r graphics get saved as 24x24 pixel images before they are put into the grasshopper application, which means the icons look like crap when you zoom in. This is the aforementioned problem that needs to be addressed in GH2. There have historically been two approaches to this issue:
Provide pixel images with several sizes.
Render vector graphics directly.
Option 1 is common for apps that do not have variable levels of zoom, such as Windows Explorer. When explorer shows file icons it either shows them in 16x16, 32x32, 48x48, 96x96, or these days, various HUGE sizes. As a result *.ico files allow you put in different images for all these target sizes. Since Grasshopper has variable zoom levels, this is not an ideal solution. Also, it requires a lot more work per icon.
Option 2 is becoming more and more popular as increased graphics speed now allows for the real-time rendering of vector graphics. Yet, you still need a renderer that knows how to draw vector geometry crisply at low sizes. All vector renderers I know just interpolate the geometry linearly and if a line happens to end up 'between pixels' it's just fuzzy.
I don't have hard and fast rules for the icons, but I try to adhere to at least these:
Keep a border of 2 pixels free around the icon content. So basically only use the inner 20x20 pixels rather than the 24x24 you're allowed. This is needed because the drop shadow needs to go there.
Only draw silhouette edges around shapes, not inner creases. Typically a 1-pixel line will do. I prefer to use a dark version of the fill colour rather than black for edges.
Loose curves can be drawn in 1 or 2 pixel thicknesses, depending on how important the curve is.
Try to avoid text in your icons (not always possible).
Stick to 1 colour family per icon, preferably per icon family. You can add highlights with another colour if you must, but too many hues make an icon hard to read (for the example the [Voronoi] icon, it has red, green and blue and it's a bit of a mess, on the other hand [Colour Wheel] has the full spectrum and seems to work quite well...).
Very roughly speaking, if there's both black and red geometry in an icon, it means the red is component input and the black is component output.
Drop shadows are pixel effects, applied to the 24x24 image. They have a blurring radius of 2 pixels, a horizontal offset of 1 pixel to the right, a vertical offset of 1 pixel to the bottom and they are 65% black.
When you use high contrast shapes (for example black edges on a light background) the anti-aliasing provided by vector renderers such as Xara or Illustrator won't be enough to make it look smooth. I'd recommend avoiding high contrast if at all possible, but if not possible then draw a 1-pixel line around the dark bits in 95% transparent black. This effectively extends the anti-aliasing range from 1.5 to 2.5 pixels and it helps make things looks smoother.
--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com…
o Common - just like C#. But Rhino Python has a "Scripting Language Wrapper" which breaks commonly used taks down to simpler functions.
Here's a general Example:
Take a look at the code on this website http://wiki.mcneel.com/developer/rhinocommonsamples/addline). Generally it's Rhino Common code in three language to create a line. They look equally difficult.
But if you use Rhino Python Scripting you can use an simplified syntax to get the same result. It's very similar to Rhino Script.
The code would be:
import rhinoscriptsyntax as rsstart_point = rs.GetPoint("Get start point")end_point = rs.GetPoint("Get end point")line_id = rs.AddLine(start_point, end_point)
OK - No Error Tracking here, but still you can see that the syntax is much simpler. (And in the end you just have less lines of code you have to debug.
And the good thing about Rhino Python is, that you can mix these approaches. Once you reach a level where Rhino Python Script doesn't get you there, which by the way happens very rarely, you can still use the Rhino Common methods.
Also, in Python Sycripting 99% of what you probably would like to do is available as a "wrapped" script function.
Rhino Python Script is currently also better documented than Rhino Common for C# and VB.Net. If you have used Rhino VB Script before, these functions will be very familar to you.
I'm not sure, why it's currently a separate plug-in. I belive the reason is that Rhino 4 (which is supported by GH) doesn't support Rhino Python. Also it's currently WIP, so it needed to be updated more frequently than GH itself. In the long run (I believe) it might be integrated into GH as a general component
- Martin
P.S.: To use Rhino Python within GH is a little more tricky than my example - but nothing compared to developing C#
P.S.2 Here's the code with Error Tracking:
import rhinoscriptsyntax as rsdef AddLine(): start_point = rs.GetPoint("Get start point") if start_point is None: print "No start point was selected" return end_point = rs.GetPoint("Get end point") if end_point is None: print "No end point was selected" return line_id = rs.AddLine(start_point, end_point) return line_idAddLine()
…
ARRAY with certain spatial order or mechanism under consideration of ecological design. The evaluation and definition of “ARRAY” are open to applicants’ imaginations. While the term “ecological” is subjected to many definitions: social, ecological, sustainable, its re-evaluations are open to students’ interpretations. Entrants are free to choose or make site, real or virtual.
