Hi everyone,
This post is a bit long, so just to bring the essential first, I am a civil engineer working for a 1000 people engineering company (https://www.setec.fr/en/). We are designing bridges, towers, and power plants.
I am working for our scientific direction, where I am in charge of developping new tools between engineering softwares (finte elements) and 3D / BIM softwares. From my own experinece with Rhino, I think it is the perfect environment to develop “software bridges”. But as I said I am just a civil engineer, and I need good advice here. Lukilly you’re here ! Here above I briefly describe what I’ve been doing with scripts so far, what I need to do now, and what kind of help I really need.
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What I have been doing so far
I have been using RhinoScript for a couple of years, and so far I’ve been quite happy with it. From drawing a parametric bridge (200 lines) to more recent applications (1000 lines), my scripts became a bit more complex, using .TXT files to store a database describing civil engineering structures for example.
What I need to do now
Now I have a more complex project. I need to develop a “toolbox” for an engineer to start from its calculation results (.TXT files) and create with rhino a parametric reinforcement model of a building, and then export it to TEKLA, for draftsmen to take over detailed drawings. See above for more details.
What kind of help do I need
I want to make sure I use an appropriate dev environment. In other words, can I just stay with separate scripts that I load one by one, or should I move to real dev environments, using Visual Studio for example.
I have never used Visual Studio but I looked at what other people did with it and it looks good :
https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid%3Ab41a1e0f-d885-4bea-910f-0b80e8020f74
However, I am bit afraid of loosing time on learning new langages (other than RS and Python) that would slow my dev, and I really need advice from experienced people Here. Is it worth it ?
I should also mention that the ideal for me and my company would be to contract a specific assistance with McNeel to have someone giving me advice on my coding environment and general code organization. I don’t know if this is feasable. But I would be happy to talk about it.
A hint of how I could start my project
I am not a professional dev, and here is how I think I could do it (and where I really need advice)
- write a script for each function of my toolbox
- each script store and retrieve information in/from Rhino custom Object properties (in order to avoid maintaining a separate database using objects identidiers, which would add significant functionalities I think).
Here above are the first scripts, just to give you a hint :
0/ INPUT
This is just .TXT files containing a mesh and calculation results at mesh node points.
Script 1/ INPUT VISUALIZATION
Visualise the mesh and the results in Rhino. This is fine with RS or Python.
Rhino 3d Stadium Template Printable
Script 2/ CREATING PARAMETRIC REINFOCEMENT ZONES
This is creating series of bars. For example you create a polygon on your mesh in rhino, and then the script asks you a few parameters (bars spacing and diameter) and creates a layer with your serie of bars.
Script N : Many other functionalities, ending with reinforcement export to TEKLA
Well, if you got so far, thank you, and many thanks for your help.
Rhino 3d Stadium Templates
Best regards,
Tanguy Prevost
Structural and Civil Engineer
tanguy.prevost@setec.com