Hi HN. I work in Rhino 3D, and for years the thing I wanted most was to edit the same model at the same time as my colleagues, the way you'd share a Google Doc or Minecraft server. It never existed in a form that was actually usable.
The options were always the same: email .3dm files back and forth and merge changes by hand, or set up the collaboration features in BIM software like Revit, which take so many steps and so much configuration that nobody on a small team bothers. The few Rhino sync plugins I tried were fragile and needed constant manual syncing. So I built the thing I wanted.
RhinoCollab is a Rhino plugin plus a server. Several people edit the same model live, move an object and everyone sees it move. The scene lives on the server permanently, so people come and go, work alone or together, and the project owner doesn't need to be online. You install the plugin, invite your team, and you're working together. No file merging, nothing to configure past the install.
It's finished and tested across plenty of sessions. It's a paid subscription where the host pays and invited collaborators join for free. I'd love feedback, especially from anyone who's fought with collaboration in CAD before. Happy to answer anything.
This is really cool! I work across the world w/ all kinds of other leading archs at early stage with limited timelines, in situations before everyone starts bimming it up. Seems promising, i will look into it for my next one.
Honestly never met a studio that uses onshape, not sure how it handles all the nurbs, heavy polys and structural things native to rhino and other architecture CAD conventions like blocks and annotations. seems good to work through parts assemblies and collaborating with solidworks and fabricators. But most architecture studios seem to have their own janky rhino before schematic.
The options were always the same: email .3dm files back and forth and merge changes by hand, or set up the collaboration features in BIM software like Revit, which take so many steps and so much configuration that nobody on a small team bothers. The few Rhino sync plugins I tried were fragile and needed constant manual syncing. So I built the thing I wanted.
RhinoCollab is a Rhino plugin plus a server. Several people edit the same model live, move an object and everyone sees it move. The scene lives on the server permanently, so people come and go, work alone or together, and the project owner doesn't need to be online. You install the plugin, invite your team, and you're working together. No file merging, nothing to configure past the install.
It's finished and tested across plenty of sessions. It's a paid subscription where the host pays and invited collaborators join for free. I'd love feedback, especially from anyone who's fought with collaboration in CAD before. Happy to answer anything.