This is outrageous! I’ve never looked at the GH ‘Help’ menu before:
Seems obvious to me that any “Get Started” link on that menu should go to a long term page on the McNeel web site (rhino3d.com ?) that is an up-to-date, curated list of links about Grasshopper. But apparently none of those menu options do that?
‘Online Reference’ goes to grasshopperdocs.com which I understand is maintained by a 3rd party volunteer?
But the link that shocks me is ‘Export Help…’ which asks me to choose a folder and then gives no indication that anything happened… I chose my ‘Downloads’ folder, where I looked for but failed to find anything. Took me awhile to realize that 2,140 files have been added to my ‘Downloads’ folder
OMG… No '\GH_Help\' folder was created but 2K+ files were simply added to whatever else I had in my ‘Downloads’ folder. That’s intrusive and absurd.
I found them because a new browser tab had been opened to a ‘Grasshopper(1.0.0007)%20Help%20Summary.htm’ file, leading to a rabbit hole of poorly organized topics with brief, useless lists of Input and Output parameters. MAJOR FAIL!!
Someone needs to care about this because it’s a complete mess.
P.S. Simple fix for ‘Export Help…’ - Download a .zip file that creates its own directory of sample GH and tutorial files (they need to be improved, but one step at a time).
I remember knowing nothing and after watching these I felt like the king of the world - the problem is, I’m typing this 10+ years later, when I feel like I know nothing again especially when I fool around with GH2, lol (different conversation too avant garde).
This also reminds me of a couple of sentences by David Rutten, also centuries ago. Can’t remember the topics but they were both related to learning GH as beginners. In one he said something like “I’d start with planes, points…” then in another one something like “it’s always more fun to play with geometry…”.
If only ‘play’ were considered a ‘formal’ part of learning maybe it wouldn’t be so painful.
My rant probably sounds reductionist by now, it’s quite interesting how the sentiment has shifted, in some regard, from “how do I learn” to “why isn’t the learning easier/clearer?”
Yes, the objects with black hexagon icons are indeed called parameters, and they all do the same thing in that they all store values. However they all store different kinds of values and as such behave in slightly different ways. There could have been only a single type, that was a design decision that I at some point made. However since I’m most comfortable with strongly typed programming languages I suppose it was inevitable that I’d end up creating different parameters for different data types.
Agreed. This is why improved documentation is one of the major efforts going into GH2, but I fear that the world is switching over to video so fast that our text and image based approach is already beginning to feel out of date, despite the fact that it’s still only in its early stages.
In that case, I’d argue that feeling out of date is a very good thing. In my mind, text-image-prose is the foundation of an explanation, and video tutorials/in-person lessons reinforce and add detail, nuance, and advice to that foundation.
Plus isn’t it faster and (hopefully less resource-intensive) to update a text-image-prose explanation, pushed into the software help system and compiled in a manual, incrementally than re-record videos?
Edit to say: Lest this turn into an unproductive tangent over which is better, text-image-prose or videos, I’m not claiming that one is better than the other. They’re both useful and necessary. I don’t think a professional software platform like GH can avoid a complete, careful documentation and try to encapsulate everything into a video series, which are harder to parse or adapt to different levels of user experience.
Just considering recording all of GH1/GH2 in a lecture series and having that be the primary means of help communication, oof, my brain hurts again and I’m not even the one doing it. Most of help system/manual is already partly there, I’m sure, just in need of completion, consolidation and concurrent updating. (Easier said than done… but it’s as essential as GH itself now)
“Parameter” is used also for “the internal coordinate” of curves, surfaces, meshes (and hopefully SubDs in future)… always meaning the same concept.
“Parameter”/“Params” is a different concept when used with for the small containers “with black hexagon icon” … or when used to talk about input/outputs of components…
Is this still the same in GH2?
This is a little strange thing to explain to students…
This is the difference between a broader definition and a specific use of a term. David is using the broader defintion of parameter.
The use of a parameter to specify the location of point on a curve or surface is a more specific use. The degree of a curve or surface could also be considered as a parameter of the curve or surface.
