Designing​ ​Interactive​ ​Holographic​ ​Environments​ ​in​ ​Grasshopper Training

Designing Interactive Holographic Environments in Grasshopper Training 

by Gwyllim Jahn and Cameron Newnham (Fologram)

April 9-11, 2018

10.00h-18.00h

McNeel Europe

Roger de Flor, 32-34 bajos

08018 Barcelona (Spain)

McNeel welcomes Gwyllim Jahn and Cameron Newnham, cofounders of Fologram, for a 3-day Augmented Reality Workshop for Rhino and Grasshopper users at McNeel Europe in Barcelona. 

With augmented reality (AR) environments designers visualize 3D models within physical environments and at scale. This training introduces new tools and workflows for 3D models to be dynamic, to leverage headset data (position and orientation, gaze, and gesture) and to build new applications directly within Grasshopper.

Participants will form teams and collaborate closely with workshop leaders to develop projects with immediate use cases and based on one of the following themes:

• Proximity feedback for measurement and interaction  
• Responsive environments  
• Interactive holographic modeling  
• Interactive design markup
• Interactive simulation and analysis

Participants will build prototypical projects with immediate use cases in industry and gain confidence in developing further applications for mixed reality environments. All participants will work directly with Microsoft Hololens headsets through all phases of the workshop.

Day 1 (AR Visualization)

• Introduction
• Use of holographic software to stream CAD models to the HoloLens 
• Generative design approaches and holographic models using Rhino, Grasshopper, and custom plugins
• Group work with brief presentations: Production of digital prototypes and test on mixed reality headsets, revise digital design in response

Day 2

• Working with 3D scan data
• Working with visual tracking models for 6dof object interaction
• Parametric schematics for interactivity (capturing gestures and building event-based models)
• Project development

Day 3

• Supervised personal project development
• Discussion and feedback

Course Fee: EUR 795 (+VAT); full-time students and university teachers (proof of status required) will get a 50% discount. Your seat is only confirmed once payment has been cleared. 

Max. Number of Participants: 10 participants. If there is no quorum, the course will be canceled 15 days before. 

Language: English 

Educational seats are limited. Sign up now by contacting McNeel Europe here!

Architectural Visualization Course by ThinkParametric

ThinkParametric continues their project-based courses in which students learn to use software by recreating built projects with their Architectural Visualization Course: Image Planning and High Detail Modeling. The tutorials are available online for a 14-day trial, followed by a small monthly subscription fee.

This series covers the whole workflow, from start to finish, of creating a stunning interior image using a variety of software including Rhino, 3ds Max, Corona Renderer, ZBrush, Nuke, and Adobe Photoshop.

David Guardado teaches this series. David has over ten years of experience in the field as a 3D visualizer and has extensive knowledge of all the aspects of visualization.

In the first part, Image Planning, you will:

• Gather necessary information from the client. David explains what is important to ask for and gives you some helpful tips to minimize miscommunications.
• Look at online resources to get a sense of your desired final image, focusing on lighting, camera angles, different materials, and composition.
• Create some white renders and combine with some material references into a collage to present to the client.
• Export the 3D model from Sketchup to Rhino, and in Rhino conduct the geometry cleanup.
• Export the clean model to Max to add detail to the visible parts.

In the second part, High Detail Modeling, you will go through the workflow of 3D modeling a sofa into high detail:

• Start by collecting some additional information on how textile behaves in real life, before exporting the low poly model from 3ds Max to ZBrush. Rebuilding the sofa into a low-poly version is necessary for easy UV mapping and smoothly applying textures.
• In ZBrush add all the detail necessary for a realistic representation of the sofa.
• Export high definition UV material maps in Substance Designer.

More information on Image Planning and High Detail Modeling...

Tutorial: Importing and Scaling DP Data

DotProduct published the video tutorial Import and Scale DP Point Cloud Data for Use in an Existing Rhino 3D Project.

With the free DotProduct.DP Import plugin for Rhino, you can import DP data into Rhino. However, importing into an existing project can often result in scale issues depending on the units of the project. Remedy this with a few quick steps. See how in this brief video on proper import and scaling of DotProduct point cloud data to use in a Rhino project.

Note: DotProduct is currently exhibiting until January 26th at the World of Concrete 2018 in Las Vegas, Booth B51311.

See the video tutorial...

Rhino 6 Performance Improvements

Jean Pradelle, a French reseller and trainer, has been kind enough to share his performance tests and compare these to Rhino 5. The result shows that Rhino 6 is 100 times faster in his experiments!


Rhino 6 Performance Improvements from Form2Fab on Vimeo.

