Kia ora Dynamo people,
For the past year or so, @jacob.small and I have been talking through our Dynamo Office Hours series covering a huge swathe of topics on all things Dynamo.
Starting with key concepts, and deep diving into thematics and topics, we traverse the Dynamo landscape in the Community Conversations series held by the Autodesk Community. If you are curious, seeking education and or want to just see @jacob.small 's epic beard the come watch the set! We’re taking a little break in August 2021 and will be back to round out the year and welcome 2022 with awesome new content.
LIBRARY OF CONTENT:
01 - Dynamo Data Types: When a Number is not necessarily a Number
02 - Dynamo User Interface and Library
03 - Nodes and Wires in Dynamo
04 - Lists and Data Structures in Dynamo
05 - Understanding Lacing in Dynamo
06 - Process Data effectively using List Levels
07 - Computational Geometry: How to build Geometry using Logic
08 - Computational Geometry: Mode / Physical Types with Dynamo
After exploring Abstract geometry types in depth, come learn all about Model geometry types in Dynamo with Jacob Small and Sol Amour. We’ll dive into all of the physical aspects of geometry, such as points, curves and surfaces, exploring how the function, what their relationships are and how to best work with them. We will explore an architectural façade case study, comprised of slatted pieces of timber and colored in funky ways.
09 - Computational Geometry: Geometry Modifications
Now that we understand all geometry types in Dynamo, let’s explore how we can modify them! Join Jacob Small and Sol Amour as we take a journey through Dynamo’s geometry modification nodes; learn how to best leverage these modifications, explore how you can derive interesting and new geometry from intersections, and touch upon some best practises to get your Dynamo geometry singing.
If you build giant graphs and sometimes get lost with complex list manipulations, or want a clean and easy to understand way of building graphs, then come join us to learn all about Dynamo Dictionaries with Jacob Small and Sol Amour! We’ll dive into what Dictionaries are and how to use them to empower your workflows, retain clarity and enable effective access to data.
11 - Dynamo Graph Annotations with special guest @john_pierson
Dive into the world of Dynamo Graph Annotations with Jacob and Sol and learn why it’s important to narrate your graph (Hint: It’s for your future self too!), how you can annotate your graph, and strategies around optimal organization of your Dynamo graph content. We will explore what a landing zone is, inclusive of legend and author breadcrumbs, how to clean up your graph layout, what the documentation browser is and how to use it, and leverage alignment tools before jumping into some custom extensions that help you clean up your graph space.
12 - How to Plan a Dynamo Graph
Come join Jacob and Sol on a journey through into how best to plan your Dynamo graph. We’ll explore how to flow chart your graph to plan ahead, look to incorporate speed optimizations to work efficiently, and touch upon the graph development pipeline; Understanding holistic user experience, appropriate research, deployment, tracking, testing and maintenance. Inside these conceptual zones, we’ll dive into how to think deeper about your graph to make its production more sustainable and here to stay for the long haul.
Come join Jacob and Sol as we learn all about how to Extend Dynamo. Maybe the out-of-the-box experience, while awesome, doesn’t quite have everything you need and you want a little more pep in your step. Enter Extensions! Similar to how Packages enable new nodal workflows, Extensions customize your Dynamo workspace and come in two primary flavours; out-of-the-box, which are shipped to every Dynamo install, and user chosen, shipped via the Package Manager. We will dive into what an Extension is, what ones you can find out-of-the-box, and cover a couple of community created Extensions.
Hint: If you attended “Dynamo Graph Annotations” you would have already seen one of the most popular in action.
14 - Looking Under Dynamo’s Hood
Hang out with Jacob and Sol as we look under Dynamo’s hood, diving into what %appdata% means, what a package is and how Dynamo talks to it, where to find packages and how to manage them as well as the differences between packages of the ZeroTouch, Python and DYF persuasions. You’ll learn a few tips and tricks to make custom packages sing, how to leverage them and use them appropriately, find out what works with Workspace References and what doesn’t and the reasons for both. We’ll also explore the .DYN file itself and look at a few salient elements in there such as bindings and package serialization.
15 - DYN(er) with Friends with special guest @dana.defilippi
Do you make really cool things and want to share them with others? Are you excited about empowering your peers and exponentially leveraging your time? Then come dive into the worlds of Sharing Dynamo content and Dynamo Player with Sol Amour, Jacob Small and our awesome guest speaker and Dynamo master Dana De Filippi! You’ll learn how to bundle up your graph and share it with others, understanding what will ship with your graph naturally and what you’ll have to ensure your colleagues collect from elsewhere, conceptually explore the notion of what a Player is as well as how it functions, and learn strategies on how to best leverage Dynamo Player as a force maximiser and the avoid all the pitfalls that may beset you along the way.
