beta

PROGRAMMINGarchitecture

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eVe

history...
eVe is a series of plug-ins for Rhinoceros 3D coming out of the Programming Architecture kitchen. If you
want to learn more, feel free to visit www.programmingarchitecture.com. The name eVe is an abbreviation coming
from Evolving Equilibrium. Since our foundations are cast with methods based on Genetic Algorithms and Evolu-
tion Strategies, and since we use those algorithms to find equilibrium in the design of architectural elements (in
various ways), the name came naturally.

idea...
In our line of work we develop various algorithms for dealing with different types of problems in modern
architectural practice - from structural optimization of free form structures, over shading calculations for solar
trackers, to the development of software for CNC production of architectural elements. When we develop some-
thing that can be transformed into a useful plug-in, we just want to share it. It is as simple as that.

licencing...
We release our eVe plug-ins under the creative commons license. What this means is that you can use
all of them for non-commercial purposes. If you want to use eVe for commercial projects, contact us at eve@
programmingarchitecture.com and we will gladly provide you with our help and service. You will notice that some
plug-ins dont always have full functionality. This happens for different reasons. Sometimes algorithms dont work
properly and we want to improve them before releasing them. Sometimes the developed algorithms were pretty
time consuming and we find them too cool to just give away - in these cases we wait for a while and then decide
to share them.

compatibility...
eVe|rain beta comes in one, 64bit version. If eVe doesnt work on your platform please inform us so we
can fix the problem. You can write at eve@programmingarchitecture.com.

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eVe|rain
introduction...
The purpose of this plug-in is rain simulation. Besides the fact that it looks very interesting to see any of
your 3D models being covered with water, it can be very useful. For complex shapes intuition does not help when
it comes to analyzing water paths. This plug-in will enable you to see how water runs over any shape (surface,
polysurface or mesh). You will be able to see if you have spots where water stops flowing. You will be able to
position your pipes appropriately and see what percentage of different areas lead water toward the same edge or
spot. There is only so much that words can describe when it comes to a plug-in like this. So try it and see how it
can help you.

installation...
For now, eVe doesnt come with an installer. It is a single Rhino plug-in file (.rhp). In Rhino, you can sim-
ply go to Tools/Options/Plug-ins and install it, or you can just drag and drop the file and it will work. If, for some
reason, you cannot install the plug-in, please let us know so we can try to figure out what the problem is.

design...
Instead of making toolbars with a bunch of small icons, or divide the code into thousand little commands,
we decided to have one command - one dialog. The dialog is modeless, which means that you can keep it open
all the time while doing any operation in Rhino, as you would normally do, or minimize it if it bothers you. Once
you close it and reopen it most of the settings are reset.

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eVe|rain manual
the dialog
If the plug-in is installed, all you need to do is type eve_rain in the Rhino command line, hit Enter and
you should see a dialog that looks something like the one depicted in Figure 1. The dialog has couple of important
sections: the object selection, the raindrop configuration, the surroundings and other settings. We will simply list
all the buttons and settings that you can find in the dialog.

Figure 1

- Selecting Objects
- Select exposed objects - this button is your first station. It will prompt you to select all the objects that you
want to be able to welcome the raindrops. You can select any surfaces, polysurfaces or meshes at once. eVe
will recognize how many surfaces/polysurfaces and how many meshes you selected and notify you in the text
adjacent to the button.

- Fall from edge - this check box decides if the raindrops will fall immediately when they reach the edge of your
object. If the box is checked they will (default option). If it is not, all the edges will act like rain gutters - the water
will continue going along them until it reaches the lowest possible point and then it will drop. When this option is
on, the whole process will be a bit slower, because it has to check constantly if the raindrop is on the edge.

- Initializing the raindrops

- Nr of drops - you can choose the number of raindrops you want to be generated and then you can choose how.

- Random - when this option is selected all the raindrops will be scattered randomly in the sky area (explained
bellow in the surroundings section). On the fly will override pre-calculating (see the pre-calculation section).
- Regular - when this option is selected all the raindrops will be arranged in a grid form.
- Existing - with this option you override the automatic generation of raindrops and you are able to select them
yourself - by clicking on the Select button and selecting points in space. All points will be automatically pro-
jected to the sky area (see the Surroundings section ).

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 - Rain or flow
- Dir - if his option is enabled, you can choose the direction of the rain. It does not have to be vertical. Some-
times it is interesting to try out other possibilities, like horizontal rain.

- RAIN/FLOW - if the FLOW option is enabled, you can use it to generate raindrop path curves and extract them.
The RAIN option will let you watch the rain and visualize the path curves, but you will not be able to extract the
geometry or any other data (like lengths, surfaces, percentages, etc.). Flow will be disabled in the beta release.

- Surroundings
- Earth Z, Sky Z - when you select your objects eVe automatically finds their bounding box, and draws the
earth and sky area on the top and on the bottom of it. You can override the Z coordinate of these planes by typ-
ing your own value in the edit box. You will be able to see the planes move as you write the number.

