# Getting started

Chameleon.tools is a Rhino plug-in that helps urban planners and architects analyze geometry in real-time to calculate various urban design parameters and keep their value under control. The system consists of two parts. The Rhino plug-in itself performs real-time geometry analysis and outputs the results, and the web application, where you and your team members can manage reusable project definitions determining what is going to be calculated and how.


## Getting a license

To obtain a license, navigate to the [pricing section](/#pricing), select the plan and billing period that fits your needs the best, and click the `Start trial` button. After logging in using your Rhino account and finishing the checkout process, it is necessary to assign the new license to either your personal account or one of the teams you are a member of. The licenses are seat-based. Meaning that the number of purchased licenses limits how many users from a team can use the plug-in simultaneously.

**Every license comes with 30-day long trial that allows you to test the plug-in for free.**

> The plug-in only performs the calculations if the logged-in user has a valid license assigned or is a member of a team with an activated license.


## Installing the plug-in

To install the plug-in, open the Rhino package manager and search for Chameleon.tools. After clicking the `Install` button the process starts. Once the installation is done, make sure to restart Rhino to correctly load the plug-in for the first time. 

We also recommend to switch Rhino to `Wireframe View` to maximally utilize all the plug-in's visualizations.

## How it works

The plug-in analyzes Rhino geometry after every change, ensuring that the calculated results are always up to date. It's build on top of Rhino's layer system to tell objects with different purposes apart. Each layers can be assigned with one of the project's categories which contain information about what should be calculated for given objects and how. The plug-in then aggregates the result, calculates various metrics, and presents the results directly in Rhino. On top of that, it exports every information to an Excel file for further use.

To make the first steps easier, every new account comes with a pre-defined project that can be used right away to test all the plugin's functionalities. To learn how to extend this project or start a new one from scratch, continue to [web-app documentation](/documentation/web-app).


Chameleon.tools

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