Node Ops

Flame Python
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Hello Pyros!

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of Node Ops, a powerful collection of Python scripts designed to streamline node layout management in Batch.

For those of you who missed my Logik Live Node Ops presentation with Andrew Miller, you can view it here. This video provides an overview of how to use these scripts. Thank you, Andy Milkis, for the honor of being a guest on your show!

Node Ops is great for cleaning up a Batch node graph before publishing a shot. It’s also great for Supervisors and Leads who intend to hand off Batch templates to a team for shotwork. In addition, if you’re preparing a Batch for training purposes or for screen shots, Node Ops helps with tidying up your nodes for a professional presentation.

PLEASE READ: Before using these scripts on actual production node graphs, I highly recommend testing them on a duplicate of your Batch. Currently, Flame does not support undoing moved nodes or adjusted compasses. Also, as a good practice, save your Batch setup before running these scripts. Use these scripts at your own risk. Once you become familiar with the tools, integrating them into your daily workflow will become second nature as you build and manage your node graphs.

Good news! The scripts are now available on the Logik Portal!


Notes:

  • Developed for Flame Version 2025.2

  • These scripts may work with earlier versions of Flame 2025. I’m only offering support for Flame 2025.2 +

  • The Sawtooth script won’t work on earlier versions of Flame 2025.2

Thank you, Michael Vaglienty for creating Logik Portal and for your support with getting these files up for our community!!!

Manual Download and Installation How-To:

  • For the manual install, all of the scripts can be downloaded from this DropBox Link.

  • Next, copy all of the downloaded nested folders to:

    /opt/Autodesk/shared/python/node_ops/

  • The alignment scripts require two or more nodes or compasses to be selected. Right-Click on a node and/ or compass to see the Node Ops menu. I suggest mapping all of these scripts to keyboard shortcuts for ease and speed. Down below are suggestions for the keyboard shortcuts.

V.01 Node Ops Python Scripts

Scripts For Managing Compasses:

  • Align Compasses Horizontally
  • Compass 2 Colour Gradient Horizontal
  • Compass 2 Colour Gradient Horizontal Stereo
  • Compass 2 Colour Gradient Vertical

Scripts For Managing Nodes:

  • Align Nodes Horizontally
  • Align Nodes Horizontally Non-Uniform
  • Align Nodes Vertically
  • Align Nodes Vertically Non-Uniform
  • Align Nodes Sawtooth

NOTE: Align Nodes Sawtooth requires Mike V’s latest version of pyflame_lib_script_template.py to operate correctly with future Flame Versions. Please see comments within the Python file and adjust the code accordingly, if needed.

For future releases of Flame, I’ll release an updated version of this script, which will include an updated version of his.

  • Auto-Compass

NOTE: Auto-Compass also works with compasses.

  • Auto Connect Nodes

**ADDITIONAL NOTES:**

A future version of Node Ops will integrate all of the scripts into a single Python file for simplicity.

If you come across an issue with any of the scripts, please send me a direct message and I’ll look into it.

If you have a Node Op’d Batch layout that you’re proud of, feel free to share a screen shot of it with the community here on this thread.


Here are the keyboard shortcut assignments I’m currently using. Feel free to create your own:

Node Ops Shortcut Keys
Align Compasses Horizontally Meta + A
Align Compasses Vertically Meta + Shift + A
Align Nodes Horizontally Meta + H
Align Nodes Horizontally Non-Uniform Meta + Shift + H
Align Nodes Horizontally Sawtooth Meta + 6
Align Nodes Vertically Meta + V
Align Nodes Vertically Non-Uniform Meta + Shift + V
Auto Compass Z
Auto Connect Multiple Inputs Meta + X
Auto Connect Nodes X
Compass 2 Colour Gradient Horizontal Meta + Shift + G
Compass 2 Colour Gradient Horizontal Stereo Meta + Shift + S
Compass 2 Colour Gradient Vertical Meta + Shift + Y

Last but not least, I’d like to give a very special shout out my personal Python Jedi Counsel who’ve assisted and supported me with crafting these tools:

Andrew Miller, Andy Milkis, Fred Warren, Michael Vaglienty, Philippe Jean

Thank You for your support!!!

28 Likes
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Cool, thanks for the hard work @borzi ! This looks neat. I have a thought about a daily struggle that I don’t know if it could be solved in the same reckoning and maybe part of this package in the future, but I would love to be able to select a group of nodes and deploy something that would space them out moving left to right while also moving my whole set up to the right. Does that make any sense to anyone else?

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Legend!

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The horizontal alignment is so soothing! Thank you, Erik!

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Thanks for sharing @borzi!

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This is so awesome! I haven’t wanted to write any python for a while, but this is inspiring me to start backup again!

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Love it ! Thank you for your work and sharing @borzi

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@borzi thank you for sharing this, using it all the time

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OMG. I Saw the Logic live and couldn’t believe it. So good… Many thx and bravos

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I’m not allowed to download the scripts though. :frowning: Anything I should do to avoid the “you’re not allowed to …” message?

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Sorry, that was my fault. I moved some files around on the portal that goofed up those dropbox links. All the scripts are in one link here:

Mike

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Thank you, Mike!!! I’ll update the links for my oringinal post.

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Thank you very very much :folded_hands:

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Hello Pyros!

I’m excited to announce the latest addition to the Node Ops suite of tools: Node Ops | Nudge.

This new toolset was inspired by a suggestion from @BrittCiampa, who expressed interest in the ability to reposition nodes after spacing them out. In response, I developed a solution that enables you to nudge nodes and compasses using your keyboard’s arrow keys—similar to how you might move layers in Photoshop or objects in Illustrator.

With Node Ops | Nudge, you can precisely shift selected nodes up, down, left, or right using the arrow keys. For more significant adjustments, a “super jump” feature is also available. By default, nudge increments are set to 10 units, with a maximum value of 40 units using a 4x multiplier. These values can be easily customized within the script to suit your workflow.

You’ll find a full description of the toolset within the script, along with suggested keyboard shortcuts to help you get started quickly. I’ve included the same description below.

Enjoy exploring the new functionality, and thank you for your support!

The nudge script can be found via Logik Portal or you can download it manually from here:

DropBox Link

A very special thanks to @MikeV for his superb support with the Portal!!!

— Borzi


This script contains eight executable functions.

Nudge selected nodes in Batch using the up, down, left and right arrow keys.

Shortcut keys that I am using are:

Min Translation (default is 10 units)
Use this for moving selection in smaller increments.

up:    meta + shift + up arrow key 
down:  meta + shift + down arrow key 
right: meta + shift + right arrow key 
left:  meta + shift + left arrow key

Max Translation (default is Min Translation * 4)
Use this for moving selection in larger increments.

up:    control + meta + shift + up arrow key 
down:  control + meta + shift + down arrow key 
right: control + meta + shift + right arrow key 
left:  control + meta + shift + left arrow key

To use:

– Use the shortcut keys you’ve assigned, or…

– Select one or more node/compasses and right-click on a node to see the
Node Ops Nudge menu.

– From the Node Ops Nudge menu, select a Align Nudge command.

To install:

Copy script into /opt/Autodesk/shared/python/node_ops

5 Likes