As a student, no matter what mode you are in, you can look at the professor's component label, double-click on your canvas, type in the name, and be right on track in a matter of seconds, with no need to stop the instructor and ask 'what component is that?' This makes my teaching difficult, because despite my enjoyment of writing code in a text editor, my brain refuses to operate in text mode in Grasshopper, and it makes life more difficult for my students to be in icon mode.īifocals solves this problem by labeling every component that you place on the canvas in real time, with the component's full name. And apparently some people actually enjoy it! Moreover, despite overwhelming brain science evidence that icons are preferable to butchered text fragments, I'm told that through constant reinforcement there are large numbers of Grasshopper users that are now more comfortable in Text mode.

Unfortunately, most people were railroaded into learning Grasshopper with text labels, for a number of reasons - primarily, I posit, because it has always been the Default option and the vast majority of early learning resources were created in Text mode, which created a self-perpetuating paradigm. David has done a fantastic job of creating really clear, concise pictograms that communicate the functionality of each component surprisingly well. I encourage all of my students to learn in icon mode. They are also scientifically proven to carry a lower cognitive load (pictures vs. I personally prefer icons, because they are visually communicative, unambiguous, and more compact. No matter what your preference, your tutorial watchers or students can follow along with clear, full name labels over every component you place on the canvas.

NBBJ Digital Practice is happy to release Bifocals, ending the age-old debate of Icon Display vs.

Grasshopper download rhino 6