Grasshopper installation guide

Table of Contents

Rhino + Grasshopper #

The Grasshopper built into Rhino is responsible for expanding AxisVM to facilitate the external parametric design. To use a third-party software, you must first install a module that connects the two programs.

The necessary addition is called “GrasshopperToAxisVM,” which is available from Rhino’s official extensions page.

It can be downloaded from here: https://www.food4rhino.com/en/app/grasshoppertoaxisvm 

Installing the plugin #

AxisVM Downloads

The GrasshopperToAxisVM add-on is compatible with Rhino 6 and Rhino 7 as well.

AxisVM X5R4 or a newer version is supported.

The add-on works only on Windows operating system.

The Grasshopper Components folder must contain one single version of this add-on, otherwise, it will not work.

Installation steps #

  1. Download the latest *.gha file from the http://food4rhino.com website.
  2. Open the folder where the file is saved. Right-click the file, open the file properties, and (if required) check and unblock the file (see image below), then click OK.
  1. Copy the *.gha file into the GH Components folder (…/AppData/Roaming/Grasshopper/Libraries). You can reach this directly from the file browser or via Grasshopper. (Grasshopper/File menu/ Special folders/Components folder)
  2. Open the local installation folder of your AxisVM version that you suppose to use together with Grasshopper. Search for the Interop.AxisVM.FW4.dll file.
  3. Copy the *.dll file beside the *.gha file into the GH Components folder.
  4. Start (or restart) Rhino and Grasshopper.
  5. The AxisVM tab must appear at the component palettes.

Note: every time our AxisVM software is updated, it is worth checking whether the previously mentioned “Interop.AxisVM.FW4.dll” has not been updated, and if it has changed (it can be seen on the date of modification of the file), then it is worth copying it again to the Grasshopper Components folder and overwrite the previous one.

Problems encountered during installation #

The AxisVM tab does not appear in grasshopper. What can be done?

  1. Ensure you have copied the “Interop.AxisVM.FW4.dll” file to the Grasshopper Components folder. Without it, the extension will not work. The *.dll file must be copied directly from the AxisVM installation directory, and the latest version is highly recommended. (See note above)
  2. Check whether AxisVM and the COM server were installed with administrator privileges. Generally, if the software and COM server have been installed only at the user level, the Grasshopper addon does not work.

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