Intro:
As I am also using software like Cinema 4D, Houdini and other DCCs with node graphs and dynamic objects, I immediately missed such a feature in Rhino.
There is Grasshopper, which is a very powerful tool, but you can just “bake” the objects, they are not really dynamic with parameters in the Rhino scene.
There is VisualArq which is also an impressive software with many features, it seems to mainly target the BIM / AEC market.
That’s why I started developing a plugin around 6 months ago to solve this for more general applications.
I have now reached late alpha stage and would like to present the current progress of “Parametric Objects for Rhino” to you with some videos.
A beta release is planned for around mid october this year.
Features:
Add input parameters & groups, and components for output geometry to a grasshopper definition.
Selection of Parametric Objects in the Rhino scene & editing of parameters (Numbers, Bool, Geometry, Materials, etc.) in the object’s property panel.
Referencing of other Geometry in the Rhino scene for (optional) auto-updates of Parametric Objects.
Loading of Grasshopper definition files as templates in the Rhino document & insertion of Parametric Objects from templates into the actual Rhino Scene.
Rhino users do not need to open grasshopper or the definitions files in Grasshopper, they can just be loaded & used from Rhino.
So you could have Grasshopper experts writing the Grasshopper definition files & Rhino experts who are just loading & using these files in Rhino.
For a summary of the current features, please watch the videos below - more features are in development
Potential Target groups:
General purpose. E.g. product presentation & design, furniture, architectural, automobile or naval objects.
The plugin does not target a specific business area (it’s also not specifically targeting BIM/AEC )
In general, people who like to use dynamic parametric objects within Rhino without being experts in Grasshopper.
Other people who like to implement / define the Grasshopper definitions to be used by the former people
The videos should give you a first impression, thanks in advance for any feedback & comments
I am especially interested if you could imagine to use such a plugin & your potential wishes…
The complexity of this plugin is high (as it needs deep knowledge of both Rhino & Grasshopper SDK and extensive knowledge in software development & integration).
Further development, maintenance and integration of new features would take considerable resources.
That’s the reason why this information was posted by me to check if there is broader interest in such a plugin and if it’s features could have a value for other people.
Really interested in what you’ve shown.
It already looks much more flexible to me, but how do you view this as different from or better than GH Player?
@keithscadservices :
I think you might have posted in the wrong thread.
Your comments are about the plugin from the other company (Search for “Adaptive Parts Environment” here in the forums).
My GUI and workflow is quite different from them, as is directly visible in my videos.
So I think it would be better to post your last comments/review in their release thread (they will be interested in your feedback), not in my thread
@wllmvrtt:
GH_Player is more like a Rhino command. If you want to change the parameters afterwards, you have to run it again with different parameter values and create a new object as result.
(I think referenced geometry can also be dynamic with GH_Player, but not all other non-geometric parameters.)
With my plugin, the inserted objects stay fully parametric, you can just click on it in the scene any time & change the parameters directly in the GUI (as in my videos above).
The problem is that third parties are starting to substitute core development too much. In small things as well as complex new features. I think addons plugins should be reserved for special functionality and niche applications and parent company should deal with essentials. For simple things now i need tons of plugins, scripts, etc. Acapulco to be able to correctly define block. Xmerge to merge surfaces. Python script to cap objects in respect to cplane, etc… Its point of bifurcation