ELIGIBILITY
Open to international students in the fields of architecture and design related disciplines from an accredited four-year or five-year architecture program. Graduates with certificate in 2011 are accepted. Teamed collaboration consisting of no more than 3 students in the above mentioned fields is permitted. Works submitted must be of applicants’ original works. Works done through school studios are accepted, but limited to 2011 term.
ENTRY FEE
Free
DEADLINES
Online Registration deadline: Oct 30th, 2011, 17:00 Taipei Time
(Upon completing registration, applicant will receive a registration number via email.)
Submission deadline: email sent by Nov 3rd, 2011, 17:00 Taipei Time
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
This is a digital competition and no hardcopies are necessary. Entrants must submit their proposal via email no later than Nov 3rd, 2011 17:00 (Taipei Time) to the following email address:
hojenhwang@mail.ntut.edu.tw
The project submission must contain the following files:
1. Two A1 boards in portrait format (594mm x 841mm), with identification number at the upper right corner. Names and other identifying information are not allowed on front side of the boards. The resolution of the boards must be 300dpi, RGB mode and saved as JPG files.. The files must be named after the registration number followed by the board number. For example: 03956-board1.jpg and 03956-board2.jpg.
2. A DOC file containing the project discription (600 words max). This file must be named after the registration number followed by the word "discription". For example: 03956-discription.doc.
3. A scan of statement form. This file must be named after the registration number followed by the word "statement_scan". For example: 03956-statement_scan.jpg.
4. All the files must be placed in a ZIP folder named after your registration number. For example: 03956.zip. Size of the ZIP folder is suggested to be less than 15mb, while size more than 25mb will not be accepted
AWARDS
(1) Gold Prize winner will be awarded TWD 60,000 and a trophy.
(2) Silver Prize winner will be awarded TWD 30,000 and a trophy
(3) Bronze Prize winner will be awarded TWD 15,000 and a trophy
(4) Honorable Mention winners will be awarded TWD 5,000 and a merit certificate
Winners will be announced and notified by mid of Nov, 2011.
JURY
Two stages of open jury. Details to be announced
PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Nov 13, 2011~ Nov 18, 2011 at NTUT, Taipei
…
Added by Yu-Min Su at 2:03am on September 23, 2011
he Cordyceps. Maybe some of you find this helpful/useful.
So basically, the Cordyceps is a physical module with 4 knobs and 1 slider. The knobs give an output between 1 and 1000, while the physical slider outputs 0-359. And of course, for this physical module I wrote a plugin to communicate with it. The knobs are intended to be the variables that modifies the design, while the physical slider is intended to be connected to the camera component.
Here I will put up "the recipe" for all to make their own module. You will be able to download the plugin as well.
Please send me a message if you want the 3D-files for the knobs, the box and slider knob. They've been made to directly 3D-print.
Plugin:
https://github.com/zakadjeb/Cordyceps/blob/master/Cordyceps/Cordyce...
Code for Arduino IDE:
https://github.com/zakadjeb/Cordyceps/blob/master/Arduino/_Arduino_...
What you need:
1x - Arduino (Leonardo, UNO or whatever)
4x - Potentiometers
1x - Sliding potentiometer
1x - Breadboard
Bundle of jump wires.
1. So, a potentiometer is a variable resistor, which is basically a component that changes the resistance between the voltage and the ground.
If A is supplied with 5V then B must be connected to Ground. The W will give "read" the resistance, and thus should be placed in Analog input (A0-A5) on the Arduino. The slider potentiometer works the same way.
2. Now connect the 4 pots to each their Analog input. The slider is supposed to be in A4. So to make sure:
A0: Knob1
A1: Knob2
A2: Knob3
A3: Knob4
A4: Slider
3. Now it's time to connect the voltage! Using the breadboard, the voltage can be sent through 1 line, the Ground as well. It should be quite easy to connect them.
4. Now, download the Arduino IDE and copy-paste the code I supplied above. In the IDE, you need to let it know which Arduino you're working with, and which port is should send the script.
