Friday, February 28, 2020

Algorithm Enabled Parametric BIM: 5 Steps to Getting Started


Need a little encouragement to navigate the parametric design world? Are you a Tekla Structures user?

In this article, Tekla explains algorithm enabled parametric BIM. They share some of the ways structural engineers are using this workflow to quickly explore complex design alternatives.

Algorithm Enabled Parametric BIM: 5 Steps to Getting Started...

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Tutorials for V-Ray with Grasshopper



ArchDaily has compiled a convenient list of V-Ray for Rhino tutorials in their sponsored article
How to Render Parametric Designs & Animations Using V-Ray for Rhino & Grasshopper.

These three to five-minute video tutorials cover:
  • Getting started
  • Rendering an animated facade
  • Rendering a Grasshopper shadow study
  • Rendering an animated sun study
  • Rendering an animated camera
  • Setting camera exposure and white balance
  • Plus other tips



Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Octave 9, a new audiovisual space for Seattle Symphony


Learn more about how LMN Architects created a flexible audiovisual space, Octave 9, in Benaroya Hall for the Seattle Symphony. Octave 9 is a performance space, a meeting room, an interactive classroom—whatever is needed for the activity or performer.

LMN used Grasshopper to design the acoustically absorptive celled ceiling that conceals microphones, speakers, lights, and much other necessary tech equipment.




Tuesday, February 25, 2020

In the works: Hydrofoil passenger ferry



Glosten and Bieker Boats are collaborating on a 150-passenger hydrofoil ferry and taking advantage of modern composite technology.

Bieker Boats has years of experience designing fast foil-born boats, including the Oracle Team USA for America's Cup. Glosten has a long history, over 50 years, of designing passenger boats.

To achieve ultra-efficient transportation, Glosten and Bieker Boats combined the proven technologies of ultra-efficient hydrofoils, lightweight carbon fiber hull construction, and modern geared propulsion equipment. With a requirement of less than half the installed power of a typical passenger catamaran, fuel consumption results in a 50% reduction. And for shorter routes less than 12 nautical miles, battery-electric propulsion can be operated.

The vessel has low drag foils, so it has less impact on sensitive shorelines.

To date, all the design work and CFD have been within the Rhino/Orca3D environment—Rhino as the primary drafting tool and Orca/Simerics for the CFD tools.

Specifications on Glosten web site and Bieker Boats web site...



Monday, February 24, 2020

Rhino in Architecture & V-Ray Next workshops in Madrid



MPA+PIA (Modelado de Proyectos y Producción de Imagen de Arquitectura) con Rhinoceros y V-Ray Next
Colegio Mayor Universitario Chaminade, Madrid
February 29 + March 1, 7, 8 (16:00-21:00h)


MIAUCADEMIA announces two new workshops:

Parametric Design workshop in Amersfoort (Netherlands)



Parametric Design workshop

by Jeroen Coenders (White Lioness)
Amersfoort (Netherlands)
April 1, 2, 8, 9, 2020 
*Now scheduled for November 4,5,18,19*

Parametric design can help you design complex structures and adjust your designs easily by a mouse click, even at a later stage of the design process. You can adapt your designs to data from its surroundings, optimize your designs and automate your calculations. The possibilities of parametric design are tremendous, and an increasing number of companies in the construction industry are using it.

In this course by Jeroen Coenders (White Lioness technologies) the principles and possibilities of parametric design are explained in a practical and construction-oriented way. During the first day, you will get a hands-on introduction to the software, Grasshopper. The second day focuses on parametric engineering: automated constructive workflows based on different analysis applications.

During the optional hackathon, you can solve your own business problem or realize your ideas for a parametric design. You will work independently in small groups on your own case under the supervision of an expert. The teachers are field experts and parametric software developers.

Software programs: Grasshopper, Karamba, Geometry Gym, Packhunt.io, and a whole bunch of other plugins.


Saturday, February 22, 2020

Pushing creativity with terra cotta in buildings




The 2019 ACAWorkshop was an opportunity to innovate and expand what is possible with terra cotta in architecture through the assembly and testing of ceramic prototypes. Teams in the weeklong event explored different applications of terra cotta in a collaborative environment at Boston Valley Terra Cotta and the UB School of Architecture Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies Lab.

