Experiment - Foo Fighters?
Starting to get the hang of it, still some janky workarounds because I don't know the best way to do things. I have to look through the other posts here to get some ideas.
I really wish there were better annotation tools in the node viewing window, so I can organize and explain my nodes better.
Also not sure why its being so skimpy with the export settings, its 2500 x 2500 and set to high, still really compressed.
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Screenshot_2025-05-29_201309.png
351 KB
- foo_fighters.mp4 551 KB
Screenshot_2025-05-29_201309.png
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Support Staff 1 Posted by john on 31 May, 2025 09:45 PM
Alec,
The best way to learn Nodebox is to do just what you are doing: play, make things, then browse through the forum to learn more.
You are not the first person to wish for better annotation tools. I'm afraid there's not much there. You can add a comment to any node that appears when you hover over it, but that's about it. One other trick is to make a string node, holding any comment you wish, and then place it near a cluster of other nodes. You can turn such a node bright green so that it will stand out a bit more.
As for compressed output, Nodebox is purely a vector tool. So when it exports SVGs or PDFs it only outputs the pure mathematical description of the objects, which tends to keep things compact. For vector output the canvas dimensions don't matter much, since it will render perfectly at any size.
When you export PNGs or MP4s then the canvas size does matter, since Nodebox converts its vectors to raster. But even then, output often consists of object outlines with negative space behind it which often keeps file size fairly reasonable. If you use my image node, though, to make pictures with simulated pixels, file sizes can balloon quickly.
Your foo_fighters animation is simple but intriguing. It's true that you could make the same thing with fewer nodes, but that will come with experience.
When you search the forum you will soon come across my Cartan Node Library:
http://support.nodebox.net/discussions/show-your-work/904-cartan-no...
There are now almost 200 nodes in the library, each with a demo, all free for use with no restrictions. Just copy paste them into your own projects. There's a lot to absorb there, so don't try to understand it all at once. Just browse, grab whatever interests you, and play with it.
Nodebox is no longer under active development, but it's open source and we are free to add and share our own nodes (actually subnetworks), as I continue to do. Nodebox is also extensible: you can add Python or Clojure code libraries.
I've been pushing the boundaries with Nodebox for over ten years now and the possibilities continue to expand to the horizon.
John
Support Staff 2 Posted by john on 31 May, 2025 10:34 PM
Alec,
Here, just for fun, is a very simple animation that looks similar to yours. Notice that I used a wave node to create a back and forth motion so that it can loop seamlessly.
I have included the code so you could see how I did it.
John
3 Posted by lastvector on 01 Jun, 2025 10:47 AM
Alec
You could take a look at "Nodebox Live" its free
just a account is needed. Nodbox Live has a
much better annotation/commentary Node.
I usally comment things in Nodebox with
the Textpath Node you can use the width
parameter to split a long line in two or more
lines
Ksnip a free open source Screenshot Tool
allows Annotations in Screenshots which
could also be helpful