Sequence: Parametric Visualization with Grasshopper
Sequence Summary:
This sequence will show a variety of ways to bring external data into Grasshopper, as well as ways to analyze and visualize it. We'll start with purely numerical data, then add in spatial information that can be mapped. After that we'll look at how to work with images, audio, and video, and finally scanned 3D meshes. In parallel, we'll look at ways of using Grasshopper for visualization: applying colors, lineweights and materials, creating animations, and automating rendering.
These tutorials assume a basic familiarity with Grasshopper, so if you haven't used it before start with the Intro to Grasshopper sequence before continuing.
Why?
While it's possible to construct a rich and generative computational model from the ground up, it can often be more compelling and productive to build something with a concrete relationship to the complexity of the outside world. Sometimes this relationship is purely analytical, gathering data and developing insights that strengthen an argument for a proposal. Sometimes data provides a new way of looking at the world that serves as an end in itself.
It's worth pointing out that, for many of the techniques shown in this sequence, there is specialized software that can accomplish similar results more efficiently. Graphing and data analysis can be done in Excel or Python, mapping can be done using GIS software, image and video processing with Python and OpenCV, animation and rendering in 3DS Max or Blender. The Smorgasbord has tutorials on many of these topics, and if one of them is of particular interest to you it's worth learning the tools specially designed for it.
That being said, none of those other tools does all of these things with quite the same flexibility as Grasshopper, which has the added benefit of being already integrated into your primary design environment. Many of those tools also require some knowledge of coding, while Grasshopper uses a graphical scripting interface that can be more intuitive for someone first exploring the underlying principles at work.
Modules:
- Importing and Graphing Tabular Data
- Mapping and Animating Numerical Spatial Data
- Interpreting Images, Video, and Audio
- Creating and Rendering 3D Spatial Data
