Convert Contour lines to 3D Terrain in Rhino

Learn about how to turn 2D contour into 3D editable topography in Rhino 3D! This method works with topography on a larger scale and can get accurate surfaces from existing contour lines.
We will be using grasshopper for this tutorial, but don't worry as it's very simple!
The main commands covered are:
delaunaymesh
reducemesh
drape
grasshopper
Please don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel if you enjoyed the content!
Instagram: @lyh_tutorials
Email: [e-mail]
Patreon: / lyhstudio
#rhino
#terrain
#contour
#tutorial
#3dmodeling

[@daniellunds]

Subscribed because of this video! I'm transitioning to Rhino, and this video has saved me a huge amount of time. Thank you! I would love to see more tutorials on terrain modeling.

[@ravemasters9564]

It is very simple and well explained, as it would probably be most useful to architect students , you could perhaps include a tutorial on how to place buildings in scale. it would just make it more valuable :) . thanks again for another great tutorial that helped a lot.

[@josephbrooks296]

if you know the scale of your topo and model, you should be able to use rhino's scaling and orientation commands to place things in scale and on the surface of the terrain.

[@eneamice7276]

you saved me days of work, thank you

[@Dede-jo7tw]

relly useful, one of the most difficult thing on rhino is to make natural terrain, thx

[@ObitoUchihaVEVO]

Super helpful tutorial ! Thank you bro !!

[@lyh_studio]

I gotchu Obito

[@謝東瞱-p3b]

Omg you save me days of work ,thank you

[@gyrofeather]

Omg Thank you so much! I was having such trouble figuring this out.

[@dnatross]

Thanks for the refresher course bro!

[@StudioSpaceDust]

you just saved my ass from long tedious work! thank you :)

[@EMYEMMY-r4h]

that was so helpful, thank you for sharing.

[@michaelcobb5454]

Like so many others: Yes, this was super helpful.

[@lyh_studio]

Glad to hear!

[@toscarriergeometra4603]

Awesome, great, thanks!

[@ramzishadid8750]

Great Bro! Much Thanks !!!

[@zeyaylinerturk]

mükemmelllll bir video

[@alexbazan27]

🔥🔥🔥 thanks 🎉

[@ferdinandwidmer9465]

this is great! thank you!!

[@aramach6645]

THIS REALLY HELP!!!

[@pelagiatheodosiou]

I diiiiddd Ive already done been subscribing

[@lyh_studio]

Hahaha, thank you!

[@joeljoy4222]

well explained.

[@alskarwow5247]

awesome thank you very much

[@erfanbahar4514]

U teached 3dmax cloth for rhino❤

[@behradinfinity]

Nice man! I think your Indesign tutorials are more popular, hit them with new creative ideas, good luck.

[@lyh_studio]

Hey thanks man, they definitely are - but sometimes I run into things that are too useful to not share

[@kalpit3d934]

It is very helpful, 🙂 loved the video. Also thinking of new shrinkwrap feature of rhino 8

[@lyh_studio]

Yup! Does that work with linework btw? Or does it only work with NURBs and Meshes?

[@kalpit3d934]

@@lyh_studio only with surface, but we can first convert into mesh and then use it.

[@darlingestherpereztorrealb8913]

Excelente

[@flashgames1273]

you can also quad remesh insted of drape

[@lyh_studio]

Quadremesh doesn't make it an easily editable NURB surface, which I assumed people needed but it's definitely a great command, especially for SubD

[@hoomantehrani624]

great

[@omaralberti8442]

tks this was so usefull

[@고인혁-b7n]

Holy Mommy Jesus. real God is here! Thank you soooooooooo much man I just subscirbed!

