The First 5 Commands Every Rhino Beginner Should Learn
- Fyli Sissoko
- Oct 28
- 6 min read
Master these five Rhino 8 tools and you’re halfway to creating your first 3D model.
When you open Rhino for the first time, it can feel overwhelming. Icons, viewports, panels, and menus crowd your screen. But the power of Rhino lies in its command-driven workflow — type a command name (or use a toolbar button) and the magic happens. As a beginner, learning just a few foundational commands will let you start modeling, understanding control operations, and building confidence.
In this article, we’ll walk through the first five commands every Rhino beginner should master. These are the commands you’ll return to again and again as you build your skills.
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1. Line / Polyline — Drawing Basic Lines & Curves
Why it matters
In Rhino, nearly everything starts from a curve or line. Before you can build surfaces or solids, you usually draw profiles, contours, or silhouette curves. The Line or Polyline command is often your first tool.
How to use Line
Type Line in the command bar (or click the Line icon).
Rhino will ask for the Start point — click or type coordinates.
Then it asks for the End point — click or type coordinates.
Press Enter to finish.
Tip: A Polyline command adds multiple connected segments — you click a series of points; to finish, press Enter or right-click. Use it when you want a multi-segment broken line in one go.
How To Use Curve
Use the Curve command to draw a curve by clicking points.
Press Enter when finished to end the curve.
You can also use "CurveThroughPt" to create a curve that passes through a set of selected points.
For a more organic feel, use the Sketch command to draw a curve that follows your mouse movement.
Tips & tricks
Use Ortho (press F8) to constrain the line to 0°, 90°, 180°, etc.
Use SmartTrack to snap to temporary reference lines as you draw.
Use Object Snaps (Osnap) so you can snap to endpoints, midpoints, intersections etc. — your line will become precise.
If you type partial command name, Rhino may auto-complete (e.g. “Li” will suggest “Line”).
Once you can reliably draw lines and curves, you have the foundation to build surfaces, extrude, loft, or sweep.
2. Move — Repositioning Geometry
Why it matters
After drawing curves or surfaces, you’ll often want to reposition them — move pieces, align geometry, shift parts of your design. The Move (or Translate) command is fundamental for that.
How to use it
Select the geometry you want to move (curve, surface, mesh, etc.).
Type Move (or use the Move icon).
Rhino will ask for a Start point — pick a reference point on your object (or type coordinates).
Then it asks for a Target point — click or type where you want that point to go.
The selected object(s) shift accordingly.
Tips & tricks
Use Copy mode inside Move (type “c” when prompted) if you want to duplicate instead of relocating the original.
Use Ortho or SmartTrack to constrain movement along axes or reference directions.
Use Relative coordinates — after selecting start point, type something like @10,0,0 to move 10 units in X direction.
Combine Move + Osnap so your objects snap exactly to features of other geometry.
Mastering Move means you’ll no longer need to “guess” where to place geometry — you’ll be precise.
3. Rotate — Pivoting Around a Point
Why it matters
You’ll often need to rotate objects — e.g., align a feature, orient a shape, spin a part around a pivot. Rotate is your friend for orientation tasks.
How to use it
Select the object(s) to rotate.
Type Rotate (or click Rotate icon).
Rhino will ask for a Center of rotation — pick a pivot point.
Then it asks for a Start angle — pick a reference direction (or accept default).
Then enter or click the End angle — how far to rotate (in degrees).
Tips & tricks
Use Ortho or angle snapping for consistent angle steps (like 45°, 90°).
Use Copy inside Rotate (type “c”) to rotate a copy instead of changing the original.
Use Reference option (type “r”) — you click the start angle and then define a new end reference; helpful for aligning.
Use negative angles (e.g. -90) to rotate clockwise.
Rotate often pairs with Move and Scale in your transformation toolbox.
4. Scale — Resizing Geometry
Why it matters
Scaling lets you change the size of objects — from making small tweaks to overall resizing. You’ll often scale sketches, parts, or imported pieces to fit within a model.
