CodedShapes' Holiday Learning Guide 2024
The holidays are a great time to learn something new
Before we dive in, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your support and for reading what I have to share. CodedShapes has grown to over 30 subscribers now, and I'm incredibly grateful for each one of you.
As we wrap up 2024, I'll be taking a short break until the new year. But I'm already excited about what's coming in 2025 – including monthly roundups of interesting articles and I am working behind the scenes on creating a new library of scripts and notes. It's called Scripository and you can find a sneak peek of it here: Scripository. It’s free and I wanted a way to share what I know technically too. There will be a mention of it later in today’s post but there will be more information on it next year.
Happy holidays and I'll see you in the new year!
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When I was an engineering student, summer vacation was the most anticipated time of the year. Getting a whole three months off after a hard year of studying was the best thing in world. Being an international student meant these three months were extra special – I got to go home to Malaysia, see my family, and eat all the food I'd been missing.
I’d wake up at any time I want, sleep at any time I want, eat anything I want. It truly was the dream. But then one day, I’d roll out of bed, look at myself in the mirror and feel my brain rotting. That’s normally the time I sigh and say "Okay, it's time to be useful again". I dust off the cobwebs and go into learning mode. After doing absolutely nothing for the first two weeks, I’d get motivated to use my remainder of the holiday to go and learn something.
I’d learn anything that I was curious about but never found the time for. I spent one summer learning Japanese and another summer learning to play pool. This habit of using the holidays to learn became my year end ritual. And now, even though I only get three weeks off instead of three months, I still get excited about using this time to learn something new.
As we head into the last month of 2024, I bet many of you might have some time off too. It could be the perfect chance to finally check out Grasshopper or some another tool you've been curious about.
While I don't teach formally, but I've made some rough courses for work and have definitely done my fair share of self learning. So I have put together what I know about computational design (it’s mostly Grasshopper) in hopes that it might help point you in the right direction.
Where to Start
First, hit the button below and sign up for this newsletter, then read all my articles and you’d be an expert.
I am joking, well….. half joking.
Okay, on a more serious note, the best place to learn computational design isn't tutorials or courses, it's with your work. It's such an abstract field that you can quickly start questioning yourself why you’re learning it in the first place. It’s important to make computational design as relevant to your work as possible. The idea is to learn with context.
Ask yourself what problems do you currently have that computational design can help. Or if nothing comes to mind, ask yourself why you want to learn computational design in the first place.
This foundational "why" is crucial because it will maintain your motivation well beyond this holiday season and into your regular work life. To help you out, here are some common starting points I've heard from others I've taught
"Grasshopper seems cool, maybe it can help me build models quicker"
"Everyone on LinkedIn is talking about Grasshopper, I want to seriously give it a shot and see if it can help me as a drafter"
"I think Grasshopper has the potential to change my work but I don't know how"
“Grasshopper seems like the tool to automate more of my work”
I know this is hard because you don’t know what you don’t know yet. How do you know what Grasshopper can do if you don’t know how to use Grasshopper ?
That’s why I think it’s important to start with your reason for wanting to learn. Even if it’s vague, having a reason is will not only give you a starting point but also help guide you.
On a more practical note, I recommend to first try and solve a familiar problem using any of the computational design tools. For example, if you're a drafter, try modelling something familiar using Rhino Inside instead of your regular techniques. Or if you’re an architect, take a model that you have manually created and see if you can make the same model with Grasshopper.
The idea is to recreate a well known solution with computational design. That way, you know what to aim for and what to compare against when you’re done.
It’s a great way to learn computational design. But it's going to be hard. You don't have the typical step-by-step guide that comes with formal education. But if you can get through it, I promise that you’ll learn a lot more. Through trial and error, you begin to understand both how these tools work and how they challenge your traditional thinking patterns.
I am not saying that you shouldn't do any courses. I am saying to always keep your "why" in the back of your mind. And to use courses or any resources as a means to that end. The goal is to learn computational design to a level that it becomes useful to you in your field of work. Not to complete as many courses as you can.
Resources
Now, let me share some free resources that have helped me and others solidify their understanding.
Just a note, there are no courses here because I didn't learn Grasshopper through online courses. I only want to recommend the resources that I have gone through or have heard good things about from others.
Resources for total beginners
If you're looking to start learning Grasshopper, these resources will get you off the ground quickly. They follow the traditional route of walking you through all the Grasshopper features, which is great to know but it gets boring quickly. So I would supplement these resources with some practice (I have some in the next section).
In fact, if I was learning Grasshopper for the first time, I would first choose a project or model to create, then use these resources to fill in the gaps you need. But everyone learns differently, I just prefer to learn via projects than normal courses.
Grasshopper for Beginners - Full 2024 Course - YouTube
An 11 hour course on Grasshopper, timestamped with the different topics.
Introduction to Parametric Modeling - YouTube
This is another playlist that goes through the basics of Grasshopper.
Resources for Practice
Scripository - A library of scripts, notes and guides
It's full of interlinked scripts, notes and guides to help anyone learn how to better use computational tools like Grasshopper or Dynamo.
There are also modelling challenges designed to give you more practice. Every challenge comes with a brief to get you started, then once you've completed the challenge or find yourself stuck, there's a full walk through and downloadable scripts for you to compare your work against.
The challenges are designed to be difficult and to mimic what it's like using Grasshopper at work. It’s designed to give you industry experience without actually working in industry.
Grasshopper Tutorials On YouTube
Here's a YouTube playlist that has videos on how to create other example models.
Books on Computational Design
Books are awesome because they explain concepts on a more in-depth level than any other resource I've found. I generally flick through them when I am looking for a way to explain a concept.
Computational Engineering by Peter Debney
Valuable even if you're not a structural engineer
Only chapters 5-7 are structural engineering focused
Explains core computational thinking principles
Great reference for AEC industry applications
Algorithmic Aided Design by Arturo Tedeschi
Excellent Grasshopper reference
Strong on fundamentals
It's the textbook I wish I had when I first started Grasshopper
Useful for teaching concepts to others
The early chapters thoroughly explain Grasshopper components and concepts
Later chapters focus more on architectural applications but offer interesting explorations of tools like Kangaroo and GECO
Essential Algorithms and Data Structures for Grasshopper by McNeel
Written by the creators of Rhino and Grasshopper
Has many examples of what not to do in Grasshopper
Has many examples of patterns and algorithms to practice.
Other Online Resources
Parametric Camp
Jose Luis's YouTube channel offers in-depth technical content, particularly about combining programming with Grasshopper.
My favourite video is "Misusing Machines" which is a guest lecture on how a fabrication company uses Rhino and Grasshopper to create some crazy looking sculptures. They even have some awesome animations that are all done in Rhino.
Hopific
They have a comprehensive list of blog posts explaining most / all the Grasshopper operations. They also do have online courses that look pretty good.
Final Thoughts
I just wanted to say thanks again for your support over the year, and I am grateful to each one of you for taking the time to read what I write.
I hope the resources here are helpful. but remember that the goal isn't to become a Grasshopper expert overnight. It's to gradually build skills that make your work more efficient and enjoyable. These resources should point you in the right direction but the best learning comes from experience and applying what you've learnt.
I'll see you all in the new year.
Braden.