16 - DesignScript(ing) all the things with special guest @Vikram_Subbaiah
Dive into DesignScript, the native language of Dynamo with Jacob and Sol and explore where you can author DesignScript code and how nodal descriptions give you breadcrumbs to get there, jumping into DesignScript only awesomeness such as replication and features that help you in your daily Dynamo life, explore how to build definitions and loop as well as play with Node2Code. Learn a little about how the engine uses DesignScript, noting that all Dynamo nodes actually get serialized into it to get executed, and see some epic examples of how to leverage this language for yourself.
Jacob and Sol will cover the upcoming 2021 Autodesk University sessions of note, focusing in particular on Dynamo and Generative Design and give a rundown of why you may want to attend them! Come hang out, ask all the hard questions and knowledge up on what is on offer inside the Computational space of AU2021.
18 - Snakes on a (Dynamo) Plane
Come dive into the world of Python inside of Dynamo with Jacob and Sol and explore how this powerful scripting language interacts with the Dynamo environment. You will understand the difference between engines (IronPython vs. CPython) and releases, how to access the authoring environment and all the power that this node brings you, how to leverage intellisense and directory searching as well as how the .NET language of many of our hosts (Like Revit) interacts with Python. We will show you how to supercharge your Python world with additional powerful libraries, explain key concepts such as looping and level control, explore documentation and annotation of scripts to ensure human readability and explore some of the awesome resources that exist out there to help you in your journey.
19 - The Dyfference between Dynamo Things
Come explore the world of Custom Nodes inside of Dynamo with Jacob and Sol and discover how packaging up content in this way can change your workflows and empower your content creation. We will take a journey through the creation process of custom nodes, exploring what they are conceptually and why they are useful, discuss how Dynamo talks to external content and the technical differences in file types between .DYF and .DYN. After covering these bases we’ll jump into some limitations, how to best share with others, some key concepts to guide you through creation in a holistic way as well as discussing the more esoteric concepts of recursion. After this session you should have a strong understanding of Custom Nodes and how to best leverage them!
Do you want to understand how Dynamo performs under the hood? Do you want to know all the levers you can pull to make Dynamo perform as fast as it can? Do you want to geek out and talk all things technical in Dynamo? Then come join Jacob and Sol as we dive into the worlds of execution, tessellation, rendering, marshalling and compilation! And if all that stuff sounds a little too much, then don’t worry as well leverage metaphor and storytelling to explain what matters and how you, as a user, can interact with Dynamo to get all that you can out of it! We’ll explore both Settings and node based options to make your Dynamo graph sing, as well as exploring display options, discuss inline vs. multi-line functions and what function passing is, and refresh on delta-compute and how it helps graph execution.
Come join Jacob and Sol as we wrap up a full year of Dynamo Office Hours! We will review the content covered across 2021 in brief and then have a giant conversation; what did you like most across these sessions? What was the biggest game changer thing in Dynamo you learnt this year? When looking back, how far do you think you’ve come? What would you like to see in 2022 as we dive into host specific functionality
Come join Sol and Jacob as we explore how Dynamo functions inside the host environment; Revit, Civil 3D, FormIt and all your favourite integrations. We will explore what it means to have Dynamo in or out of process, how the Library changes, dive into application specific data, content locations and package management and discover how nodes show up from different hosts. We will then touch upon how to re-use graph content across different hosts, explore the translation of geometry from Dynamo into hosts and vice versa and metaphorically figure out how Python is to Dynamo as Dynamo is to .
Come join Sol and Jacob as we dive into the Dynamo for Revit connection; exploring how this relationship is a two way street, the differences in UI that support a smooth DynamoRevit experience, dive into the Library and additional 700 odd nodes that Revit brings to the table, and then traverse how to get data into Dynamo from Revit, and push data back into Revit from Dynamo.
24 - Getting Civil with Dynamo
Come join Sol and Jacob as we dive into the Dynamo for Civil 3D connection; exploring how this relationship is a two way street, the differences in UI that support a smooth DynamoCivil experience, dive into the Library and additional nodes that Civil 3D brings to the table, and then traverse how to get data into Dynamo from Civil 3D, and push data back into Civil 3D from Dynamo.
