1.1 Installation
Last updated
Last updated
These are the prerequisites for installing Karamba3D:
Rhino 6.0 (PC only), Rhino 7.0 or Rhino 8.0.
Grasshopper (version 2.2.0 of Karamba3D was tested on GH 1.0.0007)
Windows 10 or above / macOS 12 or above
In case you do not have a Rhino license, download a fully featured, free trial version. Grasshopper is already integrated in Rhino.
Download one of the installers and double-click on the msi-file.
The installation procedure lets you set the physical units used for calculation. By default Karamba3D assumes input to be in SI units (e.g. meters for point coordinates). You can switch to Imperial units either on installation or later on by editing the “karamba.ini” file. Coordinates will then be interpreted to be in “feet”, force in “kips”, material strength in “ksi” and so on.
Make sure to install the FULL version of Karamba3D if you wish to activate a PRO or EDU license at a later stage.
Upon successful installation you should see a Karamba3D tab when you open Grasshopper in Rhino. Additionally, as a default setting a shortcut to the installation folder will be placed on your desktop. Double-click on the Karamba3D desktop-icon will get you to the standard installation directory which is in the Plug-ins-folder of your Rhino installation directory.
If Karamba3D does not show up, please refer to our troubleshooting guide.
Karamba3D license can be activated as cloud or network licenses. Standalone licenses are only valid for workshops or universities.
1.2.1 Cloud Licenses1.2.4 Standalone Licenses1.2.2 Network LicensesKaramba3D can only be installed once - either with the installer file or with the PackageManager. Otherwise an error message will pop up.
YAK is the Package Manager for Rhino. It can automatically download and install plug-ins required for a specific Grasshopper definition. Thus one possibility of installing Karamba3D is to open a GH definition with some Karamba3D components in it. Alternatively the package manager can be started in Rhino by typing 'PackageManager' in the command window. Make sure to activate 'Include pre-releases' in the window that pops-up. Under YAK Karamba3D comes as 'karambaGH' which installs the FULL version of Karamba3D.
The Package Manager installs Karamba3D under Windows to the folder ...\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\McNeel\Rhinoceros\packages\7.0 - which is different from where it is placed by the msi-installer.
When starting Grasshopper for the first time after a YAK-installation of Karamba3D, a window with copyright notice and terms and conditions will appear.
Copyright notice and license agreement can be found on Windows under C:\ProgramData\Karamba3D\.
The path to Karamba3D depends on whether installation was done via the msi-installer or YAK. This means that scripts which make use of the Karamba3D API may be broken. In case of GH C# scripting components one needs to adapt the path via "Manage Assemblies..." in the components context menu.
To run Karamba3D in Rhino8 for Mac, make sure to enable Rosetta.
You can install both the Rhino 6 and Rhino7 versions simultaneously. Simply run the installers one after the other.
In order to install Karamba3D on remote machines “msiexec.exe” provides options to circumvent the graphical user-interface of the installer. Start the Windows CommandPrompt, navigate to where the Karamba3D-installer lies and type e.g.
msiexec.exe /i karamba3d_2_0_0_RH6.msi /passive ADDLOCAL=DLLs,LicensePlugin,FullFeatures,SIUnits,LicensePublicKey,Tables,Examples
in one line to install the full version of Karamba3D (“FullFeatures”) with SI-Units (“SIUnits”), cross section and material tables (“Tables”) and the example definitions (“Examples”). In order to get the free version and Imperial units substitute “FullFeatures” with “FreeFeatures” and “SIUnits” with “IMPUnits”.
The static license can be supplied without graphical user interface (GUI) by renaming the license-file to “licensePRO.lic” and copying it to the “License”-folder under ...\Rhino\Plug-ins\Karamba.
The following files and folder will be copied to your machine during installation:
“karamba.dll” and “libiomp5md.dll” to C:\Windows.
“karambaCommon.dll”, “karamba.gha” and the Karamba-folder to the “Plug-ins”-folder of Rhino. The Karamba3D-folder contains material- and cross section libraries, examples, the karamba.ini- file and the license-folder. This is typically C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 6\Plug-ins or C:\Program Files\Rhino 6\Plug-ins.
If not already present the C++ runtime libraries of Visual Studio 2019 will be copied to your machine.
Karamba3D is installed for all users by default. In order to get Karamba3D running without the installer simply copy the above files and the Karamba3D-folder from one machine to the next. Unless deselected, the installer places a Karamba3D-icon on the desktop. Double-click on it to open the Karamba3D-folder.
