QuickShaper
QuickShaper (QS) an experimental computer utility for Shape Grammars. It aims to assist designers and students in creating and exploring rule-based designs. QS is first presented and published with Birgül Çolakoğlu at the 25th eCAADe Conference held at Frankfurt / Germany in September 29th, 2007. QS is a scripted utility, written in MaxScript, developed within Autodesk’s 3D Studio MAX version 9. It is not tested on earlier versions. QS works well with Max Design 2011 after modified 1.80 version.
This tutorial document [PDF File] presents the basic features of QS. Also you can read our eCAADe 2007 paper titled “QShaper: A CAD Utility for Shape Grammars” here: [PDF File]. Edit: It is fixed now!. After 2011, maxScript requires an alpha variable for button objects, I added a dummy alpha value to buttons to they appear now.
For more information about Shape Grammars, please visit www.shapegrammar.org. For further information about the conference, please visit www.ecaade.org, or cumincad.scix.net.
Cite this post
Related Posts
PatGen: Islamic Pattern Generator
February 27, 2013
It was the 2008, eCAADe Presentation at Antwerp together with Birgül Çolakoğlu and Serkan Uysal. This paper presents a student work developed in the Introduction to Computational Design graduate course titled “Designing the Design” at Yildiz Technical University. The course focuses on the use of algorithms as design tools, rather than coding experiments. The course runs parallel to the shape grammar course. There, we study the basic concepts of computation through visual design exercises. So, the shape grammar course teaches…
Chinese Ice-ray Lattices Revisited
March 25, 2013
One of the cult texts in Shape Grammars theory is Stiny‘s Chinese Ice-ray Lattices Grammars. Although it is full of technical terms, it represents an analysis of a working algorithm. We can directly transfer that from the behavior of an artist. One can imagine a Chinese artisan, summoned to a building site. He brings tools and implements and a collection of finely finished sticks. Then, he begins his design by selecting a stick of the appropriate length and carefully attaching…
N-Grid
February 28, 2013
This simple tool, N-Grid resembles John Hejduk and colleagues’ famous design exercise “The Nine-Square Grid”. I developed the tool in 2009 using MaxScript. The nine-square grid is one of the most common kit-of-parts exercises in design studios for over 50 years. To explain briefly, the nine-square grid exercise is based on transforming a nine-square grid into a series of alternatives. The nine-square grid is an open-ended educational application with a limited but flexible context. It can have infinite interpretations to meet various studio objectives. Robert Slutzky, John…
Ice-Ray Lattices Revisited
April 9, 2015
Further studying iteration in Grasshopper, this time, inspired by George Stiny’s “Chinese Ice-Ray Lattice” subdivisions with Aneome, instead of the Hoopsnake add-on I tried in the previous work. As you know, loops add various ways of usage to Grasshopper. In future versions, loops may cease to be just an add-on and become native components of Grasshopper. Until then, loop plugins like Anemone take on this task. In the example here, we create an application by throwing random lines to divide…
Maxscript Table
March 20, 2013
Maxscipt can be used to automate specific modeling tasks in a sequential-parametric way. This example, developed in 2005 shows an example of that. It creates various table designs by polygon modeling operations and asks the user various parameters. Below is the interface of the script; There are preset parameters in a dropdown box, and all other available parameters are organized in rollouts. Here are some default results of the script. It is not as fast and smart as the Grasshopper…