- Circle/Rectangle - you can also choose the shape of your sky (and earth). For some settings rectangle will be
better and for some circle will be more appropriate.

- Rain
- Pace - notice the slider on the bottom of the dialog and the box in the lower left corner that holds its value.
This is the so-called pace. When raindrops descend, they do that in steps. These steps are by default the same
as the raindrop size (determined in the Settings dialog - the explanation is below). By changing pace, you can
change the step. The higher you go (max 1000) the smaller the step will be and the slower the rain will fall. The
lower you go (min 10) the larger the step will be and the faster the rain will fall. The value of 100 means that the
step is the same as the raindrop size. Be very careful with this slider because sometimes you might generate too
large steps and eVe will warn you that the creation of raindrop paths is not possible.

- LET IT RAIN! - by clicking on this button the rain process will start. If some raindrop paths or steps are not
created the process will be stopped and you will be warned. If this happens, check your units and tolerances,
check your Pace slider and your raindrop size. Most likely one of them is making the steps too large, thus dis-
abling path generation. Be sure that the sky is above all objects. If everything is ok, you will see rain falling and
the only way you can stop it is by pressing the Stop raining button. The majority of buttons in the dialog will be
blocked, and if you want to change anything you have to stop the process first. Experiment with smaller number
of raindrops until you get the settings right, and then increase it slowly.

- Settings

- Settings - this opens the Settings Dialog you see in Figure 2. The dialog is pretty much self-explanatory, but
let us go through the settings quickly.

- Point/Line/Mesh - you can choose the raindrop visualization type. Line is a simple vertical line, and mesh is a
modelled raindrop.

- Size - size of the raindrop. This goes for Line and Mesh option. When the Point option is on you will not see
any change in the visualization. Keep in mind two very important things:
1. The size is in the units of your Rhino document. Avoid 3m tall raindrops in the model of your house.
2. The raindrop size determines the step of the raindrop. The smaller the size, the slower the rain will flow.
you can control this with Pace (explained above) and Delay (explained below).

- Color - the color of raindrops.

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- Show base - choose if you want to see the earth level circle/rectangle and choose its color.
- Show sky - choose if you want to see the sky circle/rectangle and choose its color.
- Show trails - choose if you want to see the trails (paths) of raindrops and choose their color. Be very careful
with this option because it slows down the visualization. If you are working with complex scenes or large number
of raindrops it might block your Rhino.

- Simultaneous fall - by default all raindrops start descending from the sky at the same time. The ones that find
obstacles on the way will change their tempo, but the ones without obstacles will continue falling at the same
pace. If this option is unchecked, some randomness will be introduced and they will not start all at the same
time.

- Delay - if you set your raindrop size, and set the Pace to maximum( 1000 ) and your simulation still goes too
fast (it can happen if you have a small amount of raindrops) you can introduce an additional time delay. This
value in milliseconds will be introduced as a pause every time all the raindrops have descended for one step.

pre-calculation
When you click on the Let it rain! button you will notice the green progress bar in your dialog (unless the
calculation was performed very fast and you missed it). This is the pre-calculation. For every raindrop its path
is pre-calculated so that the visualization can go smoothly afterwards. When you have a random disposition of
raindrops and you want true randomness - if you want that raindrops appear all the time at new random places in
the sky, then you need the On the fly option. If this option is enabled, it will not pre-calculate the paths beforehand.
Instead it will generate new random raindrops and at the point of creation calculate their path. This option will be
much slower and jerkier than the other one. This option will not be available in the beta version.

beta version - under construction

There are several things you need to know about this beta version. First, it might make your Rhino crash. If
that happens we are sorry - be sure to notify us about the details so we can solve the problem. Second, there are
cases that eVe in this version does not solve properly:

1. If your objects intersect - go through each other (although this should rarely be the case) - eVe will not
see that. The raindrop will continue falling on the first object without realizing that it should cross over to the next
one.
2. If your objects are connected - edge to edge - but not joined, eVe will see them as disconnected and
raindrops will fall through that mutual edge. They will not cross to the next object. The solution to this is to connect
them. If you have two meshes - join them. If you have two connected surfaces - join them and make a polysurface.
Surface-Mesh connection will remain a problem for now.

These two problems have fairly easy solutions and will be solved in the next release.

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the beginning...
There is nothing more to say. All the complicated stuff is hidden in the thousands of lines of code. These
manuals are release sensitive. This is the first - beta - manual. Try out the software, and write to us whenever you
encounter some problems so we can try to fix them. If you have some ideas on how we can improve the plug-in
we are very eager to hear them. If you want to help us develop the code further you are also very welcome. Once
again, we are www.programmingarchitecture.com and you can contact us at info@programmingarchitecture.
com. For all the questions regarding the eVe plug-ins you can write at eve@programmingarchitecture.com. We
are looking forward to hearing from you.

Milos Dimcic
Dr.-Ing.

Programming Architecture
Stuttgart, Germany
www.programmingarchitecture.com

PROGRAMMINGarchitecture

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