McNeel docs are top notch… when you can find the one(s) you need. One issue is that searches turn up dated stuff, or non-official stuff. It’s even a little tricky just to find the levels 1 & 2 manuals.
I think that video learning might die down as people realize that it’s not helping them. If I decided to watch a video to learn something it’s more for “entertainment” kind of… or storing ideas. I call it “lazy learning”. The major issue with videos is that you have to scroll through the video to find information you need, which is slow if not slower if the video has to reload/rebuffer. Where as a PDF or web page you can find the specific information you need instantaneously. Also, following along with a written tutorial is done at the learners pace not the video’s pace.
Most of the time tutorial videos are 90% useless chatting/sponsor … I try to skip to the actual useful part > fail to find it > get back to google and search for a typed tutorial/documentation.
In terms of tutorials and trainers,
I am curious if there are any upcoming plans to introduce an Authorized Grasshopper3D Trainer program. It seems that being an Authorized Rhino Trainer doesn’t necessarily indicate expertise in Grasshopper. Moreover, it’s worth considering that an Authorized Grasshopper3D Trainer might not need to possess advanced scripting skills, although such skills could be seen as a valuable asset.
A potential improvement could involve implementing a skills assessment to verify the he level of knowledge of the trainer or user, like LinkedIn. This additional layer of credibility could serve as a filter to distinguish between enthusiasts and qualified trainers.
While this would not be essential, having such certification could improve the quality of tutorials and workshops, ensuring that those seeking guidance can identify and engage with trainers who have genuine expertise in Grasshopper3D.
I would guess that Authorized Grasshopper3D Trainers don’t work for free? Unlike most of us on this forum who do support work and training for free, just for fun. This Authorized program would be only for those who can afford to pay extra for it, so useless for most of us?
Yes, certainly for the likes of me and the documentation proof-reader. We have no experience with making videos. Also editing videos for hours while listening to my own recorded voice is not my idea of a good time…
Probably. It’ll need plenty of work to switch it to the new multi-threaded environment, and since I’m breaking the SDK on a weekly basis I’d rather Daniel didn’t start investing time porting it just yet.
The documentation system I wrote for GH2 is very open, meaning that any help content that plug-ins choose to ship with will just get folded into the same viewer. Glossary terms are auto-linked from all texts, so if at some point a plugin dev decides to add a glossary entry for the word “the” we’re all in trouble, but I’m hopeful the tighter integration will have more benefits than drawbacks.
I bought a new computer and have migrated most of my apps rather smoothly from the “old” laptop. With the exception of Rhino/GH. In particular, installing Rhino on a second machine where preferences and plugins are lost and must be methodically reset and re-installed. This tedious process is more difficult because R7 (for example) is not allowed to run on both machines at the same time, making it difficult to compare settings and plugins, esp. their folder locations.
Sunglasses (which has its own settings to replicate) and Anemone are the first plugins I re-installed, neither of which are available from PackageManager. Apparently the most recent version of Anemone is Anemone 0.4 from 2015-12-14 for R4 and R5? It’s not easy to know which version to use.
I rarely use any of these plugins (*) but must re-install them if I do: (available in PackageManager)
OpenNest (*)
MetaHopper
Pancake
Horster (camera control)
Clipper (*)
Hops (*)
NVIDIADenoiser (*)
RhinoPolyhedra (*)
Weaverbird
Oh, and my ‘UserObjects’ folder 24 files to move.
A far cry from the gold standard of easy app migration set by Google Chrome, which is completely painless. Maybe I should copy all 16 files in the \AppData\Roaming\Grasshopper folder because the new installation has only six files? And I suppose I’ll run into the same obstacles moving from R7 to R8?
It’s weird that the tiny plus button and other UI only show up when you zoom in.
For example, text panel is un-editable when zoomed in due to the UI to change text size ect. My coworker zoom into to see tiny text, but the UI shows up on top of the text.
Yes this is extremely annoying and I have complained about it a long time ago to no avail. It makes doing demos with a 4K laptop screen almost impossible when it comes to panels. It’s a case if trying to be too intelligent with settings and defeating the whole purpose.
.
especially when I fool around with GH2, lol (different conversation too avant garde).
24 files to move.