[@lyh_studio]

I gotchu brotha

[@darlingestherpereztorrealb8913]

Graciasssss

[@sararose9137]

I am doing a project surrounding a 700 ft deep mining pit and I think this will make my life so much easier trying to modify the contours and terrain to place my building on the edge of the pit and turn one of the contour lines into a path. do you have anymore tips that could help as i do this

[@lyh_studio]

You'd be right, I think I usually edit the lines and get surfaces from that rather than try to edit poly surface it makes the whole process a lot easier

Hey this was very helpful, tysm. I could make the mesh and the drape, but I would like to ask if there is a way once I use the split command to extrude the rectangle with flat/straight tap instead of with the curvature of the drape

[@lyh_studio]

You can make another surface and trim the top off in order to get a flat top!

[@gamalali4734]

Awesome video, I have been trying to follow the steps carefully but I do not get the desired results. I have the contours as dfx file, I imported the file to rhino, followed the steps in Grasshopper and unfortunately do not get the mesh to further apply drape commend. please need help

[@lyh_studio]

Are you working with a extra large site or are the contours super irregular? There a number of issues I can think about that can go wrong but lets start with those two.

[@fatihefendioglu7213]

thank u very much nice content, i did all steps but i cannot see the grid after the drape command, is there any command to make it visibile like urs at wireframe

[@lyh_studio]

If I'm understanding this correctly, you just need to go to the display options and switch on the isocurves

[@BB-lk2rs]

Hey, thanks for the tutorial! What file did you export from arcmaps into rhino?

[@jennyliang7767]

thank you for the video! but i’m having trouble with manipulating the drape, when i select a curve to split it it keeps saying split failed, any advice?

[@lyh_studio]

One thing to try is to extrude your curve and split your contour surface with the extruded surface. Give that a try, lmk if it works!

[@wgr1206]

Hey, thanks so much for the video. just a quick question. I've noticed that the mesh is made based on the control points which are usually a bit set off from the contour line. is it possible to use edit points (those stay along the curves.)

[@lyh_studio]

I've honestly never tried to but that does seem feasible

[@ThomasMiller-ks6ib]

Great video!! Thank you for posting this. I'm working with a 6000 acre landscape, and the dulaunay mesh looks awesome, but when I follow your drape command, it comes out all jagged. I am using Rhino 6, do I need to upgrade to 7 for this to work out?

[@lyh_studio]

Did you adjust the spacing of the drape so that it's more accurate? Another reason why it might be jagged is because the surface is too far from the world origin.

[@danielea5773]

excellent video, but I have two problems: the first is that the trim command to cut the excess doesn't work for me (it doesn't hurt), the second is that I get a territory with holes, not empty but all pitted (despite I set the cloth spacing to 1)

[@varunsa7047]

How did you get these contours? Please help me.

[@lyh_studio]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/paeogGSwn7icjKs lmk if this video helps!

[@D-reborn]

1) What file format did you use to export the contours from arcmaps to rhino? 2) Once the contours are imported into rhino will they have their elevation applied or will I have to manually do I to each individual contour? New subscriber here

[@lyh_studio]

Thanks for the support :) 1) dwg/dxf 2) if done correctly the elevations will come in at its height

[@MargeauxGoosen]

Hi, beginner here. How do you even start with the first 2D contour? I would like to create literally the first image stage of this video.

[@lyh_studio]

It's definitely a process but check out this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/paeogGSwn7icjKs

[@MASTUDIOMX]

1. Insufficient points for triangulation. You need at least 3.?

[@joecolella8571]

I am having issues getting any definition at all from my imported contour lines. I rewatched the videos twice and still nothing. I tried both from a pdf and dxf import. Help

[@lyh_studio]

What do you mean by definition?

[@AnonymousUser_02]

How did you get those contour lines? Did you use Google Earth?

[@lyh_studio]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKfHi2OXfK-miK8 Try this!

[@AnonymousUser_02]

@@lyh_studio I have 2 questions for you. 1) What file format did you use to export the contours from arcmaps to rhino? 2) Once the contours are imported into rhino will they have their elevation applied or will I have to manually do I to each individual contour?

[@jaksmith6465]

uuummm we skipped some steps