5. Almost there. Download the plugin. Open the port you're using through the plugin. Set Start to True and the Cordyceps should be within you.
This recipe will be updated!
Let me know if there are any issues.
// Zakaria Djebbara…
he Cordyceps. Maybe some of you find this helpful/useful.
So basically, the Cordyceps is a physical module with 4 knobs and 1 slider. The knobs give an output between 1 and 1000, while the physical slider outputs 0-359. And of course, for this physical module I wrote a plugin to communicate with it. The knobs are intended to be the variables that modifies the design, while the physical slider is intended to be connected to the camera component.
Here I will put up "the recipe" for all to make their own module. You will be able to download the plugin as well.
Please send me a message if you want the 3D-files for the knobs, the box and slider knob. They've been made to directly 3D-print.
Plugin:
https://github.com/zakadjeb/Cordyceps/blob/master/Cordyceps/Cordyce...
Code for Arduino IDE:
https://github.com/zakadjeb/Cordyceps/blob/master/Arduino/_Arduino_...
What you need:
1x - Arduino (Leonardo, UNO or whatever)
4x - Potentiometers
1x - Sliding potentiometer
1x - Breadboard
Bundle of jump wires.
1. So, a potentiometer is a variable resistor, which is basically a component that changes the resistance between the voltage and the ground.
If A is supplied with 5V then B must be connected to Ground. The W will give "read" the resistance, and thus should be placed in Analog input (A0-A5) on the Arduino. The slider potentiometer works the same way.
2. Now connect the 4 pots to each their Analog input. The slider is supposed to be in A4. So to make sure:
A0: Knob1
A1: Knob2
A2: Knob3
A3: Knob4
A4: Slider
3. Now it's time to connect the voltage! Using the breadboard, the voltage can be sent through 1 line, the Ground as well. It should be quite easy to connect them.
4. Now, download the Arduino IDE and copy-paste the code I supplied above. In the IDE, you need to let it know which Arduino you're working with, and which port is should send the script.
5. Almost there. Download the plugin. Open the port you're using through the plugin. Set Start to True and the Cordyceps should be within you.
This recipe will be updated!
Let me know if there are any issues.
// Zakaria Djebbara…
rves/holes. However, the Kangaroo script itself is prone to locking up so it seems like it might take forever. You can even double click stop the timer from the Windows task bar, I hadn't noticed that before:
You have to use that or right click disable the timer since even with the Reset toggle button input set to True the timer itself locks up the script a bit when you are changing things around.
Just setting the min/max numbers both to a desired mesh size gives a uniform mesh:
Oh weird, it's about if the timer is right click set to so small an interval that it gets ahead of Kangaroo! When you see how long each cycle is taking with the Display > Canvas Widgets > Profiler you just set the timer for above that and the interface comes back into being responsive. It only takes a few Kangaroo cycles to do the inflation, so a full second timer interval is even workable.
A finer mesh:
It's funny running it so slow since it overinflates at first, bulging out, before it equilibrates.
You have control over inflation pressure and mesh stiffness, for a variety of effects.
This is a good system once I realized the timer needed to be mellowed out.
What made it work was the fast custom meshing since a normal mesh is awful and MeshMachine wouldn't work with sharp corner holes at all, breaking out of the boundary even if I fixed curves or vertices or did the equivalent with NURBS surfaces instead of a starting mesh.
There is an initiation time for Kangaroo that doesn't show up on its Profiler time that happens even with the timer off.
There are some fine areas that can't inflate with a reasonable mesh setting:
Worth playing with but no match for ArtCAM since it suffers odd delays in between working fast. If I could get better 2D meshes, that were more adaptive it would be better, but MeshMachine is one of the only re-meshers I know and it's broken for even mildly sharp hole features.
Ah, how about a crude mesh that is then subdivided, guaranteeing inner vertices everywhere? Sort of works, but is still too dense. Way too dense to even do anything. The subdivision triangulates the quads, vastly increasing the mesh wire density. Better just to make a finer initial mesh with plenty of quads.…
Added by Nik Willmore at 12:57am on February 21, 2016
well, very similar input data must result in wildly different hashes. For example, imagine we have an algorithm which computes hashes of text, and the hashes it computes are all numbers between 0 and 999. We then apply this algorithm to a piece of text:
"When Spring comes back with rustling shade" = 385
So far so good. Now imagine we change the text slightly, for example by removing a single "l":
"When Spring comes back with rusting shade" = 973
Minor change -> very different hash. There are of course way more unique texts than there are numbers between 0 and 999. This must therefore mean that a lot of text will result in the same hash. For example "When Spring brings back blue days and fair." may also result in a hash of 385. Because of the pigeonhole principle, there is nothing to be done about this.
