Sunday, May 25, 2014

LunchBox for Dynamo: Bring your BIM into your Algorithm



Memorial Day weekend is upon us here in the US.  If you have some free time this holiday weekend, be sure to check out the latest version LunchBox now available through the Dynamo Package Manager

The LunchBox package contains 30 new nodes to aid in your Revit workflow.  The nodes are completely free with the Python script source fully accessible.

The most notable recent additions are "Element Collector" nodes which allow you to reference different element types (families, rooms, curtain wall, etc.) into Dynamo.  This workflow makes it easy to reference key element geometry and mine your Revit model for information.



The Structural Framing collector allows you to reference existing Revit structural elements into Dynamo.
LunchBox for Dynamo currently features 27 nodes... and growing.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

LunchBox for Grasshopper Update


Just in time for Cinco de Mayo... here's a modest update to LunchBox for Grasshopper!

The plug-in has not been updated in almost a year and a half so it was about time to ensure the code remained in alignment with the latest Grasshopper versions (0.90075).  The biggest update comes by way of some new Excel components which are leaner, meaner, and faster.

Here is a list of the updates:
  • New installer...  be sure you uninstall older versions of LunchBox first!
  • General code update for the most recent versions of Grasshopper.
  • NEW Excel components for reading and writing workbooks.
  • NEW Deconstruct Wireframe to create node-centerline table definition
  • Fixed a small bug with the Flatness Check component.

Excel Components

Excel components seem to be quite pervasive in various plug-in packages.  The goal here is the keep them lean and fast.   The new Excel tools allow you to quickly read and write data to multiple workbooks and worksheets at once.  They are also SCREAMING fast and will help you push and pull entire tables of data into Grasshopper with ease.  In addition, I have provided a data viewer for the Excel components. If you right-click on the nodes, you will have the option to preview the tables you are reading and writing.

*If you were a fan of the older components, they are still there :)

Reading Excel table data from a worksheet with a table preview.
Writing multiple worksheets to Excel with a table preview.
Deconstruct Wireframe

This is a simple utility for taking centerline models and deconstructing them into a node list (points) and centerline definition (start/end node index).  I have found this type of tool to be useful for formatting model information for structural analysis.

Deconstructing a structural wireframe into a node definition.