Grasshopper

algorithmic modeling for Rhino

(Edit. David sez: Please append your (well explained) ideas/suggestions/wishes. I don't care much for what you want, I care why you want it.)

Perhaps this topic has been covered recently, but I don't see any active threads.  We're looking for a plugin project and I'd like to get some feedback from the power users before choosing something.

So...

What is missing from grasshopper?  

What would you like to connect to that you can't already connect to?

What kind of bottlenecks do you run into?

What secret wish do you have for Grasshopper that doesn't even seem possible?

What project have you been meaning to undertake but haven't had/won't have the time?

Just trying to brainstorm a few ideas here.  There are so many great and useful plugins out there, it's hard to discover the gaps anymore.   

Looking forward to your thoughts!

Cheers,

Marc

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Replies to This Discussion

Absolutely! It would be nice to be able to see the hierarchy of clusters.

Better tree visualization tools

Currently there are very sophisticated tools to work with grasshopper trees via nodes or C# code, but the issue is that the tools for visualizing and debugging them in grasshopper are quite basic. I don't really understand the disparity - here are a couple of suggestions:

- One way to view the contents of a tree (at present) is to put a panel on it. However this prints out the contents of every single leaf node - which is not navigable for large trees. It would be fantastic to be able to expand/collapse branches, similar to how a file explorer works. A TreeView may come in handy here.

- The ParamViewer node could be made more useful if it was possible to hover over leaf nodes and have a popup that shows the contents of that particular node.

- Ideally, the ParamViewer could also support expanding/collapsing of branches.

Any other thoughts/ideas? These features would definitely help newcomers to learn/understand trees more quickly, in addition to being useful for debugging purposes.

When I'm searching for components I would like some kind indication of which plugins the different components comes from or which menu-fan and sub-menu-fan they are found.. Some icons and names looks too much like the native grasshopper components.. Perhaps some kind of yosemite like search feature would also be a nice addition. e.g. Searching grasshopper 3d discussion directly in grasshopper (e.g. "?Pain Points in Grasshopper" should give this discussion) or just make some simple math calculation.

What:

1 - a "data switch" component to faster disable and re-enable components;

     i usually do it with boolean toggle + dispatch (see pic), but this sometimes broke tree

     structure and it's ugly and misleading to the view.

2 - the possibility to select and delete connecting wires;

     having to right-click>Disconnect>"find.what.to.remove" every time make you lose time.

3 - something to completely stop ALL/EVERY calculations in the entire .gh document when it

     freeze;

     usually when it happens you have to restart grasshopper AND rhino, losing edits to both

     files.

4 - the possibility to ctrl+drag to copy a component.

Why:

1 & 2 - faster and more logical/intuitive (at least for me) use of grasshopper.

3 - again savings time and no risks of losing files;

     sometimes replacing a small data tree with a bigger and different structured one, make

     instantly freeze GH, then you have to wait and pray, or taskkill and restart.

     (1 and 2 also help avoid this problem, sometimes... somehow... maybe)

4 - faster and you don't overwrite the copy/paste for other stuff/programs.

Some possibilities you perhaps don't know about

1. Mark a component and use the shortcut "ctrl + E" But your addition would be nice..
3. The escape button should do the trick... if GH isn't pre crashed'
4. LMB(hold) + alt

2. hmm.. I would like to have "wire scissor tool" You could use ctrl + LMB

4) shift+ALT+drag is already working

regarding 1) :

I usually use a pattern like below, using Stream Gate and Stream Filter, to enable/disable certain things on demand. I have never had issues with it, even with complicated trees:

David, any sensible reason why on one the Gate input is on the top and on the other its on the bottom? Can we switch Gate on the Stream Gate to the top please!!

I can't switch it without hiding the current component and introducing a new one. I think it will have to wait until GH2...

hi, I am an architect, designer and artist. I have suggestion for the next GH development. from designers point of view, I think GH should have a special Tab to utilize WACOM Tablet, I have created a post that explain about this issue,

http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum/topics/wacom-tablet-to-gh

as designers, we are more convenient working with primitive tools like Pen, stencils, knifes etc to draw or sculpt an object, whether it is an architectural masterpiece or a simple furniture, if you can feel the object on your hand, the design will always come up better.. and WACOM tablet is so far one of the best tool for 3d artist to work with, however Rhino+GH doesnt seem to have any of those function.

Imagine if you can incorporate WACOM tablet into GH, u can send complex input (pen pressure, tilting angle) in a matter of second and then GH component will process that input and  view the changes in real time.

-modifying complex control points would be just as easy as sculpting a clay (imagine Zbrush but added precision and Parametric control)

-multi slider can be adjusted all at a time, complex wacom input is much more powerful than standard mouse.

-wide range of workflow from NURBS and Parametric algoritm to variable and freeform deformation data with WACOM

Imagine the possibilities, WACOM tablet now has become an industry stardard for digital artist, so GH needs to grab that opportunity (u can attract more user too by doing this. more user = more money LOL)

Peace :)))))

Grasshopper is powerful , we take it for granted and there are always expectations ....one such thing is loading grasshopper... loading multiple user objects and plugins takes time, I am not sure if anything can be done regarding this issue.  

I can probably speed up loading significantly by doing it lazily. The first time a plugin is loaded a "proxy" is made which contains only the names and icons of the components. Subsequent starts will only load the proxy, and either load the real plugin in the background or only once it's needed the first time.

I haven't actually written this bit yet in GH2 so I'm not sure how much faster it can get, but I'm hopeful it will speed up startup a lot.

Thank u ..David .

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