The best grasshopper plugins that make you a better user
Hi there,
Have I ever told you how pedantic I am with Grasshopper scripts? I think components should be placed orderly and the script should "flow" from left to right.
But doing that for every script takes time and effort. Doing this in native Grasshopper can be tedious and slow.
Thankfully others in the Grasshopper community realised this issue too. There are several remedies for this. These users have made plugins that help us be better Grasshopper users and increase the quality of the scripts that we produce.
I am here today to share 4 plugins (sort of) that make this part of Grasshopper less of a chore and make me a more efficient and better user.
Sunglasses
One of the easiest ways to declutter a Grasshopper script is to start using "icons" in your script instead of component names. Natively, this isn't practical because using icons means you don't get to see the names of the components.
One way to get the best of both worlds is to use the Sunglasses plugin.
I have written a more in-depth explanation of how to use this plugin here.
Chop Chop
The ChopChop plugin lets you delete wires from components with your mouse. Instead of manually disconnecting wires, you can "chop" wires with your mouse's middle button or "ctrl + click".
It's small but extremely useful for disconnecting wires between components that are far away from each other.
When I know I have to delete wires, I will call the component, delete the wires, and then delete the component again. it's a change in workflow but it's way faster than disconnecting manually.
I deleted the component after because I didn't want my script to have a dependency on this plugin. It's because I often share my scripts with other people and I don't want to force them to get this plugin.
SnappingGecko
One of my favourite plugins is the SnappingGecko plugin. It's so simple but it makes a huge difference to how my scripts look with minimal effort.
This plugin lets you place components on the canvas in an orderly fashion. When you drag components around, it will show you alignment lines that you can snap to.
It sounds a bit excessive to worry about how to place components, but when you randomly place components, the mess of the entire script will build up. You won't even notice it until the end and by then, it's a huge chore to clean up your script.
This plugin is a quick and low-friction way to "clean as you go".
OCD Tools
I am a huge fan of keyboard shortcuts, it takes some memorisation but after you get used to it, it feels like you are flying through Grasshopper.
There are already some keyboard shortcuts in native Grasshopper. I even wrote in a previous newsletter issue about the ones I used the most.
The OCD Tools plugin adds even more functionality and keyboard shortcuts to Grasshopper. it's got a list of functions and the two functions I used the most are it's "duplicate component" and "auto-merge inputs" functions.
Duplicate Components
Watch closely. The first time, I just used Grasshopper's original duplicate by holding ALT and dragging the components. The second time, I used OCD Tools' duplicate with ALT+D. Notice that OCD Tool's duplicate function disconnects any stray wires from the components.
It's subtle but it makes a difference in how fast I can copy and move components. Combine this function with the ChopChop from before and you have a lightning-fast way to copy around components.
Auto-merge Inputs
The "auto-merge" feature automatically connects all outputs of a component to a merge component. It's one of the most useful functions when I am consolidating all my data together.
Metahopper Group Colouring Workflow
I have written before about the importance of grouping and colouring your components. They improve the readability and usability of your scripts. I have even formalised a set of best practices around using Grasshopper.
But again grouping and colouring the groups manually is a chore. The Metahopper plugin helps me automate this. It isn't a single component but a workflow that I use to automate the colouring of my groups.
You can find the script and details of the workflow here.
Final Thoughts
These plugins make me a better and more efficient Grasshopper user. They have allowed me to create Grasshopper scripts very quickly while not worrying about readability too much. It also means I have less work to do if I have to clean the script later on.
These plugins also have the benefit of not adding more dependencies to your scripts. That means if you have to share this script, they don't need to have any of these plugins installed (provided you delete the ChopChop/Metahopper workflow).
Although simple, these plugins make a huge difference to the efficiency and speed I create Grasshopper scripts. I hope they will help you too.