Now for the tricky bit. Hashes are often used to validate executable code. Say your friend James at MI6 sends you a small program that will allow you to eavesdrop on Angela Merkel, and -over the phone- he tells you the hashcode for that application. You can then hash the application yourself, verify that it indeed results in the same hashcode and then you know you can trust the executable.
But now Jack from the FBI intercepts the email and adds a few sneaky lines of code to the original application allowing him to determine from your internet search history with up to 95% accuracy whether you like extra cheese on your pizza. The application has now been tampered with, it can no longer be trusted and you should be able to figure this out as it will no longer result in the same hash code.
But wait! Some hashing algorithms are more secure than others. MD5 is now officially considered to be 'hacked' and it is no longer recommended for doing naughty spying. Specifically, Jack will be able to inject his own code in such a way that it does not result in a different hash. Instead, the SHA family of hashers are to be used, as it is not yet known how to trick these hashers.
This is where the problem comes in, because apparently the US government has forcefully disabled the use of MD5 for all purposes. This is a shame because I use it to quickly compare bitmap icons for identicalness so I only have to store an icon in memory once. There is no security hole due to this, because I'm not hashing secure data. MD5 is somewhat faster than SHA, and since I have to hash several hundred icons on Grasshopper start, I opted for the faster one.
(Very) long story short; you're hosed. Grasshopper uses MD5; USgov does not like; Grasshopper does not run on USgov computers.
I'll do some testing to see if I can switch to SHA and then we can see whether or not that solves the problem. This however will take a while as I'm going on a business trip next week and have yet to prepare my presentations.
--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com…
Added by David Rutten at 12:06pm on March 31, 2014
ers and researchers, programmers and artists, professionals and academics who come together for 4 days of intense collaboration, development, and design.
The sg2012 Workshop will be organised around Clusters. Clusters are hubs of expertise. They comprise of people, knowledge, tools, materials and machines. The Clusters provide a focus for workshop participants working together within a common framework.
Clusters provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, processes and techniques and act as a catalyst for design resolution. The Workshop is made up of ten Clusters that respond in diverse ways to the sg2012 Challenge Material Intensities.
Applicants to the sg2012 Workshop will select their preferred cluster from the following:
Beyond Mechanics
Micro Synergetics
Composite Territories
Ceramics 2.0
Material Conflicts
Transgranular Perspiration
Reactive Acoustic Environments
Form Follows Flow
Bioresponsive Building Envelopes
Gridshell Digital Tectonics
More information about the Workshop and Clusters can be found here:
http://smartgeometry.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116&Itemid=131
The application process will close on January 15th, 2012.
Full Fee $1500
Reduced Fee $750
Scholarship Fee $350
Fees include attendance to both the workshop and conference from March 19th-24th.
Reduced Fee and Scholarships are available only for Academics, Students and Young Practitioners, and are awarded during a competitive peer review process.
sg2012 takes place from 19-24 March 2012 at EMPAC (http://empac.rpi.edu/) and is hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, upstate New York USA. The Workshop and Conference will be a gathering of the global community of innovators and pioneers in the fields of architecture, design and engineering.
The event will be in two parts: a four day Workshop 19-22 March, and a public conference beginning with Talkshop 23 March, followed by a Symposium 24 March. The event follows the format of the highly successful preceding events sg2010 Barcelona and sg2011 Copenhagen.
sg2012 Challenge Material Intensities
Simulation, Energy, Environment
Imagine the design space of architecture was no longer at the scale of rooms, walls and atria, but that of cells, grains and vapour droplets. Rather than the flow of people, services, or construction schedules, the focus becomes the flow of light, vapour, molecular vibrations and growth schedules: design from the inside out.
