Install vvvv gamma, drop the VL.Rhino NuGet into a local folder, run one command. The full setup takes around ten minutes — no public feed, no Rhino installation required for geometry import.
A current Windows machine, vvvv gamma, and access to your account at wolfmoritzcramer.de. Rhino itself is only required if you plan to use the Grasshopper Live-Link.
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. vvvv gamma 7.2 ships with .NET 8 — no separate runtime install needed.
The visual programming environment from visualprogramming.net. Tested against vvvv gamma 7.2 — that's the current build. Free for non-commercial use, paid tiers for commercial work.
An account at wolfmoritzcramer.de is created automatically at checkout. Log in to download the current release and any future updates included in your license.
Only needed if you want the live bridge to Grasshopper. Geometry import from .3dm files works without any Rhino install.
Optional. Run NURBS operations server-side via a local or hosted Compute endpoint. Bearer token support for compute.rhino3d.com.
VL.Rhino reads .3dm files directly via rhino3dm — full pipelines are possible with files received from clients, without opening Rhino yourself.
If you already run vvvv gamma 7.2, skip ahead. Otherwise: one installer, no account required for the free tier.
Download vvvv gamma from visualprogramming.net/download. VL.Rhino is built and tested against vvvv gamma 7.2 — make sure you're on that build. The installer covers everything VL.Rhino needs at runtime, including .NET 8 and the Stride realtime engine. Run the installer, accept defaults, then launch vvvv gamma once to confirm it opens. A simple empty patch is all you need to see — no further setup yet.
Licensing note for vvvv gamma: vvvv is free for non-commercial and educational use. Commercial use needs a vvvv license from vvvv group. VL.Rhino's own license is separate and only covers the plugin.
Download the NuGet from your account, open the commandline inside vvvv, run one install command. The local folder you pick is the package source.
Log in at wolfmoritzcramer.de/my-account with the account created at checkout. Navigate to Downloads — you'll find the current VL.Rhino release there. Save VL.Rhino-{version}.nupkg to a local folder of your choice, for example C:\vvvv\nuget\. That folder becomes your local NuGet source.
Example path — pick any folder you control.
In vvvv gamma, open the main menu (top-left of the window). Choose Manage Nugets, then Commandline. The shortcut is Ctrl+F3 — fastest path from a running patch.
A small commandline window opens. This is a NuGet-aware shell, scoped to your vvvv installation — anything you install here is picked up by vvvv on the next patch reload.
Point NuGet at your local folder as the package source, plus nuget.org for the open-source dependencies. Replace <local-folder> with the path from step 03.01.
Concrete example:
Both sources are needed — local for VL.Rhino, nuget.org for the OSS dependency VL.Rhino.3dm.
rhino3dm is the open-source foundation and lives on nuget.org. The commandline resolves both in one step.
Every node ships with a working example. Start there — they're the fastest way to understand what each operation does.
Inside any vvvv patch, right-click on empty canvas to open the node browser, type VL.Rhino, and you'll see the namespace. Hover any node and press F1 to open its help patch. The help patches cover geometry import, layer filtering, user-string queries, the Grasshopper live-link, and the Stride rendering pipeline.
If nodes don't appear: vvvv didn't pick up the package. Restart vvvv gamma; if still missing, check Manage Nugets → Show Installed — VL.Rhino should be there. If not, return to step 03.03 and re-run the install command from the right folder.
Only needed for the live bridge between Grasshopper and vvvv. The VLink plugin ships inside the VL.Rhino NuGet — no separate download required.
The VLink folder — containing VVVVLink.gha — is bundled with VL.Rhino. To locate it, open vvvv gamma and go to Manage Nugets → Show Installed, then navigate to the VL.Rhino entry and open its folder. Look for a subfolder named VLink.
Open Rhino, launch Grasshopper, then go to File → Special Folders → Components Folder. This opens the correct directory in Explorer — typically:
Copy the entire VLink folder (including VVVVLink.gha and any other files it contains) into the Grasshopper Libraries folder.
Then unblock the .gha file: Windows often silently refuses to load files downloaded from the internet. Right-click VVVVLink.gha, select Properties, and if you see an Unblock checkbox at the bottom, check it and click OK.
Restart Rhino and Grasshopper. To confirm the plugin loaded, double-click the Grasshopper canvas and type VLink in the search box — the VLink components should appear.
Most install issues come from one of three places — wrong folder, missing second source, or stale vvvv state. The list below covers everything we've seen so far.
NuGet didn't see your local folder. Two checks:
-Source path must point at the folder containing the .nupkg — not at the file itself.C:\vvvv\nuget\. Quote the path if it contains spaces.Restart vvvv gamma fully. If still missing, open Manage Nugets → Show Installed and confirm VL.Rhino is listed. If it isn't, the install failed silently — re-run the command and watch the commandline output for errors.
Download the new .nupkg from your account at wolfmoritzcramer.de/my-account and save it into the same local folder. Open the commandline (Ctrl+F3) and run:
nuget update VL.Rhino -Source C:\vvvv\nuget\ -Source nuget.org
Reload vvvv. Updates within your update year are included in your license; later versions require a renewal.
Only if you want the Grasshopper live-link. Reading .3dm files works without Rhino — that's the entire point of the VL.Rhino.3dm foundation.
For install issues, include your vvvv gamma version, the full nuget install command, and the commandline output.