Xirus WIP for Rhino

Mirrakoi has released a free test version of Xirus, a brand-new geometric modeling kernel that provides ‘augmented CAD’ (a powerful modeling technology that combines the best of the worlds of NURBS, subdivision, and polygon meshes and adds augmented access to the 3D digital object). 

Xirus provides decoupled control of tangents, curvature, mixed- and higher order derivatives and enables direct smoothness control in 3D modeling.

Download Xirus for Rhino as a free WIP (work in progress package).

Video documentation and the full list of the 70 commands currently available are at https://mirrakoi.com/xirus-commands/. 

The direct download link is https://mirrakoi.com/xirus-for-rhino/ and a forum for the Xirus users has been set up to provide feedback and direct contact with the Xirus developers and user support.

Free podcasts on Architectural Acoustics

Isak Worre Foged (Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology at Aalborg University) has been kind enough to share his podcasts on Architectural Acoustics, including how to simulate acoustics in Rhino with Pachyderm. 

Check also https://acoustictectonics.wordpress.com/

Developer Job offer at Navinn (RhinoPiping)

Navinn, a French software and services company specializing in Rhino plugin development (RhinoPiping is the main product) is looking for a developer to join their office in Lorient, France.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Navinn requires a junior/intermediate/senior developer to join their office in Lorient, France. If necessary, teleworking can be considered.

The mission is to port the plugin RhinoPiping from Rhino 5 to Rhino 6. It will take approximately two to three weeks.

PREFERRED SKILLS

• Experienced with C++ (required)
• Self-sufficiency (You will be independent)
• Knowledge of Rhino plugins is a plus

Contact: Matthieu Arnold, jobs@rhinopiping.com

Urban planning computational analysis webinar

Computational Analysis & Synthesis of Urban Morphology using Rhino/GH

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The blog, Thank God It's Computational, is hosting a webinar on using Rhino and Grasshopper for C+.

Computational Analysis & Synthesis of Urban Morphology using Rhino/GH is an introduction to the DeCodingSpaces-Toolbox. Download and learn more about this plugin.

In this webinar you will learn:

• How to analyze Street Network and compute phenomena such as the distribution of functions in a city or the movement patterns of citizens. 
• Various methods for the synthesis of urban morphology (street networks, plots, and buildings) and how they connect to the analysis methods.

The cost is $19 and the length is 90 minutes.

More information on this webinar...

Burning Man Temple by Arthur Mamou-Mani

Burning Man Arts has announced the selection for their 2018 Temple: Galaxia by Arthur Mamou-Mani.

The London-based French architect and Grasshopper guru Arthur Mamou-Mani has designed, fabricated, and installed previous algorithmic structures at Burning Man, the annual experimental gathering in the Black Rock Desert of northwest Nevada. The Temple, an important part of Burning Man, was first created in 2000. For a little history, read Building the Temple.

Arthur Mamou-Mani specializes in digitally designed and fabricated architecture and is a frequent lecturer on using Grasshopper for parametric design and fabrication.

Announcement in The Burning Man Journal...

Seminar on Parametric Design and BIM in Oslo

Graphisoft Norge, in collaboration with McNeel Europe, has organized a Seminar on Parametric Design and BIM in Oslo, Norway, on the 13th of February.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about Computational Architectural Design and the Rhino-Grasshopper-Archicad solution.

Speakers include McNeel Europe (news about the upcoming Rhino 6 and food4Rhino), Ákos Karóczkai (Grasshopper and BIM expert), Håvard Auklend (Helen & Hard), Mario Sacco & Michele Calvano, Jorge Beneitez (Enzyme) and Hans Andre Mangen Olsen & Thomas Schiøtz (Rambøll).

Complete details and registration (presentations will be in English)...

Importing 3D people into Rhino

Renderpeople just released a video tutorial on how to import 3D people into Rhino. Check it on food4Rhino!

Intro to Grasshopper Online Training

Intro to Grasshopper - Online Course

January 29 - February 1

Sign up today!

Did you know that Grasshopper will be included in Rhino 6 for Windows? Get a jump on the next release of Rhino by learning Grasshopper now!

Join Grasshopper master, Andres Gonzalez, for this accelerated online course. He will get you started with generative modeling in Rhino 5 using the Grasshopper add-on. This course is for design professionals who are looking to efficiently learn concepts and features of Grasshopper at a fast pace in an instructor-led online environment.

• Monday-Thursday, January 29, 30, 31 and February 1
• 9 AM-12 PM (Pacific time zone) each day
    Calculate your time zone.
• US$195.00 per person
  Seats are limited, register now.

