Libraries

Toolbar Menu

Render Tools

Render / Window

Panels > Libraries

The Libraries command opens the Libraries panel, to manage libraries of materials, textures, and environments.

  • Render content can be saved to files creating external libraries that can be shared between models.

  • The Libraries panel displays a view into the content folders you have set up.

  • Drag and drop content items into the model to embed the content items.

  • Content items can also be dragged between Rhino sessions or into a folder.

  • Set up content libraries in Options > Render Libraries.

  • When a material or an environment is added to a model from the Libraries panel, and the material or environment contains texture images that do not exist on the local computer, Rhino will download the texture images from the Internet. The DownloadLibraryTextures command downloads all online contents to the computer for offline use.

  • Materials (*.rmtl), textures (*.rtex), and environments (*.renv) are stored in the Render Content folder by default. You can copy the files in the folder from a version of Rhino to another. Render contents may not be fully compatible between different versions.

Render Libraries Panel

The Render Libraries panel only lists render content and image files. For other file types, use the File Explorer panel.

Container options

Go back

Go to the previously selected folder.

Go forward

Go to the next folder after using "Go back".

Search box

Enter a query string to filter items in the current folder and its sub-folders.

Quick search

Shows a list of query strings. The list is split into two sections.

  • The upper section contains the search query records.
  • The lower section collects the words from the names of the currently selected items. For example, when a material named "Matte Silver" is selected, "Matte" and "Silver" will be listed.
Clear search history

Deletes the search query records in the upper section.

Filters
Show materials

Lists material files (*.rmtl) in the selected folder and its sub-folders.

Show environments

Lists environment files (*.revn) in the selected folder and its sub-folders.

Show textures

Lists texture files (*.jpg, *.bmp, etc) in the selected folder and its sub-folders.

Use regular expression

Allows using Regular expressions in the search query string.

Thumbnail size slider

The thumbnail size slider is located at the bottom of the Libraries panel. Moving the slider to 0% lists the items without thumbnails.

Grid view

Shows items in rows and columns.

List view

Stacks items vertically in a single column.

Options menu

Render Content

Opens the Render Content folder.

Documents

Opens the Documents folder.

Custom folders

The folders added in Rhino Options > Render Libraries.

Add current folder

Adds the current folder to the menu.

Settings

Opens the Rhino Options > Render Libraries page.

Download all library textures

Runs the DownloadLibraryTextures command which runs through the entire list of materials in the material library and downloads all of the required bitmap files from the Rhino server to the local computer. After that, any material can be used from the library without being online.

Show all files under current folder

Lists files in the current folder and any sub-folders.

Right-click context menu

Right-click an item in the Libraries panel to select actions.

Import to Material Editor / Texture Palette / Environment Editor

Copies the item to the panel based on the item type.

Assign To Objects

Assigns the material / texture to the selected object.

  • When the computer is disconnected from Internet, materials, textures, and environments using online files cannot be used.
Assign To Ground Plane

Assigns the material / texture to the ground plane.

When a texture is assigned to an object or the Ground Plane, a custom material will be created.

Open

Views the item in the associated application.

Edit

Edits the item in the associated application.

Cut

Copies the selected item to the Clipboard for moving it to a different folder.

Copy

Copies the selected item to the Clipboard.

Paste

Creates a new item based on the contents of the Clipboard.

Duplicate

Creates a new item from the selected item.

Delete

Deletes the selected item.

Rename

Edits the item name.

Tiny

Sets the thumbnail size to the smallest size.

Small

Sets the thumbnail size to the smaller size.

Medium

Sets the thumbnail size to medium size.

Large

Sets the thumbnail size to large size.

Select All

Selects all items in the current folder.

Open containing folder

Opens the current folder in File Explorer.

Properties

Views the file properties of the item.

Render Libraries Options

Tools > Options > Render Libraries

Folders

Show render content

Displays the "Render Content" folder in the Options menu of the Libraries panel.

Use default library location

Opens the following folder by default.

%AppData%\McNeel\Rhinoceros\8.0\Localization\<Language ID>\Render Content

Custom

Opens a custom folder by default.

Browse

Click the Browse button to select a folder.

Show "Documents" folder

Displays the current user's "Documents" folder in the Options menu of the Libraries panel.

Show custom folders

Displays the folders listed below in the Options menu of the Libraries panel.

New

Adds a new folder to the list.

Delete

Deletes the selected folder from the list.

Move Up

Moves the selected folder up in the list.

Move Down

Moves the selected folder down in the list.

Initial folder

Displays one of these folders in the new Rhino window.

Last opened folder
Render content folder
Custom Folder

Save option settings for use on other computers

OptionsExport

Save Options settings to a file.

OptionsImport

Restore Options settings from a file.

See also

Options

Manage global options.