bake as block - C# script help

Hi Grasshopper community,

I have been using a great C# script that takes geometry in Grasshopper and bakes it into Rhino as blocks. It's helpful for organizing geometry (one bake contains everything plugged into the component as one block), but I need the script to do one more thing for a specific project...

I am plugging in a series of identical geometries into the component (let's say five identical rectangular surfaces) and would like it to bake each plane as a duplicate of the same block (one block, repeated 5 times). Right now, it bakes one block that contains five rectangular surfaces. I am hoping to get it to bake in such a way that I can pull the model into SketchUp and I can have five identical components - I can edit one and all of them change. I'm replacing the simple planes with a more complex model. I have already verified blocks work in SketchUp, so I'm thinking the change would be within the C# component, something about the way it looks at the geometry and groups it.

Was wondering if I can post the script itself here and ask if anyone knows how to tweak it to accomplish what I'm hoping?

I know baking blocks isn't officially supported in GH, and I don't need to be reminded of this, but I am hoping for some constructive help on this particular component, which is so close to what I need.

Many thanks.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 10, 2013 at 12:52pm

David,

The script tells me IO generated 4 messages upon opening. I still do not see any GH output from the C# component. The Rhino viewport is blank except for the 3DM file, even when I enable/disable the C# component.

I just updated to the latest release of GH but I still get the messages and am wondering if this is why the C# script you wrote doesn't actually do anything on my end.

"Archive file written with newer version."

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on September 10, 2013 at 1:51pm

I have a newer version because I'm working on the next one. The script should run on the latest public release though. What Rhino version have you got?

ps. I'm putting this as a response to the original message as we've run out of reply options.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Tirol, Austria

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 10, 2013 at 1:56pm

I have Rhino 5, up-to-date.

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 10, 2013 at 3:00pm

What is the Rhino preview panel you show in your screenshots? Looks helpful if it is what I think it is.

Any idea how to get your script working on my [latest] build of GH and Rhino?

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on September 10, 2013 at 3:35pm

I've been using the Quick Image Export feature (Ctrl+Shift+Q).

I'm trying to release a new version of GH, I'm already several days behind schedule, there were some unforeseen circumstances. If I can release within two days or so, you can try running the script on 0.9.0060 to see if it fares any better. Will that be in time?

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Tirol, Austria

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 10, 2013 at 3:38pm

Yes, that is fine, I can wait until the new release. Godspeed.

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 14, 2013 at 11:55am

David,

I installed the new GH release and ran the script again. The baking function works now, and removes old geometry as you designed it, but there is still no preview geometry prior to baking. Is this intentional?

Thanks.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on September 14, 2013 at 12:05pm

Yes. The script doesn't display, it only bakes. You can see the Planes but that's it.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Tirol, Austria

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 14, 2013 at 12:16pm

Okay. Now I have the added functionality of baking the same car types into the same block references, which is what I wanted and is thanks to your component, but I have lost the ability to visualize the lot only in GH, and to change their plane color, which is was helpful before.

How would I go about combining the usefulness of your component with the functionality I had from the old C# bake component? I would like to have the best of all these worlds but I do not know how to combine the programming language behind them into one component.

Obviously the rest of the script - making the random plane selection set so much more efficient - is a huge step forward for this project and I appreciate that very much. I just need to nail this C# component because it's critical to what I want to achieve.

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 25, 2013 at 3:22pm

David, I am still hoping you will respond to my question about combining the functionality of your new C# script and my old one. I hope you can help. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on September 25, 2013 at 3:33pm

Hi Josh,

I lost track of this discussion, sorry. Just to be clear for me, you want coloured previews for each unique type of block from within the baking component?

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Tirol, Austria

Permalink Reply by Josh Goldstein on September 25, 2013 at 3:39pm

Great! No problem. Yes, that's correct. Each unique block (plane representing a car type) was a unique color and was also tagged with a unique car number, all in the GH preview prior to baking. Once they're baked the color isn't necessary, as long as the car number tag remains.