25 - Hosts of the Dynamo Party
Come join Sol and Jacob as we dive into the Dynamo for FormIt/Alias/Robot Structural Analysis and Advance Steel connections; exploring how their relationships are a two way street, the differences in UI that support a smooth host experience, dive into the Library and additional nodes that these hosts bring to the table, and then traverse how to get data into Dynamo from these hosts, and push data back to these hosts from Dynamo.
26 - Building More with Dynamo
Come join Sol and Jacob as we dive deeper into the Dynamo and Revit connection, plumbing the depths of Element Binding; where it’s stored, why it’s needed, and how to use it. We’ll then explore Transactions and Documents, finding out what they are, how to navigate them and their nuance, before deeply understanding Revit’s Application Environments, such as Product, Family or Massing and how Dynamo interacts with them. We’ll finish the session by touching upon the update process of nodes; when do they refresh, fetch new data and how to avoid infinite loops.
27 - Getting More Civil with Dynamo with special guests @david_licona and @Paolo_Emilio_Serra1
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guests Paolo Serra and David Licona as we dive deeper into the Dynamo and Civil 3D connection, plumbing the depths of Element Binding; where it’s stored, why it’s needed, and how to use it. We’ll then explore Transactions and Documents, finding out what they are, how to navigate them and their nuance, before deeply understanding Civil 3D’s Blocks, such as Model and Paper Space, and how Dynamo interacts with them. We’ll finish the session by touching upon the update process of nodes; when do they refresh, fetch new data and how to avoid infinite loops.
28 - Dynamo and Revit’s API with special guest @Nick_Boyts
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guest Nick Boyts as we jump head first into Revit’s API! Exploring overarching concepts such as “What is an API” and API navigation, before getting particular about Dynamo’s interaction with the Revit API around unwrapping; when is a think a Dynamo thing, or a Revit thing, and Transactions; How do I commit things into Revit. We’ll then take a peek at the DynamoRevit repository on Github, and get particular with Filtered Element Collectors, and casting between Revit and Dynamo types.
29 - Dynamo and Civil 3D’s API with special guest @zachri.jensen
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guest Zachri Jensen as we jump head first into Civil 3D’s API! Exploring overarching concepts such as “What is an API” and API navigation, before getting particular about Dynamo’s interaction with the Civil 3D API around unwrapping; when is a think a Dynamo thing, or a Civil 3D thing, and Transactions; How do I commit things into Civil 3D. We’ll then get particular with Object Collectors, and casting between Civil 3D and Dynamo types.
30 - Dynamo talking to FormIt with special guest @josh.goldstein
Come join Sol with special guest Josh Goldstein as he takes us on a journey through FormIt, showing the rich depth of how Dynamo interacts with FormIt, empowers users to do more and open up whole swathes of new functionality; exploring group-based workflows, how to send and receive data from FormIt, connection to the Javascript API, exploring how FormIt embeds graphs and more.
31 - Dynamo talking to Alias with special guest @Michael-GG
Come join Sol and Michael “GG” Günther-Geffers as we embark on a rich Dynamo + Alias journey. We will explore how Dynamo adds value to Alias, far beyond “just” patterning. We will cover all kind of different usages, from creating tools which allow tailored Nurbs and/or subdivision object creation and modification, over adding tools to assist the user in their daily work, up to patterning across multiple surfaces.
32 - Dynamo talking to Robot Structural Analysis and Advance Steel with special guests @tomasz.fudala and @stephan.gumpert
Come join Sol, Jacob, Tomasz and Stephan as we dive deeper into the Dynamo + Robot Structural Analysis and Dynamo + Advance Steel connections. We will explore the particulars of both these programs, via host specific functionality and approach, discovering the unique aspects of both and exploring a live demonstration of both in action.
Come join Jacob and Sol as we talk through the Dynamo Visual Refresh, where Dynamo has had a lick of paint and a bucket load of new graph authoring tools added! We’ll explore what was changed, why it was changed, what looks different, what funky new features are available to you and what you can expect moving forward. We will then demonstrate a bunch of the nifty new features in action, showing how they can help improve the way you build your Dynamo graphs and share them with others.
34 - Using Generative Design with special guest @john_pierson
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guest John Pierson as we take a journey into the world of Generative Design. Learn what the Generative Player is and how to approach it, what you need to know to run your first successful Generative Design graph and what knowledge transfers from the worlds of Dynamo and Dynamo Player. We will orient ourselves in Revit, understand how to open and access Generative Design and what the two different buttons of ‘Create Study’ and ‘Explore Outcomes’ do before jumping into a live demo that walks us through all of this step by step.
