x, y, z of the Cplane.
To Object	⌘⌥F1	Sets the Cplane to an object.
Elevation	⌘⇧F1	Changes the elevation (move in z-direction) of the Cplane.
World Top	F2	Sets the Cplane to World Top
World Front	F3	Sets the Cplane to World Front
World Right	F4	Sets the Cplane to World Right

Tips for using these KeyCuts to Set Cplanes

1. These Cplane KeyCuts save a whole lot of time if you stay in Perspective and learn them like the back of your hand.
2. Show Named Views Panel allows the saving and restoring of Cplanes at unusual orientations or specific locations.
3. Hit F2, F3, or F4 then Hit F1 in the same motion if needed.  You’ll switch to Top, Front or Right Cplane, then pick the new origin.
4. To Object is really fast when you want to set the Cplane to an object’s face.  Downside: It uses the underlying Face’s XY orientation, so Nudge may be backwards 2 different ways. Use 3 Points then.
5. Want to just Raise or Lower the XY Cplane?  Use Elevation, and Raise / Lower or type in a + / – distance value.

Locking, Visibility, Control Point Editing

Command	KeyCut	Description
Change Object Layer	⌘1	Move a Selected Object to a new layer, Optionally make that layer active.
Free	⌘⌥1	-
Free	⌘⇧1	-
Lock	⌘2	Prevent Editing of selected objects. Snaps can still activate over locked Obj.
Unlock	⌘⌥2	Unlock ALL locked objects. Use Unlock Selected to select which to unlock.
Free	⌘⇧2	-
Hide	⌘3	Hide selected objects. Try Hide Others also… which nicely isolates selected.
Show	⌘⌥3	Unhide ALL hidden objects. Use Show Selected to pick which to show.
Free	⌘⇧3
Control Points On	⌘4	Turn ON control points. Allow editing of an objects defining control points.
Control Points Off	⌘⌥4	Points back OFF. Objects edit and move as wholes, or groups again.
Free	⌘⇧5	-
Free	⌘⇧5	-
Free	⌘⌥5	-

Selection, Grouping

Command	KeyCut	Description
Insert	⌘I	Insert a file as a Block into the model, with Position, Scale & Rotation options.
Invert	⌘⇧I	Selects everything else except what is selected.
Group	⌘G	Makes a group of selected objects, that will select and transform together.
Ungroup	⌘⇧G	Breaks a group back down into Objects, or sub-groups (if there were any.)
Remove from Group	⌘⌥G
Block	⌘B	Makes a Block from Selected objects, then replaces it with an instance.
Block Manager	⌘⇧B	Popup: Update, Relink, & Delete Blocks in your file.

Two handed, but often the Mnemonic on the initial letter should take precedence over reachability.

Note: Not all possible Free  locations are shown, just  ⌘⇧, & ⌘⌥ for simplicity.  See all possibilities below.