By Dennis Collin
Dynamo, 2.13 has a much-improved interface with larger, new look nodes with improved grouping capabilities. I have previously provided an outline of many of the new features but inevitably some useful enhancements were omitted. This post will cover some of the Node and Group Enhancements in a little more detail.
The latest user interface (UI) now has a much darker graphical appearance not just for the interface but also for its node elements. Groups have been enhanced and instructional notes can be added to aid clarity in graph logic. Groups can also now be amended by a simple right click menu. Nodes added at a later stage can be added or removed from a group as per the figure below. Previously groups had to be ungrouped and reformed which was somewhat annoying.
Another feature on this Group edit menu is the ability to pin a note to a node, so should the node be moved the accompanying text note will move with it. If required, the note can be unpinned and relocated elsewhere in the graph. Simply click the pin icon to freely relocate the note.
The wire elements connecting nodes have been improved, with the addition of a waypoint element to control the location of wires on more complex scripts. Once added the waypoint pin can be moved to aid graph display clarity.
This is very similar in function and purpose to the Relay node included with the Archilabs package.
Should the Graph display need to be simplified even further, whole groups can be collapsed with just the main inputs and outputs showing. Just toggle the chevron icon adjacent to the group name to maximise the group.
The nodes themselves have also been simplified when renamed previously a big Renamed alert was present, now the notification is more subtle and shows as a simple blue dot.
The preferences menu has evolved from previous releases with now changes being saved automatically. Some of the default settings have been changed, these can be reviewed on the preferences dialogue. Located under the Dynamo menu drop down, options like Geometry Scaling can be accessed (when working with Revit projects and working in millimetres this should be set to ‘large;’). Other settings like the default Run can be set, in version 2.13, the default script execution mode is set to manual. I find this a useful default when running complex scripts.
Another useful function, although it is still in experimental stage is the Node Autocomplete function. This function, once enabled, tries to guess what connecting Node is required, which will be invaluable to any ‘rusty’ or new Dynamo scripter. As this feature is in an early stage it is disabled by default, but I have enabled it and find it a useful addition to the Dynamo toolset.