The sg2012 challenge, Material Intensities, is intended to dissolve our notion of the built environment as inert constructions enclosing physically sealed spaces. Spaces and boundaries are abundant with vibration, fluctuating intensities, shifting gradients and flows. The materials that define them are in a continual state of becoming: a dance of energy and information. Material potential is defined by multiple properties: acoustical, chemical, electrical, environmental, magnetic, manufacturing, mechanical, optical, radiological, sensorial, and thermal. The challenge for sg2012 Material Intensities is to consider material economy when creating environments, micro-climates and contexts congenial for social interaction, activities and organisation. This challenge calls for design innovation and dialogue between disciplines and responsibilities. sg2010 Working Prototypes strove to emancipate digital design from the hard drive by moving from the virtual to the actual in wrestling with the tangible world of physical fabrication. sg2011 Building the Invisible focused on informing digital design with real world data. sg2012 Material Intensities strives to energise our digital prototypes and infuse them with material behaviour. They have the potential to become rich simulations informed by the material dynamics, chemical composition, energy flows, force fields and environmental conditions that feed back into the design process.
More information can be found at http://www.smartgeometry.org
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/smartgeometry…
Added by Shane Burger at 12:29pm on December 13, 2011
azione parametrica e generativa attraverso Grasshopper, plug-in di programmazione visuale per Rhinoceros 3D (uno dei più diffusi modellatori NURBS per l‘architettura e il design). Il workshop mira a gestire e sviluppare il rapporto tra informazione e geometria lavorando sui sistemi ad involucro in condizioni specifiche.La discretizzazione di superfici (pannellizazione Nurbs o Mesh), la modellazione delle geometrie attraverso informazioni (siano esse provenienti da analisi ambientali, mappe o database) e l’estrazione e la gestione di queste informazioni, richiede la comprensione di strutture di dati al fine di gestire completamente processo che va dalla progettazione alla costruzione.I partecipanti impareranno come costruire e sviluppare strutture di dati parametrici per informare geometrie ‘data-driven’ e come estrarre le informazioni rilevanti da tali modelli per il processo di costruzione.
Modulo 2 – Il workshop, volto a promuovere le nuove tecnologie digitali di supporto alla progettazione e alla fabbricazione, esplorerà l’integrazione tra design e prototipazione tramite processi di stampa 3d di materiale ceramico al fine di comprenderne allo stesso tempo sia il comportamento del materiale che i vincoli e le opportunità offerte dall’utilizzo di tali tecnologie.Infatti utilizzando grasshopper ed una macchina a controllo numerico i partecipanti apprenderanno le modalità per la generazione parametrica dei modelli e la creazione del codice per la loro prototipazione (Gcode creato direttamente in Grasshopper). Il workshop darà quindi ai partecipanti la possibilità di testare direttamente i loro elaborati digitali stampandoli in modo da comprendere come le informazioni articolate tramite tali strumenti di design producano specifici effetti sia morfologici che estetici.…
ut in the next few days.
I've found getting really good handling of static vs kinetic friction to be a pain though.
Distinguishing between collisions and resting contact generally becomes more complicated than it might first appear.
If the collision with the mesh or ground is 'hard' I project the particle positions, so they can never penetrate, and reverse the component of their velocity normal to the surface (multiplied by the restitution factor). This means that whenever you have some structure of springs resting on a hard surface, there is usually still some tiny imperceptible bouncing. This makes it hard to properly apply static friction (which would zero the tangential velocity if the tangential force was below some threshold and it is not already sliding), because particles are generally not perfectly on the surface, even when apparently at rest. Obviously it's not good to have friction affecting things that aren't touching the surface.
This is the origin of the 'settle' parameter in the settings. The idea was that when the motion of a particle normal to the surface drops below that limit, it will be totally zeroed, and the particle becomes properly resting on the surface. I never really like having to use these kind of weird ad hoc fixes though.
Alternatively, if the collision is 'soft' I use a spring-like force to push particles out of the ground/mesh.
This can cause problems because in many cases you just want a simple constraint that they never go below ground level, and there is a limit to how stiff you can make these spring-like forces.
The advantage though, is that because any particle resting 'on' the ground/surface will actually be slightly below/inside it, and one can use this to decide whether to apply contact friction.
With bouncing collisions, it is a little simpler. There is just the question of what to do with the velocity component tangential to the surface. See the bottom comment by me here, for more on the 'tumble' setting:
http://www.grasshopper3d.com/video/kangaroo-traction-test
So you see, it is challenging to get one consistent model that will give correct behaviour for all cases (eg a simple static 'leaning ladder' type problem, a bouncing particle, and vehicle wheel traction), without having several of these odd seeming and non-intuitive settings.
…
Added by Daniel Piker at 11:11am on October 18, 2012