Pain Points in Grasshopper

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Kudless on May 25, 2014 at 4:21am

Make that "Roly Poly". Damn auto correct.

Permalink Reply by flux.io on May 27, 2014 at 3:38pm

Thanks Andrew for focusing the conversation and for providing a few plug-in wishes.  Great names! 

I actually don't mind that this thread is in some ways a big wish list, sometimes at a pretty granular level.  Sometimes just collecting some of the smaller pain points can point to bigger issues, and there have been some really thoughtful replies that are looking to "dream big" with Grasshopper.  Great stuff.

I will be referring to this thread on an ongoing basis as we prepare our next project.  Perhaps at some point, as we narrow down the candidates, we will put them to a vote and also look for partners from the community to make them happen.

Thanks and keep the responses coming!

Marc Syp

Flux Factory, Inc.

http://www.flux.io

Permalink Reply by Santiago Diaz on June 1, 2014 at 2:07am

I would be intrigued to see an option in GH to interact with GH-generated geometry in the Rhino viewports. For instance, there is some of that already with the point component, in which GH-defined points can be moved in the Rhino viewports by using the translation glyphs.

You could begin by allowing the selection of GH-generated geometry, and displaying information about them in the viewport (branch and item id, see next item or previous item in list, show selected curve direction, etc.) We get by using GH components to obtain this sort of info in the viewports, but it would actually be convenient to simply select something on screen and get immediate feedback.

The next step could be to allow manipulation of GH-generated geometry in the viewports, and have the GH definition re-compute from that point on.

One issue would be when you have geometry from different components occupying the same place in the viewports. This is a common UI problem, Revit handles it by asking the user to 'tab' through the various elements (not so great), Rhino gives you a quick list to select from. I'd like to see what GH would do instead. It could be highlighting the various components in the canvas that generate the geometry in question, and asking you which one you mean to select, although it would be interesting to see the disambiguation occur in the viewport, since that is where you are interacting.

Anyways, just a thought.

I second the idea of showing an estimate for how long a compute is taking. Even if it is shown in simplified terms like "Less than a minute" or "Estimated compute time between [time] and [time]", etc. That would already be quite useful.

The Profiler is very useful in my experience. I think there is room for enhancement though. For instance, it could also profile the time it takes to draw geometry in the Rhino viewports (I'm pretty sure that it doesn't, but correct me if I'm wrong). I often need to get my GH definitions to perform in real-time or near real-time, and I can think of some ways in that the Profiler (or a new set of functions perhaps) could help, but maybe I'll save that for a separate post.

Permalink Reply by Nathan Lowe on June 5, 2014 at 12:55am

condor sounds a bit like meerkat.  Check it.  The Google import portion is all about licensing... The creator of elk and I (meerkat man) once worked in the same office and joked about what it would look like if elk and meerkat mated but that's a whole different study.  Rhino terrain has some great functionality on that front.

- my contribution to the conversation at hand... Definitely echo Santiago on the selecting GH preview geometry... Even if it's like a work session and snaps back into place... Just getting the guid from a spatial click in a non-janky way would be sweetness to my weakness.

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chertok on November 4, 2014 at 7:02pm

holy cow. thanks for the tip andrew. very interesting times indeed...

Permalink Reply by huaxiamengqing on May 25, 2014 at 1:51am

1. More Powerful and flexible Dimensions,I say all the dimensions,Not some of them.Give me more interface about them.

2. Give me the interface of Make2d In donet SDK,Please.

3. A commponent with many output, another commponent with same count input. I want connect all the output to all the input once not one by one --
4.  Realize  the "_CurveBoolean" command use a commponent,Please.
5. You Know,I want work with the GH On my smart Phone.Realize it, it will take you company to further.
6. realize slice list like python using a commponent.
7. I want using -1 to get the last tree branch with Tree Split  commponent.
8. I want divide a curve into specified number by chord.I just can using GalaPagos to realize it.I want realize it using a normal commponent that can divide more curves input.
9. I'd like more commponents design by you to read files like Excel,Pdf,CAD and so on.

Permalink Reply by 3dcon on May 27, 2014 at 6:27am

This is also not on the plugin site...

A component to manage the wires in bigger definitions over long distances like that:

More straight lines; may you can rotate the "wire clamp" in 45° steps.

It would be fantastic if a renamed component (like Point parameter or Brep parameter), give the name to the next parameter component. Like the way it is going with the Sliders.

Permalink Reply by patric guenther on June 15, 2014 at 11:46am

both good ideas

+1

Permalink Reply by x3curve on May 31, 2014 at 1:42am

hi, a small wish,

I have a suggestion for two components - param viewer and panel- both mainly used as visual aid the see data arrangement  in components

what if it is possible that - index/ data path in param viewer/ panel could be clicked upon individually  and consequently the geometry get   highlighted in rhino viewport. i feel there could be  a intuitive connection between geometry and data ( usability wise) ....

Right now i use list item / tree branch  components repeatedly to crosscheck the  geometrical arrangement in relation to data paths while manipulation  

One shall argue that it is unnecessary wastage of computing power as in most cases panel/param viewer is used for mainly visually checking the details of data arrangement  and real data mostly comes for components -- in that case what if this ability of the two components to geometrically link to rhino could be toggled on/off. Just a thought 

Permalink Reply by djordje on May 31, 2014 at 2:43am

By default Quick Graph adds values to its y-axis.
My small wish would be an option (right click on Quick Graph?) of choosing either "x axis", or "y axis".

Permalink Reply by Dimitar Baldzhiev on June 4, 2014 at 3:38pm

Focusing on the topic I must say that the biggest pain point in grasshopper for an above average experienced user is the computation time and the killing of a faulty definition. I think an enhanced Esc Button functionality will be incredibly useful. Combined with Estimate Computation time it will be great. It may be as simple as a verification when you are about to do a 1 hour computation operation. Or auto data dam feature for the heavy operations. Just some warning before we are about to make something stupid :D

Permalink Reply by Duncan W on June 10, 2014 at 8:18am

Extrude closed crv both sides and solid anyone? Always tedious to add the caps.

Even more problematic with OffsetSrf. Perhaps at least the "both sides" option could be added.

Otherwise I would only wish for usability improvements. For example the "Evaluate Crv" component. Could you allow another spacebar press on its "t" value where a couple of frequently used values like 0, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 1, etc. are available from a circular arrangement? It's just time consuming to navigate through the right-click menus several times. Especially when entering custom data which I find myself do quite frequently.

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