Resources – Parametrics

Grasshopper Primer Third Edition | Foundations

The latest and greatest Grasshopper Primer, the Third Edition, can be downloaded for free from Modelab:

I’ll be assigning readings and example exercises out of this primer for the next month or so. Check out the updated Syllabus for details, and get your hands on these great resources as soon as possible!

I’ve been using the second edition in every section of Parametrics I’ve taught to date, and we have always struggled with the dated content. I’m excited to dive in to the latest and greatest from the boys over at Modelab with all of you!

Rhino Resources

Now that everyone is into the first part of the parametric seating assignment, I thought it would be worthwhile to re-post some good online resources for learning rhino. I first published these back in February 2012, and think all are still relevant.

Here’s the link to the original post: https://int659.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/rhino-resources/

DesignReform video tutorials

Another fantastic resource for grasshopper video tutorials is DesignReform, which is run by the all stars over at Case. The site is full of great practical knowledge, including a few videos that will be particularly useful for us; have a look at the Lunchbox video, and the two kangaroo videos.

Grasshopper Resources

There are a wealth of online resources that should be taken advantage of when working with and/or learning Grasshopper.

First and foremost is http://www.grasshopper3d.com/, the project’s homepage. The site contains a very active forum, links to numerous tutorials and learning materials, and provides the most recent releases of the program itself. Also check out the always growing list of add-ons, some of which we’ll be using later in the term. If you have a GH question, this is the place to start.

Second: designreform.net. There are a bunch of fantastic grasshopper tutorials dating all the way back to when grasshopper was called explicit history. All tutorials are very high quality and do a great job explaining concepts as well as technique. This blog is a great resource as it offers tutorials across a wide cross section of parametric and rule based platforms.

Third: The Grasshopper Primer – Second Edition. This is a comprehensive document that describes, in detail, the basics of the interface all the way up to programming on top of GH. Although it was written for an older version of GH, most of the material is still very relevant. I don’t know of another document that provides as much information on as many topics. If you are looking for an in depth answer to a question, the Primer is often more helpful than the forums.

Rhino Resources

I’ve compiled a few online Rhino resources over the past week.

I find the video tutorials to be the most helpful when learning a new piece of software, and there are a ton of resources out there on the web. Here are a few good ones:

My colleague Jonatan referred me to digitaltoolbox.info today, which seems like a great resource. I haven’t seen any of these yet, but the site seems very comprehensive. If anyone has a look, let us know what you think in the comments.

Designreform.net has been around for years and has a wealth of video tutorials covering a very wide range of design software, including rhino and grasshopper. Mostly focused on GH and rhinoscript, but there are a few good rhino ones in there too.

Paramod.net is another favorite of mine. I haven’t seen the rhino tutorials, but I know that this guy is very thorough and clear. There seems to be a great range here including a couple of more specific topics like rendering and drawing output. Looks like good stuff.

On to the deep links. The Rhino wiki and resources pages on McNeel’s site are the most noteworthy, and are very deep indeed. The hidden secrets page is a little gem I just found today.

If anyone finds good Rhino resources out there, please share them in the comments. Happy modeling!