Good day, and my apologies if this is too off topic.
Does anyone have a forum, reddit, discord, etc, where computational designers and enthusiasts (especially, perhaps exclusively, in AEC) can ask each other questions that are not about a specific piece of software like Dynamo or a language like Python?
I feel like, as a community, we have a some unique challenges that take extra effort to describe when posting to more general purpose forums for things like data visualization, databases, random programming or scripting. Or often, we know what type of technology might be helpful in solving a problem, but want to see what other people with similar skill sets and organizations might use. Or how to approach an organizational problem and want feedback from people used to working with architect, engineers, and contractors.
Anybody have a good resource? Or want to start one?
No matter which city i find myself in (working or visiting), the best way to get a group like this is to locally network and attend any user groups in the area. Most forums in AEC have a tech orientation to them (although we get topics here of a managerial nature sometimes; e.g. how can i scale my workflows, what are good salary/career goals as a comp designer etc).
To get real lived in, non tech focus relatability and free flow discussion you cant beat face to face interaction in an unfiltered environment I think (e.g. candid chats down at the pub).
I agree with @GavinCrump, but I’ll add that being involved in as many of those particular forms as you can is another great way to get connected with people who are likely willing to have those conversations in the first place. Having the conversation is the easy part. Finding the right people tends to be the hard part. Getting involved and making connections with people who are active in the industry makes it easier.
Yeah, I appreciate those comments, and I’m spurred by this conversation to get a new Philly Dynamo Group meeting organized, but I think one of the things that local networks have a hard time with is some of the more esoteric questions, or where locally it might be hard to know who would be a resource…
I’m thinking of times when I’ve had questions about things like how people manage sharing data dashboards with clients when Power BI’s licensing is a bit restrictive or do they use Plotly/Dash or Tableau. Or when is it worth developing a local SQLite database vs trying to get IT to setup a Postgres or MariaDB server vs dealing with Airtable, and all of the attendant issues with each of those options. Or how much effort to put into developing a UI using Tkinter for a Python app so that it can be distributed internally vs just telling people to ask me to run the script for them. It’s hard to know who locally can answer these in an AEC specific context, but with a more online forum, it might be possible to cast a wider net, and get a wider variety of opinions that are still from people that know we’re not dealing with actual big data, or large scale web apps.
Being able to hear an answer from somebody saying, “oh yeah, I work at a 100 person architecture firm, and we made X with Y to deal with that situation” could maybe be a great resource.
Case in point - why am I asking this question on the Dynamo forum when its not a Dynamo question? Because I know Jacob and Gavin and Nick and Sol and Andreas and John P and others have probably dealt with questions like these, but I may only know 1 or 2 other people locally that might be able to answer these questions, and I don’t want to bother them with every single question. And I don’t want to pollute the Dynamo forum further with non-Dynamo questions
Thanks again, I really do appreciate your responses and opinions!
I work in the biggest city in China.However there isn’t much face to face meetings in real life.There are exhibitions but it’s just a show,you can walk around and see their paintings and models and then leave without much help.The only two lecture I have attend,one is a professor from Harvard.I was initially going to an exhibition,attend this lecture is coincidence.Another is a lecture about BIM,it’s held in Universities and those who are signed up can participate.Most of them are still students.There are not many who has alread worked.And all audience has only 3 chance for asking questions.There are no discussion.
Another two kind of meetings are introduction of Standards of code or laws about AEC industry.The most common is those factory who want to introduce their products like waterproof material,insulation material.Believe or not these are mostly brands from Europe and America or Australia companies.
So there no face to face meetings for discussion about computation design or any other kind topic.At least this is the situation in China.
Online forum is a place for many with same hobbies.However because of severe censorship on Internet in China.Most forum has been shutdown.And many people become unwilling to talk or share online.That’s one reason many Chinese seek English forum.This dynamo forum is great.It has a lot of good people to help and solve other people’s problem when using dynamo.
However I think there’s too much posts about python,the DesignScript and C# or just when nodes doesn’t work.And not much content about computation design or parametric design.I went from grasshopper to dynamo.The reason why I use dynamo more is because I use Revit more than Rhino.I know there’s tool RhinInsideRevit.And this is great.But I think this is more for those who has mastered grasshopper and has no intention to do it again in dynamo.Grasshopper has more plugins and Rhino has powerful engine for NURBS curve and surface.But it’s more about Geometry and Revit is more about BIM，a model with information.Dynamo has geometry nodes even it’s not powerful as grasshopper but it works for majority of project.I think dynamo is originally a copy of grasshopper.
Last not all dynamo user are developers and are willing to try python or even C#.I hope the forum will has more post about computational design and parametric design.Here are some past post I think is great.
The forums will always be a reflection of what people need to achieve in their roles/goals at a given time. We see a lot of Python/C# etc. as that is where a lot of people find themselves in their Dynamo journey. If people do not want to learn these languages then custom packages will have to be their window into this level of the program ultimately.
I agree that Dynamo certainly took inspiration from Grasshopper (via Ian’s initial forays way back in 2010 or so), but it’s grown into its own beast since then and is not just a copy.
