Connecting a Forma Project to Rhino

Demo

• With the plug-in installed, open the relevant project data in Rhino.

The Rhino project is now connected to the Forma project, and data can be fetched from Forma to Rhino to utilize the capabilities of both programs in the design workflow.

• In Forma Site Design:
• Create a new, empty proposal. In this example, the proposal is named “Rhino Empty site”.
• Copy the URL.

• In Rhino:
• With the project open in the Perspective view, make sure that the Forma Plug-In panel is open and docked.
• Paste the Forma Project URL into the Enter Project URL field in the Forma Plug-In Panel.

• Expand the Select a Proposal drop-down and select a proposal to copy the Rhino elements into.
• Optional: You can choose the Rhino layers to send to Forma.
• Click Load Site Data.
• When importing data from the Forma project, you will be presented with Open Data Attributions messages that show data acknowledgements or data export restrictions that are relevant to the country and location.

The Forma data that is now viewable on the Rhino canvas includes the site limit, which works as a reference object.

• If the site limit does not align with the Rhino geometry, it can be rotated and moved without changing the location of the project in Forma.

To lock the layers used for the Rhino geometries:

• In the Layers panel, under Default, next to each of the numbered layers, click the Lock.
• Next to Original site limit, click the Lock.

To select and move the site limit:

• Under Forma layers, right-click Site limits, and then click Select Objects.
• Select the site limit on the Rhino canvas.
• Enter Move in the Rhino command line.

• Use the cursor to click and drag the site limit until it aligns with the Rhino geometry.

Be sure to locate the site limit properly before baking the Forma elements into the Rhino model. Once they are baked, those elements will shift with the site limit.

Then, select the Forma elements to bake:

• In the Forma panel, hover the cursor over each of the Forma elements—Terrain, Buildings, and Roads.
• Click the visibility icon to change which elements display on the canvas.

• Click Bake next to each Forma layer to be baked into the Rhino project.

After baking the Buildings and Terrain into the project, the Forma elements changed to mesh objects with their own layers in Rhino.

• In Rhino:
• Open the Forma Plug-In panel.
• Click Send Layers to Forma.

• Map the Rhino layers to Forma layers as desired.
• In Forma:
• Select the proposal to which you’ve sent the Rhino layers.
• If the data does not appear immediately, refresh the page.

• The Rhino model displays on the Forma canvas.
• Perform the Desired Analyses in Forma
• For example, to evaluate the Area Metrics:
• In the right panel, click Area Metrics to see the site data, including the gross floor area, rentable area, and floor area ratio.