Orca3D Design
Hull Design, Fairing, Hydrostatics and Stability
Orca3D's Design module puts hull design and engineering analysis in the same environment, so you're never shaping a surface in isolation. As you refine a hull, hydrostatic and stability results update alongside it, meaning you're working toward displacement, LCB, and stability targets from the outset, not discovering problems after the fact.
It doesn't matter how the geometry got there. Start with Orca3D’s Hull Assistants, model from scratch with Rhino's NURBS tools, refine an existing surface, or import a hull built elsewhere; the same design and analysis tools apply either way, because every calculation is computed directly from the 3D surface itself.
The result is a hull you can trust before it ever leaves the design stage: fair, refined, and analytically sound.
Key Features - Hull Design
Hull Assistants
Generate a fair, parametric hull in seconds. Input a few key dimensions and shape parameters, and Orca3D builds a complete starting surface in real-time, including updates of sections, hydrostatics, and the sectional area curve as parameters are changed, giving you a refined foundation to shape instead of a blank canvas.
Orca3D includes Grasshopper components so that you can automate the Hull Assistants, further streamlining your workflow.
Real-Time Sections
As you shape a hull, sections update instantly letting you judge fairness at a glance. Sections include stations, buttocks, waterline, inclines, cants, and diagonals, and can be organized into multiple independent lists for fairing, hydrostatics, linesplans, and offset tables.
Real-Time Hydrostatics
Watch hydrostatic, stability, and sectional area values update live as you edit the hull surface.There's no separate analysis step: values update instantly with every change, so you shape toward performance targets as you design.
Import and Refine
Bring in a hull built elsewhere and put it to work immediately, even if it wasn't created in Rhino and Orca3D. Orca3D's design and analysis tools apply directly to imported geometry, so you can refine, evaluate, and validate existing surfaces without remodeling from scratch.
Fairing Tools and Outputs
In addition to Rhino’s extensive built-in modeling tools, Orca3D adds tools for adding chines and lifting strakes, aligning and straightening control points, assuring curvature continuity of the forefoot, as well as automatic creation of traditional lines plans and offset tables.
Foil Assistant
Quickly generate 3D foil surfaces for keels, rudders, stabilizers, etc., based on built-in NACA foil data or your own imported foil offsets. Optionally include a bulb, analyze the total weight and CG of the foil, and specify a linear or elliptical planform.
Key Features - Hydrostatics
Basic Hydrostatics & Stability
Easily run basic hydrostatics analysis while your hull is still taking shape. Quickly analyze one or more load cases, defined by a flotation plane or by displacement and center of gravity. Evaluate stability criteria, compute curves of form, cross curves of stability, and more. Load cases may be saved and used for later hydrostatic analysis, or to define the condition for other analyses such as resistance.
Righting Arm and Stability Curves
Compute righting arm and trim angle across a full range of heel angles, at one or more flotation conditions. Points of interest above the flotation plane are tracked automatically, giving you a clear picture of stability at every stage.
Orca3D includes Grasshopper components so that you can automate the hydrostatics and stability analysis, further streamlining your workflow.
Works With Any Hull
Because calculations rely on first-principles volume integration rather than station approximations, Orca3D analyzes monohulls, multihulls, and imported geometry alike. Models don't need to be perfectly sealed, so you can evaluate a hull long before it's finished. For example, the model doesn't need to have a deck surface to analyze hydrostatics, if the deck edge won't become submerged.
Stability Criteria Evaluation
Evaluate your hull against a defined set of stability criteria automatically, with clear pass/fail results and both graphical and tabular output. Include the effect of heeling moments, downflooding angle, margin line immersion, freeboard, and more. Add or edit your own criteria sets, so every design is checked against the standards that matter to you.