The next workshop is on August 10-14, 2020.

See how Grasshopper is used to enhance creativity in a new way to see terra cotta in the Video Highlights from the 2019 Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop.

Friday, February 21, 2020

More on Phil Frank's SuperCar from Factory 5


More on Phil Frank's SuperCar from Factory 5: Simerics Rhino Flow RT provided CFD realtime simulation of the carbon fiber SuperCar designed using Rhino.

Even with little CFD experience, the SuperCar team was able to match the simulations with their wind tunnel tests. 

Influence the enhancements and development Rhino Flow RT! You can join the Rhino Flow RT Early Release program.  (CFD experience not required.)


Thursday, February 20, 2020

Prosthetics for dogs


For fun, watch Rhino help make dog prosthetics in a Comcast advertising spot. If you have a soft spot for dogs and the children who love them, you'll like this ad.


Saturday, February 15, 2020

Rhino and V-Ray classes in New York

*These classes are postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Levet Design Studio is now offering Rhino and V-Ray classes in New York. These comprehensive Rhino and V-Ray workshops are taught by Jessy Duval, a New York designer with over 15 years' experience using Rhino.

Current classes:
  • Rhino and V-Ray Training—February 27-28 
  • V-Ray Training—March 14 
  • Design Jewelry with Rhino—March 27-28
  • Animation Using Rhino and V-Ray—April 4 

Location: 
Levet Design Studio
79 West Street 
Brooklyn NY 11222

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Nate Miller reviews a few Grasshopper tools



Nate Miller of Proving Ground regularly offers respected opinions on generative design, such as his podcast discussion. Now, he has published his take on a few Grasshopper plugins. As Nate points out, for over 12 years, a vibrant digital design community has sprung up around Grasshopper, with its freely available plugins and tools that leverage “generative” concepts.

Three categories Nate discusses are:
  • Evolutionary solver
  • Topology optimization
  • Machine learning and artificial intelligence
You can find the tools he talks about, and others, through resources such as food4Rhino

Free Generative Design – A brief overview of tools created by the Grasshopper community...








Saturday, February 8, 2020

Webinar with Orca3D Marine CFD: Maneuvering and Other Advanced Features

Join Orca3D on February 26th for a webinar showcasing the advanced analyses available in the Premium version of Orca3D Marine CFD. CFD experts from Orca3D and Simerics, Inc. will show how you can improve your designs with computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Find more information and register!


By the way, if you missed the last CFD webinar with Rob Kaidy, VP of Engineering for SeaVee Boats, you can view it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJtLiFX1rA. Rob shows how he implemented Orca3D Marine CFD at SeaVee Boats. He first benchmarked it on some of their existing boats, using it to validate their latest high-speed stepped hull offshore fishing boat, before committing to the tooling.

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Algomad 2020 - March 26-28 - Madrid (Spain)



Algomad 2020

Seminario sobre métodos computacionales y tecnologías de diseño en Arquitectura e Ingeniería
March 26-28, 2020
IE School of Architecture & Design - Madrid
Due to the closure of the IE University classrooms decreed by the Community of Madrid, Algomad 2020 has been canceled.

Algomad is a series of workshops and talks about computational methods in architectural design.

This year, the focus is on data capture, data processing, interoperability, and visualization.


Tutorial: From line to surface in Grasshopper


Dušan Cvetković posted a new tutorial to help architects learn Rhinoceros.

This Grasshopper tutorial, a part of the Rhino for Architects Training Program, explores the ways to create a surface from two curves.

Learn the logic behind creating randomized curves so that our surface gets that wavy effect.


Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Essential Algorithms and Data Structures workshop



Rajaa Issa, the author of the new McNeel publication, Essential Algorithms and Data Structures for Computational Design, is presenting a live webinar with Performance Network.

Effective methodologies to develop complex 3D modeling algorithms using Grasshopper will be introduced. The book also covers the data structure adopted by Grasshopper and its core organization and management tools. 

The material is directed towards designers who are interested in parametric design and have little or no background in programming.

Thursday, February 13, 2020 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM PST

Download the book and example files. 

