In this post we review 5 of the most common mistakes new ShapeDiver users make when uploading their first Grasshopper models to our platform. Are you already avoiding all of them?
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Grasshopper scripts can be very powerful and even more so if you decide to host them online on ShapeDiver and build web applications with them. However, if you are new to ShapeDiver, you might not know the tips and tricks for optimizing your models and might even run into problems while uploading.
But fret not, as Edwin Hernandez, Lead Computational Designer at ShapeDiver shares "5 Things To Avoid When Uploading Your Grasshopper Models to ShapeDiver!" Let’s dive straight in!
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So you’ve just completed designing your Grasshopper model and are ready to show it off to the entire world by uploading it on ShapeDiver? Well, before you do that, let's see if you're avoiding these 5 common mistakes.
When building Grasshopper scripts we generally reference the geometry from the Rhino Environment onto Grasshopper. This is the first problem that you will encounter while working with ShapeDiver.
ShapeDiver is a viewer that runs everything that is only in the Grasshopper environment and nowhere else. Thus if you delete geometry in the Rhino environment, All of a sudden your Grasshopper script stops working. This is where the Internalization of geometry comes into the picture.
As instructed in the video, you should always internalize your Brep Geometries into Grasshopper. This way, ShapeDiver can perfectly Visualize your model in all its pristine glory!
Notice that unwanted flickering on the Sunglasses? That’s because some overlapping objects have their Display Preview turned ON. As guided in the video, only have the ‘Display Preview On’ of the ShapeDiver components and nothing else. Just reupload your Grasshopper script with the changes and all flickering problems will be resolved.
Yes! Your Grasshopper script is advised to exclude all those breps, surfaces, interpolated cubes or control pointed cubes. You can, however, upload it to ShapeDiver but it won’t be optimal.
Since our viewer renders your model, it needs the model to be made up of meshes (here's another interesting tutorial, in case you want to learn more). Meshes help our viewer to render your model and drastically reduces the computation time, ultimately providing you with a quick and fast visualization.
Not all Grasshopper plugins are, as of this moment, supported by ShapeDiver (here's an article that explains why). In part, this is because every plugin needs to undergo a manual check, needs a clear descriptive code and most importantly, it should be coded to work in an online environment and not in a localized environment.
Here’s a quick list of Plugins that are supported by ShapeDiver.
If you have used a plugin that is still unsupported, try exploring our currently supported plugins to find out if we already provide an alternative. If you can't find one, try scripting a component using VB, C# or Python. If all this fails, you can always suggest our development team to support your favorite plugin via our Forum.
Lastly, avoid having multiple "data trees" in your Grasshopper scripts. Data trees will essentially increase the computational time needed to render your model. The more data trees you have the more computational time ShapeDiver will require to visualize your model.
Try flattening your data tree, which will help you send only one file instead of 3, thereby reducing the computational time required by two thirds!
We hope that by avoiding these 5 common mistakes, you'll be closer to experience the full potential of hosting your Grasshopper scripts online with ShapeDiver. Possibilities are endless and we can't wait to see what you can build using our platform!
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