Launching & Previews

Start the Rhino environment inside AutoCAD, then learn the first core behaviour — the geometry preview.

Launching Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD

With the plug-in loaded, you can start the Rhino environment from inside AutoCAD.

  1. In AutoCAD, run the RHINO command — either by typing RHINO at the command line or by clicking the Rhino button on the Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD toolbar.
  2. A brief loading screen appears while the Rhino engine starts.
  3. The Rhino window opens alongside AutoCAD, running in full (windowed) mode.

Rhino launched inside AutoCAD Rhino running inside the AutoCAD session after the RHINO command.

You now have Rhino and AutoCAD running together in the same session. A few things worth knowing:

  • Units are converted, not forced to match. Rhino and AutoCAD can each use their own unit system — Rhino.Inside.AutoCAD converts between them as geometry is exchanged, so everything stays at the correct scale regardless of the two settings.
  • It's the same Rhino. This is a full Rhino 8 instance — your installed plug-ins and Grasshopper add-ons are available.
  • One environment per session. Running RHINO again won't start a second Rhino; it brings you back to the running instance.

Checkpoint. You should have the Rhino window open next to AutoCAD.

  • If you do, the environment is running correctly and you're ready to preview geometry.

If something went wrong:

The Rhino Geometry Preview

The preview is how Rhino geometry becomes visible inside the AutoCAD viewport. This is the first core behaviour to understand.

See geometry in the AutoCAD viewport

  1. With Rhino open, create some simple geometry in Rhino — for example, draw a Box or a Sphere.
  2. Switch to AutoCAD. The Rhino geometry is drawn in the AutoCAD viewport as a preview, overlaid on your drawing.
  3. Can't see it? You may need to zoom in or out in AutoCAD to bring the preview into view — type ZOOM ▸ Extents (or double-click the mouse wheel) so the view frames everything, including the new geometry.

Rhino geometry previewed in the AutoCAD viewport Geometry modelled in Rhino, previewed live inside AutoCAD.

Notice: the preview is not in your drawing

Try to click the Rhino geometry in AutoCAD — you can't. It doesn't highlight, you can't grip-edit it, and it won't appear in a selection window. That's because the preview is a transient overlay, not an AutoCAD object.

Now do the reverse — select the geometry in Rhino and watch the AutoCAD viewport: the preview changes to the selection colour. This is the live link at work: AutoCAD is mirroring Rhino's selection state, even though the geometry only "lives" in Rhino.

Key concept — the preview is transient. Preview geometry is drawn live in the viewport but is not part of the AutoCAD drawing database. It can't be selected or manipulated in AutoCAD, it won't be saved with the .dwg, and it won't appear in selections, schedules, or exports. To turn it into a real, editable AutoCAD object you must bake it (see Grasshopper and Baking).

Toggle preview visibility

You don't always want the Rhino preview on top of your drawing. Use the toggle to show or hide it:

  • Run TOGGLE_RHINO_PREVIEW (or click its toolbar button) to switch the Rhino preview on/off. The toolbar icon updates to reflect the current state.

Rhino preview toggled off The same view with TOGGLE_RHINO_PREVIEW used to hide the Rhino preview.

Practise toggling the preview on and off and orbiting the AutoCAD view. Getting comfortable with what the preview is — a live, non-saved overlay — is the foundation for everything that follows.