KeyShot Plugins

KeyShot for Rhinoceros Plugin

Version 1.1

These installation notes are specific to the latest version KeyShot, Rhinoceros (Rhino) and the KeyShot for Rhino plugin, unless otherwise mentioned. For questions about other versions, please contact [email protected]

Specifications

The KeyShot for Rhino plugin requirements are as follows:

• KeyShot 2023 (Try | Buy)

• Rhino 7
• Windows 10 and later

• MacOS 11.7 or later

Plugins for previous versions of KeyShot are available here.

Supported Features

The KeyShot for Rhino plugin supports these features:

• Support for meshes, surfaces and solids
• Maintain layer structure
• Maintain color and texture assignment
• Hidden objects on layers stay hidden
• Local axis support for layered parts
• LiveLinking (update model inside KeyShot)
• Export KeyShot .bip without KeyShot installed
• NURBS import

Installation 

1. After downloading, double-click the .rhi (Windows) or .dmg (MacOS) file.
2. Follow the prompts inside the installation wizard and click Close.

KeyShot for Rhino (Windows)

Once installed, three KeyShot buttons will appear inside Rhino.

Render / Export

• Render: Left-click the KeyShot button to launch KeyShot and transfer the The 3D data. 
• Export: Right-click the KeyShot button to export your geometry as a .BIP file that you can share with other KeyShot users. KeyShot will not launch.

Update
Left-click the KeyShot Update button, while an existing KeyShot scene is open, to update any changes on your model.

Help
Left-click on the KeyShot Help button to launch this page in a browser.

How To Use The Plugin (Windows)

1. Open your scene or model in Rhino.
2. Left-click the Render button to launch KeyShot. The 3D data will be transferred from Rhino to KeyShot. 
3. To update any changes made in Rhino, left-click the KeyShot Update button, while your KeyShot scene is open. All materials, textures, labels, animations, transformations, cameras, and lighting in the scene will be updated. 

Troubleshooting

Show Missing KeyShot Button (Windows)

1. Go to Rhino, Main Menu, Tools, Toolbar Layout.  
2. The Rhino Options window will appear. Under the Toolbars option you will have two files: default and KeyShot11Plugin. Select KeyShot11Plugin.
3. Enable KeyShot 11 inside the Toolbars box/list and click OK.
4. The button will re-appear, floating in the middle of the interface, so you may dock it as desired.

KeyShot for Rhino (MacOS)

On MacOS, you will not see any KeyShot buttons appear. Instead, use the following commands within Rhino’s command line:

• KeyShot11Render to launch a new instance of KeyShot and transfer your 3D data.
• KeyShot11Export to export your geometry as a .BIP file to share with other KeyShot users.
• KeyShot11Update to update the scene you currently have open. If the scene is not already open in KeyShot a new instance of KeyShot will be opened
• KeyShot11Help to open this page in a browser.

How To Use The Plugin (MacOS)

1. Open your scene or model in Rhino.
2. Type KeyShot11Render in the command line to launch KeyShot. The 3D data will be transferred from Rhino to KeyShot. 
3. To update any changes made in Rhino, type KeyShot11Update while your KeyShot scene is open. All materials, textures, labels, animations, transformations, cameras, and lighting in the scene will be preserved.
   

Additional Information

The plugin will transfer model data such as:

• Mesh, surfaces, solids and NURBS geometry
• Visible layers and sub-layers
• Materials and textures
• Saved cameras and views

You can update your scene in KeyShot after making changes to the model. These changes include:

• Geometry changes
• Geometry and model transformations
• Layer name changes
• Layer reordering

Uninstall

For detailed instructions on how to uninstall Rhino plugins on Windows, click here.

For detailed instructions on how to uninstall Rhino plugins on MacOS, click here.

Previous Versions

Plugins that support previous versions of Rhino as well as previous version of KeyShot are available here.