A new type of geometry in rhino, families

Rhino
1

Hi,
I would love to this feature in the next major update (rhino 9) as I think most of the sub-components of this new feature are already available in rhino 8,
First of all it doesn’t replace blocks, it’s a new type of geometry as I said.

The concept is in this type grasshopper scripts will drive the geometry, you make custom grasshopper scripts then easily you can convert them into families so you can use them inside of rhino, note that when you use the family you don’t have to open grasshopper, It would be nicer if grasshopper does the magic in the background.

Ofc like any grasshopper script you have parameters, with families you would have 2 types of parameters, constructor parameters and adjustment parameters, best way to explain is with an example:
Imagine you’ve made a fence family, ofc you would want to give it a curve so the family turns it into fence, the curve is a constructor parameter, where if a curve isn’t provided obv no fence will be made, ofc you would have parameters like fence height, we could call that adjustment parameter, in the grasshopper script we could give it a default value and later in rhino we could adjust those parameters in a side panel.

I think most of what I talked about already exists in rhino, for example theres a side panel that allows you to “publish” parameters, also there is grasshopper player which I think my idea is really close to that

However the way would want rhino to register families is different than just a grasshopper player output, we would rather have something like how blocks are represented so it doesn’t take up to much space, I think this should be enough data to represent a family (family name or ID maybe the file location of the grasshopper script that drives the family, plane, [parameters])

I have much more to rant about although for now I think it’s enough, if the idea interests you (one of the developers) Id love to give more detail and ideas : )

1 Like
2

My 5 cents to the topic.
It’s already possible to do half of the request with GH Player (as mentioned).
The only stopping point is saving a rhino file with related information included.
It could be some kind of attaching the GH file to Rhino file while saving with autorun of attached GH scripts on reopen. GH script could be just a link to the file on HDD or completely incapsulated in 3dm (what’s technically easier/possible).

3

Hi Lawand,

This seems very similar to how Tekla plugin works. The Tekla object carries the GH file with it, at a future point in the project you can at anytime and modify via the internal UI.

I think we need to discuss how what you are proposing is fundamentally different than a normal grasshopper workflow, how it differs from blocks and user text.

This might tie into this request here as well…

4

Hello @Japhy ,
You may also include my vote from this topic Wish. Incorporate GH file(s) into Rhino document

1 Like
5

I don’t understand exactly what you mean by “some kind of attaching the GH file to Rhino file while saving with autorun of attached GH scripts on reopen” but if you mean like a " grasshopper script manager" for rhino im totally against that.

Beside that, why I’m saying to make a new type of geometry instead of just making the ghplayer work,

the way you mention it (if I understood correctly)
1- if we have multiple instances then we have to basically give multiple inputs to the grasshopper input parameters
2- the grasshopper file needs to be open for the entire work session, not a big deal originally but my use case of using it same way as revit families, you gonna have hundreds of these open and I think for basic words you need a super computer, thats besides the fact that currently in grasshopper if you change parameter for one instance of many, all the other instances we be recalculated
3- the way ghplayer works, is you give parameters and it gives you the output ( baked geometry), this method lacks 2 thing; A- you have no way of changing parameters of an instance later on B- having a specific geometry type would mean we could do advanced queries, scheduling, “select all instance of family”, etc

6

Hi japhy,
I looked into (wish for v9 save gh data inside the rhino 3dm file) and I’m totally against that, the only use case for this is when you send files to another use you would want to include the grasshopper scripts, how is this different than putting the gh files and 3dm file into a zip folder? also organization will basically be impossible.

I looked into rhino inside tekla, and I think (for now) this is exactly what we want, I’m in love with the idea

If your argument is “you can do that in with rhino inside tekla why would we make the same thing in rhino”, in my perspective there many advantages, rhino and grasshopper being such flexible platforms, in no time we will see creatives and technicians do stuff with this system that is only possible with this system, also, once that system is implemented and maybe few ideas from other users and further improvements, maybe something really great will come alive that will completely change how we design

thank you for your time and considerations
best regards

7

I guess it’s more like saving a gh script inside an object’s data, enabling that object to be dynamic → meaning that in a single rhino file you might have multiple objects each with their own gh script

it’s similar in principle to a dynamic block with all the features of (a subset of) grasshopper

1 Like
8

Hi Lawanda -

The feature request is on the list as RH-34030 GrasshopperBlocks: AKA ParametricBlocks AKA DynamicBlocks AKA SmartBlocks
-wim

3 Likes
9

Thanks alot, I’d love to use it one day : D

10

created 9 years ago… :roll_eyes:

my grandchildren and their AI friends: happily using GrasshopperBlocks beta AKA ParametricBlocks beta AKA DynamicBlocks beta AKA SmartBlocks beta

me: in my day…

11

This is already developed and functional inside VisualArq. Search for “VisualArq Grasshopper styles”

Creation of GH styles (aka Families):

UI panel for GH styles in Rhino:

It lets you create basically anything.

1 Like
12

yea… yesterday I saw the date of the feature request… I don’t think I’ll live long enough to see this feature

13

I think I have to give visual arq a chance as a whole, maybe I’ll like it more than revit

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I’m curious to know what you’ll think of VisualARQ