7 Rhino Tips That Will Change How You Model

Rhino is one of the most powerful 3D modelling tools available — but it can be overwhelming for beginners and frustrating for those who’ve picked up bad habits. Whether you’re just starting out or have been tinkering with Rhino for a while, I’m here to give you the seven tips I share with all my students — the ones that actually transform your workflow.

Some of these will feel like small changes. Others might challenge what you thought Rhino could do. But by the end, you’ll be flying. And stick around for the final tip — it’s easily my biggest pro-tip, though some might find it controversial.

1. Understand and Control Your Interface

Your interface is your cockpit. You need to know where everything is and what it’s telling you.

On the right, keep your Layer Manager and Object Properties panels docked and always visible. These are non-negotiables. Below that, you’ll want quick tabs for Materials, Render Settings, Named Views, and Display Modes — nothing more unless you’re working with something specific.

On the left, always have Command History visible. This is your direct line to understanding how Rhino is interpreting your actions. It’s not just about catching errors — it’s about reading under the hood of your model. Was that last command successful? Did you select what you thought you did? Rhino’s command history will tell you. Also on the left, keep Osnap and Selection Filters available as collapsible tabs. They’re essential, but you don’t want them taking up unnecessary space.

2. Master the Gumball

The Gumball is Rhino’s Swiss army knife. With it, you can move, scale, rotate, extrude, and duplicate with precision and speed — all directly in the viewport.

Most people only use the basic drag and rotate tools. But did you know there are over 25 unique actions possible with the Gumball? From Alt/Opt-dragging to duplicate, to Ctrl/Cmd-moving, to snapping angles while rotating — there’s a whole language of efficiency built into that colourful widget.

Mastering it means you stop typing commands and start modelling directly and intuitively. When I teach Rhino, I run what I call "Gumball Bootcamp". Every student goes through it. Why? Because if you’re not using the Gumball fluently, you’re missing out on half of Rhino’s power.

3. Mastering Selection Methods

Selection is a subtle art in Rhino — and knowing how to control it is a game-changer.

Start with spending 2 minutes to master the fence selection:

• Left to right "soft selection" (window selection) grabs only objects fully enclosed within the rectangle.

• Right to left "hard selection" (crossing selection) will include anything the box touches — even just a corner.

Then dive into Rhino’s powerful select ("Sel...") commands like SelCrv, SelSrf, SelClippingPlane. These are perfect for quickly isolating and managing specific types of geometry — and there are over 20 of them!

And don’t forget Selection Filters — the small panel that lets you limit selection to curves, surfaces, lights, points, or whatever else you’re working with. Target and select exactly what you want, every time!

Pro-tip: Free-modelling in Rhino is truly unlocked with the Sub-object selection (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Click) and the Gumball!

4. Layer Management – The Architecture of Your File

After 3 seconds of seeing a student's Rhino file I can assume their ability level, and layers is a big give away. Rhino doesn’t have an outliner like some other 3D tools, so layers are your prime method for organisation.

Use layers and sublayers for everything — not just for visibility, but to manage complexity. Proper layer discipline means you can:

• Select entire groups easily

• Assign materials by layer

• Control lineweights for documentation

• Toggle display settings and hide geometry intuitively and so so much more

Think of layers as the foundation for every other workflow — especially if you’re planning to render or export for documentation. Your future self will thank you, I promise that.

Quick tip: Right-click ‘New Layer’ to create a new layer with a random colour. It makes sorting things easier visually and keeps your file less grey.

5. Viewport Settings – Your Secret Visual Weapon

Here’s a trick: wireframe, shaded, rendered — these aren’t rigid display types. They’re customisable presets, and you can (and should) tweak them.

Start by adjusting your working viewports to show what you actually want: disable isocurves, reduce edge thickness (why is the default still 2px?), tweak lighting and shadows for clarity.

These tweaks aren’t just cosmetic. They change how you see and interact with your model — and how others perceive it when you present. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll never go back to default.

Keep an eye out for a future post on how I use viewport settings to generate a unique master layer to streamline post-production workflows with Photoshop that saves hours of tedious render editing.

6. Shortcuts and Aliases – Building Muscle Memory!

This one’s simple: learn your shortcuts. And customise them.

Rhino lets you set up aliases (short strings that trigger commands) and customise your shortcuts. Build these into your muscle memory early on and they will save you literal days of time over your career.

A few habits to develop:

• Enter/return, Right Click, and Spacebar are the same and all have an ideal use case!

• Also, they all recall your last command — so stop retyping it!

• Use M + Enter for move, Z + Enter to zoom, J + Enter for Join and so on — save your keyboard for essay writing!

• Set up aliases that suit you — make BD run a Boolean Difference, or let SL toggle layer visibility.

These are small changes that compound into massive efficiency gains which can add up to hours lost every week!

7. Grasshopper!

I believe strongly that Grasshopper should be taught in parallel to Rhino, right from the off. Not as a separate, advanced add-on — but as part of the same design language and workflow.

Since 2020, Grasshopper became fully integrated into Rhino 6. It’s not a plug-in anymore— it’s an integral part of the software. And it’s not just for parametric nerds, even the most basic workflows benefit from GH.

Need to build stairs, structure, facade systems, anything modular or iterative? Grasshopper is the key and can save you hours of re-modelling pain in Rhino alone.

The real secret? GH gives you the ability to test, tweak, and refine as you design— to build smarter geometry, faster and more accurately.

My last pro-tip is building a suite of simple GH scripts for specific use cases (like stairs for instance) that you can rely on and re-use forever for future projects!

👉 Keep reading my next post: Why Grasshopper is a Must-Learn for all Rhino Users

Want even more Rhino tips?

If you found any of these tips helful, or if you want to seriously level up your Rhino skill, I offer tailored 1-on-1 lessons for designers, students, and professionals alike. My sessions flexible and shaped to your needs, focused on building knowledge, confidence, and efficiency. More details below!