Project 2 - Visual Programming in Parametric Design

Project Intent

The goal of Project 2 is to expand upon the 3D model produced in the Project 1 case study of Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. Project 1 focused on creating a fully parametric stadium model, with the ability to edit the size, as well as material and physical parameters of the exterior panels. The exterior panels were given the ability to be color changing and have parametrically driven bump heights. 

Project 2 utilizes Dynamo Visual Programming in order to further develop these capabilities. Dynamo scripts were to created to edit the bump depth of panels with the use of an integer slider and change the colors of the panels based on their types, as well as more advanced scripts compounding on these actions. 

Project Set-up

Before getting into Dynamo Programming, I needed to edit and expand on some of the families created for Project 1. In order to later be able to edit the color and bump heights of different areas of the stadium, I had to create new types within the curtain panel family. I took the family that I created in Project 1 and created new materials with different different colors and applied them to family types and named them corresponding to their color. The examples below show the red panel family and the green panel family. I created multiple colors and loaded them into the project. Once loaded, I was able to apply different colors to the different divided surface families.

Dynamo Programming

Script 1 - Edit Bump Height

The first Dynamo Script I created was a simple script that allows you to change the bump height of the panels using an integer slider. By selecting the curtain panel family and changing the number in the slider, the Bump Height parameter automatically updates. 

Script 2 - Edit Material Color by Input

The second script I created allows for the ability to edit the color of a material based on an RGB input. For each curtain panel family type, each having a specific material assigned to it, I used a "material > set color" node that allows for me to override the material color with a created RGB value. In the case of the image below, the red family is now green, the blue family is now orange, and the green family is now purple.

Script 3 - Override Color by Project Sun Pattern

This script is an example of an advanced visual programming scenario. The end result is an override of the curtain panel family color, based on the location of the sun in the Revit project sun settings. The sun setting information is extrapolated and tied to a color range node, which ranges from a light green, which indicates less sun exposure, to a dark red, that indicates high exposure. As the sun settings are changes in the project, each individual curtain panel will change color based on its location in relation to the sun.

Process Video