Insert scaled block

I'm trying to optimize my workflow a little. Since many (most) people in my office don't use GH, they make heavy use of blocks. I'd like to start taking advantage of blocks so that as I build models using GH scripts, I and others can manipulate the pieces as blocks improve efficiency.

I'm starting out simple: I model a lot of curtain walls and railings. Most of the objects in these assemblies are rectangular surfaces or boxes, such as mullions, posts, glass, etc. Ideally, I'd like a 1x1x1 unit box as a block. Then every time I create a mullion, instead of baking a tall, skinny box, I place an instance of the 1x1x1 unit box, non-uniformly scaled to the size of the mullion.

I've been experimenting with Elefront, but I can't find a way to scale the block before inserting it.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Heumann on March 20, 2015 at 5:39pm

Human lets you control the transform of blocks prior to insertion. It can be a bit of a confusing workflow, since people aren't used to working with transforms. Any euclidean or affine transform operation, like scale, move, orient, shear, etc, outputs a "transform" in addition to the geometry that gets transformed - you can also combine multiple transforms with the "compound transform" component. Once you've got a transform (or a list of transforms) you can bake/insert your block with that transform.

Permalink Reply by Damon on March 25, 2015 at 6:21am

Andrew, thanks for the reply. I've given the block components from Human a try and got the transforms to work. The first test was simply replacing all the mullions (boxes) in my model with a block. My file size went from over 700Mb to under 100Mb. I'm sure as we develop this workflow further to use blocks via Grasshopper/Human more, it will significantly optimize our workflow. Thanks for pointing me in this direction.

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