We will record each live, training session and post the videos to a private, student album available for streaming up to 90 days following the course.

Details...

Performative Design .01, Baghdad

Performative Design .01

Baghdad

February 5-8, 2018

This four-day workshop, set in a studio environment, will introduce an integrated approach to designing multi-story buildings with environmental sensibility. It will provide participants with tools and techniques to integrate environmental data and site-specific issues early in the design process and to respond to their design. It will also focus on teaching students how to deploy these principles as a design strategy for different types of projects.


To register, email Hasan Hadi or call 078 06999394
Registration deadline: January 20


Tools & Techniques
On a design level, working with Rhino and Grasshopper workflow, the workshop will introduce parametric design techniques as a new platform for addressing environmental issues. After covering a few exercises on the logic and the principles of this design medium, we will apply the learned techniques in a design exercise. We will analyze the forces affecting the selected site, develop data sets for the forces field, and use this information to inform the generation of the building form. Systems differentiation (design output) will be created as a result of negotiations between the applied environmental forces and students’ design sensibility.

 
On a technical level, with visual scripting with Grasshopper, participants will learn how to build and manage parametric data structures (from simple lists to complex data trees) and develop data-driven responsive geometry and envelopes. Geometry and building skins will evolve in response to the context-specific database selected from a manifold of information such as environmental analysis, orientation, views, and others.

 
Prerequisites: Basic modeling skills in Rhino and basic/intermediate level in Grasshopper are required. Participants must bring their own laptops with preinstalled software.

Details and more...

Integrative Technologies & Architectural Design Research (ITECH) M.Sc. Programme is accepting applications!

M.Sc. Programme, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning – Coordinating Institutes:
ICD – Institute for Computational Design, Prof. Achim Menges
ITKE – Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design, Prof. Jan Knippers

Application Deadline: February 15, 2018

ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2016-17 (©ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart)

The Integrative Technologies & Architectural Design Research M.Sc. Programme is a multidisciplinary, research-oriented, experiment-based programme shaped around contemporary aspects of the built environment.

The goal of the ITECH programme is to prepare a new generation of students from different disciplines for the continuing advancement of technological and computational processes in the development of the built environment through merging the fields of design, engineering, construction and natural sciences. 

By combining an intensive, critical and analytical approach to computational design simulation and fabrication processes, the ITECH programme focuses on challenging the design space boundaries of current contemporary architectural and engineering practice. It seeks to examine the techniques, methods, and theories of design in the fields of engineering, robotics, digital manufacturing, material science, and biology.

The programme is open to students with a recognized Bachelor degree in architecture, architectural science, civil/structural engineering, urban planning, biology or biomimetics, environmental engineering or similar engineering or natural science degrees. All the programme courses are instructed in English.

Applications for enrollment in October 2018 are accepted until February 15^th, 2018. 

More information on the ITECH Programme and the application process:

http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de/?p=6111
http://www.itke.uni-stuttgart.de/lehre.php?id=521

Webinar: Orca3D Marine CFD Simulation

Webinar: Orca3D Marine CFD Simulation
January 9, 2018
9:00 AM EDT
Register

Orca3D Marine CFD brings the power of Computational Fluid Dynamics to naval architects for resistance and propulsion analyses, without the need to become a CFD specialist. Now you can analyze the hydrodynamic performance of your displacement and planing hull designs with confidence in the results. Explore both monohulls and multihulls. Investigate, with high fidelity, the effects of local design features including steps, flaps, trim tabs, foils, and other appendages. With Orca3D Marine CFD, it takes just minutes to set up and start an analysis, and it is practical to run on ordinary engineering laptops or desktops.

This webinar will begin by setting up and starting an analysis, followed by a more detailed look at the steps involved. Benchmark results will be presented, and techniques will be shown to ensure that your results are reliable. Finally, the initial analysis will be revisited, to demonstrate how data can be visualized, plotted, and exported.

Seats are limited; registration is required.

Sign up today!

Rhino User Meeting at IED Barcelona - February 6, 2018

Icreatia, in collaboration with McNeel Europe, is organizing a Rhino User Meeting at the IED Barcelona on February 6, 2018.

Join us and learn more about state-of-the-art digital design and fabrication.

Get inspiration from industry experts in different fields: architecture, engineering, product design, automotive design, visualization, 3D printing, jewelry, fashion & textiles, and much more!

Get the latest news about Rhino WIP, Grasshopper, and food4Rhino.

Watch presentations and get hands-on with live software demonstrations from our exhibitor partners.

Check the preliminary program (*presentations will be in Spanish), exhibitor partners, and register here...