35 - Authoring Generative Design Tools with special guest @LilliSmith
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guest Lilli Smith as we explore the world of authoring Generative Design Tools. We will cover what is Generative design and when to use it, also covering when not to use it, the limitations Generative Design has, how to set up a graph to run in Generative Design, explore what the sidecar file is, what inputs and outputs are and how to optimize these and Generative specific package nodes that help you get there. We’ll also cover generation techniques, display options, how to best evaluate your graph, what the NSGA-II algorithm is and actually means and the four different options you have to return results; random, like this, space evenly, and optimize.
36 - Evaluation using Generative Design Tools with special guest @LilliSmith
Join Sol, Jacob, and special guest Lilli Smith as we continue to explore the world of authoring Generative Design Tools. We will cover creating studies and exploring results in Generative Design and moving finalized content into Revit.
37 - Parametric Pumpkins with special guest @Zach_Kron
Are you all about the Spooky Season? Do you like Pumpkins? Want to flex your parametric muscles? Then look no further than our session on the “Parametric Pumpkin”, where we deep dive into carving out pumpkins in Dynamo with special guest Zach Kron, as we go on an eerie journey into realms unknown. Learn how to manipulate geometry for pumpkintastic results, exploring how to build a graph in a flexible way so that you can generate hundreds if not thousands of spooky options.
38 - Generative Design from Scratch
Now that we’ve explored generative player, and covered the ins and outs of generative design graph authoring, let’s take a look at building a complete generative design graph, starting with nothing more than a blank canvas. No pre-baked graphs. No slides to fall back on. No safety net if things crash. Just Generative Design authoring in action. Number 37 in the popular Dynamo Office Hours series.
39 - Dynamo Office Hours Year in Review
Jacob wrapped up a full year of Dynamo Office Hours! We will review the content covered across 2022 in brief and then have a giant conversation; what did you like most across these sessions?
40 - Getting all Stairry Eyed in Dynamo
Come join Sol and Jacob as we explore how to create an architectural stair in Dynamo, traversing through how to logically dissect intent where we inspect reference material and break it down into component parts, understanding the design and how it pieces together. We then map this understanding to Dynamo, diving into revolves, mathematics and relationships before exploring a detailed process diagram of how to start with nothing and end up with an epic stair in Revit created entirely in Dynamo.
Come join Jacob and Sol as we take our stair created in Getting all Stairry Eyed in Dynamo and put it through its paces, flexing and modifying it as changes are requested and then updating that geometry back in Revit. We explore how to add a non-slip strip, recessed lighting sconce, and handrail to this complex and unique stair.
42 - Writing the Stairry Story
Come join Jacob and Sol as we take our Stairry Eyed Stair that has been created and flexed and fully document it inside of Revit using nothing but Dynamo. We will create views from our geometrical elements, discuss how to do so using bounding boxes and deriving key points as well as manipulating coordinate systems to correctly place things. We will then isolate stair parts, set a scale and generate Sheets before placing those views on sheets. We’ll also explore transactions and some nuance around them.
DynamoOfficeHours42_GenerateStaircase.dyn (459.9 KB)
DynamoOfficeHours42_GenerateViewsAndSheets.dyn (219.5 KB)
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guests Rhys Goldstein and Kean Walmsley from Autodesk Research as we explore notable packages that you can leverage to supercharge your workflow. Discussing in-house packages from Autodeskers and powerful packages from the Community at Large, we’ll dive into what makes them useful, give a shout-out to their author and explore how you too can leverage their potential. Packages include the VASA package, Space Analysis package, Mesh Toolkit, Dynamo Text and more.
Come join Jacob, Sol and special guest @david_licona as we dive deep into pipe networks in Civil 3D. We will explore what a Pipe Network is and their types, the vocabulary surrounding them, browse the Parts libraries and explore Pipe network pieces, and touch upon associated objects such as surfaces and alignments. We’ll then discuss how to create, modify Pipe networks and explore their properties before jumping into Exporting, Analysis and finally a few hot tips around their limitations and differences.