Visual Aids
The flotation plane can be shown as a surface, to easily visualize the equilibrium condition, with the options of overlaying the sectional area curve on the model. The hull may be transformed so that the equilibrium flotation plane is at the Z=0 plane. As the model is being analyzed, each condition, such as a heel angle for a righting arm curve, is shown. These views may be animated to help gain further understanding of the vessel’s behavior as it heels and trims during the stability analysis.
Flexible Output Options
Clear, professional reports are generated for hydrostatics, stability, curves of form, and cross curves of stability. These reports may be saved PDF, Word, or Excel formats. Results may be saved in .csv or .xml formats as well, if the use wishes to do further processing of the data.
Benefits
The Orca3D Design Module helps youto movefrom a concept to a fair, buildable hull more efficiently by combining hull design, fairing, and basic hydrostatics in one Rhino-based workflow. By keeping geometry creation and hydrostatic and stability feedback tightly connected, it makes it easier to refine the hull shape while staying aligned with key performance and stability targets.
FAQs
Who is Orca3D Design best suited for?
It is a strong fit for naval architects, marine designers, educators, and advanced students who want marine-specific design tools while staying inside Rhino’s modeling environment.
What is Orca3D Design used for?
Orca3D Design is for creating and refining marine geometry and analyzing the hydrostatics and stability, inside Rhino. It includes hull assistants for many vessel types, plus tools for foils, control-point editing, chines, lifting strakes, lines drawings, offset tables, and curve export.
What types of vessels can I design with Orca3D?
Virtually any type — monohulls, multihulls, powerboats, sailboats, workboats, even submarines. If it floats (or sinks), Orca3D can model and analyze it.
Does Orca3D work inside Rhino?
Yes! Orca3D is a Rhino plugin, adding marine-specific design and analysis tools to Rhino’s powerful modeling platform.
Do I need to create a perfectly closed surface model for hydrostatics?
No — Orca3D is forgiving. Surfaces don’t need to join perfectly, and regions that stay above water don’t need to be sealed.
Can I customize the hull sections and control points?
Absolutely. You can define sections, adjust control vertices interactively or numerically, and customize how they’re displayed for maximum flexibility.
What outputs can I create from the Design module?
In addition to editable hull geometry, you can output lines drawings, offset tables, and curve export workflows. Those outputs are helpful when you need both modern 3D geometry and traditional naval architecture deliverables.
How do I see hydrostatic results?
Orca3D generates both visual outputs (like flotation planes and annotated points) and detailed reports, which can be saved as PDFs or Excel files. Hydrostatic and stability data may be exported to .csv or .xml files for your own analyses.
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Export Compliance
Orca3D is subject to the United States Export Regulations, as administered by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry Security. The software may not be used in or exported/re-exported to Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any country to which the United States embargoes goods. The same restriction applies to persons, no matter where they are located, who appear on the Table of Denial Orders, the Entity List, or the List of Specially Designated Nationals.
To help us comply with the Regulations, we require you to provide your contact information when purchasing. By purchasing a license, you hereby certify that you are not a national of Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any country to which the United States embargoes goods, nor do you appear on the Table of Denial Orders, the Entity List, or the List of Specially Designated Nationals.
Orca3D Design Module
Stand-Alone vs. Network License
A stand-alone license is installed on one computer for use by a single person, while a network license can be installed on multiple computers within the same organization but allows only one user to access the software at a time.
About Student / Educational Licenses
Educational licenses are full versions for students and faculty in naval architecture or related fields (proof required). See full policy here.
Refund Policy
We want you to purchase with confidence. Orca3D offers a 30-day return policy for eligible purchases. If you need to request a refund, return, cancellation, or EU withdrawal, simply contact our team and we'll guide you through the process.
Not Sure? Request a Quote
Orca3D software is tailored to meet the specific needs of naval architects, marine engineers, and designers. Because every project is unique — whether you need a perpetual license, an annual subscription, network licensing, educational pricing, or multi-module bundles — we provide personalized quotes to ensure you get the right solution at the best value.
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