Documentation | NurbsCAD

Install

1
Get the folder
Your purchase downloads a ZIP: the plug-in, your certificate, a read-me and the terms of use. Extract it first. Lost it? The license portal downloads the plug-in again with your certificate and its password.
2
Drop it onto Rhino 8
Drag NurbsCAD.yak from the extracted folder onto an open Rhino 8 window, rather than double-clicking it: Rhino installs the plug-in and loads it. For an update, drag the new version in the same way, then restart Rhino.
3
Open the toolbar
In the command line, type NcadToolbar and press Enter.

Command: NcadMakePlan
Objects to cut <All>:
Cut height (Z, m) <1.00> ( Placement=Beside ):

NcadToolbar: Opens the CAD toolbar, or closes it when it is showing.
NcadFullMode: Turns Rhino into CAD mode.
NcadExitMode: Leaves CAD mode: Rhino comes back as it was.
NcadMakePlan: Draws the plan of the model cut at a height.
NcadAutoHatch: Fills the section solid.
NcadLayout: Makes an A3 landscape layout of the last plan, with its title block.

Prompts are in French when Rhino is in French, in English otherwise.

A Rhino panel: the first time, it takes a tab beside Layers, on the right. After that, Rhino reopens it where you left it.
The tools are laid out like AutoCAD’s ribbon: Draw, Modify, Annotate, Layers, then From the model (plan, hatches, layout).
Each button runs Rhino’s command, as Rhino’s own buttons do: a click ends the command in progress.
One, two or three columns depending on the panel’s width. Its look follows Rhino, light or dark.

Typed in the command line, AutoCAD’s short names run Rhino’s tools: L, PL, C, A, REC, H, M, CO, RO, MI, O, TR, EX, F, DIM, T, LA, E, X, J, SC, Z.

They last while Rhino runs with NurbsCAD, and never stay in Rhino’s settings.
A name Rhino already uses keeps its meaning: in French Rhino, A (Undo), O (Ortho) and Z (Zoom) stay Rhino’s.
The panel shows the short name beside each tool. A check box turns them off or back on; they are on by default.

NcadFullMode, or the panel’s CAD mode button: Rhino becomes a 2D drafting table.

The Top view fills the window, in wireframe, on NurbsCAD’s night blue.
Rhino’s toolbars step aside; the command line moves to the bottom, in large type.
The crosshair spans the view, and black lines, text and dimensions show light, as in AutoCAD on a dark background.
The « Exit CAD mode » button, at the view’s top right, puts Rhino back as it was. Nothing in the model changes.
Rhino closed in CAD mode, or stopped short: everything is back in place at the next start.

Pick the objects (Enter takes everything visible), then the cut height.
The section, in closed outlines ready to hatch, goes on the NurbsCAD::Section layer. What is seen below it, hidden lines removed, goes on NurbsCAD::Projection.
The plan lands beside the model (Beside, the default) or under it (InPlace), flat on Z = 0.

Fills each closed outline of the section layers solid. A room inside a wall stays empty.
Walls that overlap fill as one piece.
Run again, the command replaces the hatches it made.

A3 landscape, with a frame 10 mm from the edge.
The last plan, at the largest usual scale that fits: 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200…
A title block at the bottom right (project, drawing, scale, date, drawn by, sheet), as text to edit with a double-click.

Certificate and password: Your license is a PDF certificate in your name, opened by the password you chose when buying. We keep no copy of either: keep a backup of the certificate.
Download again: Drop the certificate on the license portal, type the password, download.
Forgot the password: On the same page, choose “Forgot your password?”: a code goes to the email in the certificate, and you set a new password. Use the new certificate file from then on.
Major updates: Every update of your version is included. A new major version is pay what you want, €1 to €25, from the upgrade panel; your certificate is reissued with your grade. The amount only supports the creator: the plug-in is the same at every grade.
Student or Pro: Student is for studies and teaching, without commercial work. Pro covers commercial work. Details in the terms of use.

Something does not work as described? Write to us with your Rhino version and what you see. Never send your certificate password, to us or anyone.