AA_CreateMultiplePipeNetworks.dyn (92.2 KB)
AA-CC_MultiplePipeNetworks.dwg (1.7 MB)
BB_SetInvert.dyn (119.0 KB)
CC_SetSurfaceAddProfileView.dyn (27.6 KB)
DD_Interference.dyn (59.8 KB)
DD-Start_PressurePipeInterference.dwg (2.0 MB)
45 - Where in the world is my Dynamo
Come join Sol, Jacob and special guest @Anton_Huizinga as we read GIS data into Dynamo in Civil 3D. Starting out with a refresh on Pipe Networks, we’ll explore how the Camber package can help reading in proposed Pipe Networks, how to create a buffer around a this network, how to import a KML file from Google Earth and find all trees within that buffer zone that need to be removed before updating the Property Set Data and adding a table into the drawing via the Arkance Systems package. Come explore the world of GIS with us through the lens of Dynamo!
46 - Blocking it Out with special guest @zachri.jensen
*Come join Jacob, Sol and special guest @zachri.jensen as we create custom geometry blocks in Civil 3D.
Come join Jacob and Sol as we talk through whats new in Dynamo for your favorite 2024 host applications such as Revit or Civil 3D, where we talk through the awesome new changes in Dynamo. Covering features and content from Dynamo 2.17 and recapping content from Dynamo 2.14 through to Dynamo 2.16, we’ll dive into what the features are now available and how to best use them. We will cover such features as Zoom States, Extended Node Help, the Graph Footer, Graph Node Manager, Polycurve refresh, Notifications center, Machine Learning Node Autocomplete, Dynamo Settings deployment, Splash Screen, a whole swathe of new nodes and so much more!
48 - Tinkering with Interoperability with Special guest Guillermo Melatoni.
Come join Jacob and Sol and special guest Guillermo Melatoni as we explore how you can round-trip geometry from Tinkercad to Dynamo and back again. Using Tinkercad to deliver the initial geometry in an exported File type, we will use Dynamo and a custom importer to bring that geometry in, add new features to that geometry and then send it back. This demonstrates how to move from a discrete toolset such as Tinkcad into a fully open one in Dynamo and what this means to you as a user. For example you can use easy-to-use features in Tinkercad such as the scribble tool and freehand sketch and bring it into Dynamo to add more real-world complexity to it.
Come join Jacob and Sol as we explore how you can tame the chaos of a large, unwieldy monster graph! We will take a Dynamo graph that has lots of copy-paste on node blocks, no annotation and nodes and wires all over the place and take you on a journey of how to “fix” it, by diving into tools such as Zoom States and the Graph Node Manager, exploring data errors and error handling and exploring options on how to make the graph better through things such as pre-filtering and only taking information from the well once. We will leverage some thoughts from special guest Ollie Green on his best practices to do so and will end up with a beautifully organized and easy-to-understand Dynamo graph!
UPCOMING SESSIONS:
While we endeavor to meet what is stipulated as below, our upcoming sessions are subject to change.
Getting on the Same Page
Come join Jacob, Sol and special guests @dana.defilippi and Marco Barboza as we dive into some of the common issues with managing Dynamo environment. We’ll discuss the root cause, resolution techniques, and most importantly how to reduce the number of issues in the first place. From documenting your graphs, managing and communicating overall graph flow and logic, distributing and managing packages and dependencies, graph versioning and source control, inputs/outputs, and all the rest of the complex world that managing a computational toolset requires!e.
Discovering a New Environment
Come join Jacob, Sol and special guest @john_pierson as we start to explore developing Dynamo tools in an Integrated Development Environment, and dive head first into creating our very own Zero Touch nodes from scratch! We’ll explore how to configure Visual Studio including the required dependencies we need to reference, what exactly a nuget is and which ones we need, the user interface, file terminology, and review how to do your own ‘hello world’ example!
Zero Touch: Hello World!
Come join Jacob, Sol and special guest @zachri.jensen as we dive deeper into the world of Zero Touch, or C# nodes in Dynamo. We will discuss nomenclature and terms, explore the ways Dynamo helps set up the infrastructure around Dynamo nodes for you such as handling transactions, building Dynamo with your new node, how to add an icon to your node and the benefits of using C# nodes over Python and vice versa.
Teaming up with the Team
Come join Jacob, Sol and special guest @Michael_Kirschner2 as we Team up with the Team, exploring what it actually means to submit a Pull Request (PR) to Github of your new Node, what makes a good PR and what to consider, how to set yourself up for success and gotcha’s to watch out for, what the team considers really important that you may not yet have considered and much more! It’s a journey from zero to hero where we submit a successful and robust PR for expression inside of Dynamo itself… which will appear in a future version!
