help installing kangaroo/ plankton/ cytoskeleton

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Permalink Reply by AB on March 20, 2014 at 9:32pm

I too had a bit of a struggle getting things installed correctly.

Here are the links that helped me:

Daniel Piker explains what you need in this link:

http://www.grasshopper3d.com/group/plankton/forum/topics/dynamic-re...

The screenshot that he shows in his response is the result of RightMouse Click the C# component and select Manage Assemblies.

Not knowing where you are getting hung up... means I should probably mention you should download everything you need from here (you probably did this):

https://github.com/Dan-Piker/Plankton/releases/tag/v0.3.0

I assume you already have the current Kangaroo installed - Kangaroo0096.gha along with KangarooLib0096.dll

These should be placed GH>File>SpecialFolders>ComponentsFolder.

This is of course where most plugins would be installed and this is were Plankton.gha and Plankton.dll also go.

Other thoughts:

make sure you don't have any duplicate copies of any of these on your system anywhere (like in your downloads folder)  I read that others had problems with this.

After installing as stated above, you will want to open one of the example files that Mr. Piker has been so kind to share.

Like PlanktonDemo0.3.0.gh

found at the link with the Plankton .dll and .gha files.

when you try to open the file it will say something like it can't find certain assemblies (my guess is this is where you are having problems... as I did too) You just need to point the right direction to these four files

Plankton.dll

Plankton.gha

KangarooLib0096.dll

Kangaroo0096.gha

Piker describes this in link at the top of my reply.

Your paths will all be something like this

C:\Users\ab\AppData\Roaming\Grasshopper\Libraries\Plankton.dll

C:\Users\ab\AppData\Roaming\Grasshopper\Libraries\Plankton.gha

C:\Users\ab\AppData\Roaming\Grasshopper\Libraries\Kangaroo0096.gha

C:\Users\ab\AppData\Roaming\Grasshopper\Libraries\KangarooLib0096.dll

When you try opening the example file PlanktonDemo0.3.0.gh you will have to enter the link over and over pressing OK with each prompt. That example file has at least 8 C# components and many if not all of them need to have the same assemblies redirected.... so it may seem like it isn't working... but just keep entering the correct path and clicking ok and it should work out for you. it did for me.

Hope this long winded reply is helpful. GoodLuck

Permalink Reply by Daniel Piker on March 21, 2014 at 9:05am

Many thanks AB,

much appreciated.

Permalink Reply by Michiel Cornelissen on March 21, 2014 at 8:30am

Hey AB,

Thanks so much - that was a great compilation of everything I needed to do. I had a little bit of everything going wrong, I think, but thanks to your help I have the components and definitions working fine now.

I must admit that using them is a whole 'nother story - I have no idea how to control the components, I guess I'd hoped for something as simple as exoskeleton. I may have to start with some beginners tutorials in Kangaroo, first... 

Kind regards, Michiel

Permalink Reply by Daniel Piker on March 21, 2014 at 9:15am

Hi Michiel,

I am aiming in time to post some of these tools as more user friendly 'packaged up' .gha components, which will hopefully simplify this process.

It's a balance though - I think posting things as scripts rather than compiled components can be more open, and make it easier for those that like to do a bit of scripting to get involved without firing up visual studio. Especially while these scripts are still so much work-in-progress and subject to change, this can really help move things along. (I do wish there was an easier way to deal with locations of referenced dll files in grasshopper though).

On the other hand - I think a great strength of Grasshopper is that people don't need to use any text-based coding if they don't want to, and I do hope to eventually make all these tools just as wonderfully plug-and-play as the rest of gh.

Permalink Reply by Michiel Cornelissen on March 21, 2014 at 9:31am

No problem Daniel, I'm just in awe of the people that do get the nitty gritty of this kind of stuff. I'll try to keep on learning in the meantime, while indeed hoping for some plug-and-play versions at some point. Thanks, Michiel

Permalink Reply by Olivier Suire on July 6, 2016 at 7:54am

As of today, it is still a huge pain in the neck to install grasshopper and plankton.