How to use it
Select the object(s) to scale.
Type Scale (or use Scale icon).
Rhino asks for a Reference point — pick a base point (the “anchor”).
Then Reference length — pick a point or enter a value to define the current length reference.
Finally, enter or click New length or a Scale factor (like 2.0 to double size).
Tips & tricks
Use Scale1D or Scale2D commands if you want to scale in just one or two directions.
Use Gumball scale handles (if enabled) for quick interactive scaling without typing commands.
Use Copy mode (type “c”) if you want to keep the original and create a scaled version.
Use numeric scale: e.g. if reference length is 10 and new length is 20, that is a scale factor of 2.
Combining scale with move and rotation gives flexibility to reposition and reshape your design.
5. Trim / Split / Boolean — Editing and Cutting Geometry
Why it matters
At some point you’ll want to cut away parts of geometry, split curves, or subtract shapes. Trim, Split, and Boolean commands are how you shape, refine, and clean your design.
Trim
Select the “cutters” — the objects or curves that will trim other geometry.
Press Enter.
Select the portions you want to remove (click to remove).
Press Enter to end the command.
Trim is handy for slicing curves or surfaces at intersections.
Split
Select the object to split.
Then select the cutting object (curve, surface, etc.).
Press Enter.
Rhino splits the object into pieces along the intersection.
You can then delete or use parts.
Split is cleaner when you want multiple pieces rather than just discard a portion.
Boolean commands (Union / Difference / Intersection)
Boolean Union: combine two solids into one.
Boolean Difference: subtract one solid from another.
Boolean Intersection: keep the overlapping volume between solids.
These allow powerful modeling operations — for example, subtracting holes or combining complex volumes.
Tips & tricks
Always ensure objects are closed polysurfaces when performing booleans — open surfaces often fail.
Use ShowEdges to check for naked or non-manifold edges before boolean operations.
Use Split when boolean fails — sometimes splitting and manually deleting gives you more control.
Use Undo (Ctrl+Z) to revert if a trim or boolean misbehaves.
Bonus Tips: Osnap, SmartTrack, and Command Prompt Control
These aren’t single “commands,” but features you must use to level up from beginner to confident modeler.
Osnap (Object Snap)
Toggle Osnap (F3).
Use endpoint, midpoint, intersection, perpendicular, and tangent snaps to snap precisely to geometry.
Osnap ensures you are not eyeballing — your modeling becomes precise.
SmartTrack
SmartTrack helps you draw along reference lines and temporary guides.
It uses lines, points, and direction cues as you draw to guide your cursor.
Enable it via the status bar or SmartTrack command.
Command Prompt Options
When you initiate a command, Rhino often shows options (e.g., for Move: Copy=, Reference=, Undo=).
Type the letter shortcut (e.g. “C” for copy) and press Enter to switch modes mid-command.
Use relative coordinates vs. absolute — prefix “@” to enter relative values (for example @5,0,0).
Use history-aware commands and know when Rhino records relationships.
Conclusion & Next Steps
By mastering these five commands — Line / Polyline, Move, Rotate, Scale, and Trim / Split / Boolean — you give yourself a solid foundation. You’ll be able to draw, transform, edit, and shape geometry confidently. And when you combine these with Osnap, SmartTrack, and smart use of the command prompt, you’ll be on your way to modeling real 3D forms.
But this is just the beginning. As you practice, you’ll explore surface commands (Loft, Sweep, Revolve), solid creation (Box, Extrude, Shell), editing (Fillet, Chamfer), and more.
If you liked this guide and want structured, step-by-step support to go from beginner to confident Rhino user, join my Rhino 3D course. Inside, you’ll build real projects, get feedback, and learn industry workflows.
Do you have a simple shape in mind you’d love to model in Rhino but don’t know how? Send me a sketch or description in the comments or via my contact form, and I’ll walk you through which commands to use and in what order. Let’s build it together in the course.
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