Register for the webinar!

3D-printed model of the Super Bowl stadium




Miami-Dade Police enlist students at FIU to create a 3D-printed model of the Hard Rock Stadium to help prepare for the Super Bowl.

Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) has used the Hard Rock Stadium model—which also splits into cross-sections—since November 2019 for table-top sessions ahead of the event on Sunday, February 2nd.

Created by students in the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts at FIU, the four-by-five feet (1.2-by-1.5 meters) mockup details bleachers, hallways, exits, rooms, and support beams in the 65,000-seat stadium.

It has allowed the force to become better acquainted with the structure, and prepare safety procedures and plans where to deploy officers for the major American football event. The model will also be used by the police for future activities like music concerts.




Interested in becoming a RhinoFabStudio? RhinoFabStudio® (fabrication studio) is a small-scale digital workshop, certified by McNeel, with an array of Rhino and Rhino compatible software and computer-controlled tools and training. These tools cover the various leading-edge industrial methods and materials needed to design, analyze, and fabricate almost anything.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

New release of xNURBS

Blending dozens of edges with one watertight G2 NURBS surface.


Announcing the availability of ground-breaking NURBS software - xNURBS Rhino Plugin V3.

Except for surfacing quality improvements, V3 provides new capabilities, e.g., supporting command history and cloud-based licenses, etc. The following is a short answer to "why xNURBS".

Key Features of xNURBS:

  • Unlimited capacities for solving NURBS: Its optimization algorithm can solve virtually any NURBS surface in a matter of milliseconds (regardless of how complex the constraints are.)

  • High-quality surfaces: For a given set of constraints, xNURBS’ optimization algorithm uses an energy-minimization method to generate the smoothest NURBS surface among all possible solutions. The generated surface quality is outstanding.

  • xNURBS is one super powerful NURBS tool that fixes virtually all surfacing issues for existing CAD software.

  • Easy-to-use: It uses one simple UI for all kinds of NURBS modeling.

  • Super robust: xNURBS is rock solid and works flawlessly.

  • Native CAD surfaces: XNurbs generates native CAD surfaces, i.e., trimmed or untrimmed NURBS surfaces, which can be directly used for any CAD modeling operations.

Rhino.Inside.Revit at the San Francisco Computational Design Institute


The San Francisco Computational Design Institute is featuring a presentation on Rhino.Inside.Revit and you are invited.

Marcello Sgambelluri, the speaker, manages the implementation, the research and development, and the marketing of BIM, Revit, structural design software, and visual programming for John A. Martin & Associates.

His many responsibilities are:
  • Creating 3D digital content beyond contract documentation that includes creating 3D realtime and pre-rendered animations, the use of realtime physics, and the use of game engines. 
  • Training and educating designers, engineers, clients, and project team members on the latest BIM tools. 
  • Creating tools and add-ins to improve office BIM tools and office structural design tools, including Revit, Dynamo, Grasshopper, Rhino, Tekla, Stingray, SAP, ETABS, RAM, RISA, and much other software.
Come learn from Marcello's experience.

February 21, 2020
12 PM–1 PM PST
Gensler, SFCD Institute
45 Fremont St, Ste 1500
San Francisco, CA 94105

View Map

To register, go to:

Monday, February 3, 2020

PlanBee - compute and visualize the features of a floor plan at variable resolutions

PlanBee is a plugin intended to help compute and visualize the features of a floor plan at variable resolutions and in doing so to help the designer look at the programmatic organization of the floor plan from a different vantage point. Use the ‘Rendered’ view mode when using PlanBee to make the most of built-in analysis/display components. All analysis components support parallel computing.

Besides computing various metrics across different floor plan locations, PlanBee offers the implementation of a Kohonen Self-Organizing Feature Map algorithm (SOM) to ‘self-organize’ the specified programmatic blocks of the floor plan. To understand this, it helps to think of the floor plan as a field of voxels, each of which contains values for different computed metrics. Once the metrics are calculated, each voxel corresponds to a multi-dimensional vector. The SOM basically reconciles the multi-dimensional vectors of the field of voxels with the features one specifies should belong to a programmatic mix.