I problem i see with 3d cellular automata is how you visualize the growth. A camera outside the 3d grid will have visibility quickly blocked by the outer cubes. But you can also project a 2d grid in a 3d surface and use 3d geometry for the cells like in the video i posted above. For the initial generation i used two lists of numbers, one for the x values and one with y values, but this is not very intuitive. The method David suggests about placing points on the grid and then finding out with cells correspond to the points would be the best approach for ease of use, i think.
On Feb 7, 12:31 pm, David Rutten <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi cg, > > in theory it doesn't really matter how many dimensions you use for a > cellular automata, but there are physical constraints that you should > ponder. The amount of memory and processing time needed for an extra > dimension is not insignificant and may well prove too much. Typically, > algorithms that deal with CA store data in exceptionally efficient > ways, but data in Grasshopper has a larger memory footprint than data > inside pure DotNET or C++ environments and it also requires a lot of > type-testing. There's no way for the user to optimise the memory usage > of a Grasshopper network. > > Initial conditions can be set up through a number of ways. You could > create geometry in Rhino which set initial conditions (for example, > put point objects inside each cell that you want to enable), or you > generate a list of numbers that identify the 'on' and 'off' state of > cells. You can then easily import this text using the 'Manage > Collection' feature on the Integer parameter. > > -- > David Rutten > [email protected] > Robert McNeel & Associates > > On Feb 6, 9:50 pm, cgkahler <[email protected]> wrote: > > > hi, i am an architecture student and I am very interested in exploring > > cellular automata with grasshopper. I had alot of luck with the > > definition posted above but was wondering if it is possible to... > > > (1) create a three dimensional cellular automata > > > (2) specify the initial generation (which cells are on/off) > > > unfortunately i am just beginning to become familiar with these topics > > and any help would be greatly appreciated > >
