tldr; I scripted my custom “layout all nodes” which respects fixed positions of “pinned” nodes. The code is below.
I was still struggling with the Network Editor’s “layout all” nodes. I liked it most of the times but sometimes I wanted some nodes (or branches) to stay where they were. The best solution I came with was this:
- hotkey to pin(unpin) selected node(s) to their position … I do this by setComment
- I pin just one node in a branch (or single node, camera, light, ropnet) … sometimes the last “OUT”, sometimes the first “Object merge” …
- I have replaced the L hotkey to run “my layout tool” which goes through these python steps:
- 1) find all the pinned nodes and remember their positions
- 2) classic layoutChildren(), which gives nice layout to the branches
- 3) reposition the branches to their previously stored pins
- 4) as a bonus, it places chopnets next to appropriate channelsop (naming convention applies)
- Michael Goldfarb filed two RFEs (thanks again) and if you like this idea, you may refer to them:
- RFE – #87728 – pin nodes
- RFE – #87729 – link node positions
This script pins/unpins the selected node(s)
I use the Ctrl-L hotkey
### swap pinned / unpinned state
for node in hou.selectedNodes():
node.setGenericFlag(hou.nodeFlag.DisplayComment,True)
if node.comment() == "`" :
node.setComment("")
else:
node.setComment("`")
This script layouts all the nodes
I use the L hotkey
import hou
import toolutils
def getConnectedNodes(node,got):
iteration = []
inout = []
try:
inout += node.inputs()
except:
has_no_inputs = 1
try:
inout += node.outputs()
except:
has_no_outputs = 1
for n in inout:
if n not in got:
got.append(n)
iteration.append(n)
iteration += getConnectedNodes(n,got)
return iteration
################################
######## the pins #########
################################
parm_pane = hou.ui.curDesktop().paneTabOfType(hou.paneTabType.Parm)
containernode = parm_pane.currentNode().parent()
childrenArr = containernode.children()
pinStatesArr = []
pinNodesArr = []
positionsArr = []
# store all positions
for child in childrenArr:
pinned = 0
if child.comment() == "`" :
pinned = 1
pinNodesArr.append( child )
pinStatesArr.append( pinned )
positionsArr.append( child.position() )
# store pinned positions
for pinNode in pinNodesArr:
pos = pinNode.position()
comment = str(pos[0]) + "," + str(pos[1])
pinNode.setComment(comment)
# classic layoutChildren()
containernode.layoutChildren()
# reposition the branches
for pinNode in pinNodesArr:
pinpos = pinNode.comment()
pinpos = pinpos.split(",")
pinpos = [ float(pinpos[0]) , float(pinpos[1]) ]
allConnected = []
allConnected = getConnectedNodes(pinNode,allConnected)
pos = pinNode.position()
move = [ pinpos[0] - pos[0] , pinpos[1] - pos[1] ]
for connected in allConnected:
try:
connected.move(move)
except:
no_connected = 1
# cleanup
pinNode.setPosition(pinpos)
pinNode.setComment("`")
################################
######## chop to chan ########
################################
# define offset
offsetx = 3
offsety = 0
containerpath = containernode.path()
# find all chopnets
chopnets = hou.node(containerpath).glob("chopnet_*")
# for all
for ch in chopnets:
xxx,task = ch.name().split("_")
# appropriate channel node
path_channel = containerpath + "/channel_" + task
path_chopnet = containerpath + "/chopnet_" + task
node_channel = hou.node(path_channel)
node_chopnet = hou.node(path_chopnet)
# get
posx = node_channel.position()[0] + offsetx
posy = node_channel.position()[1] + offsety
# set
node_chopnet.setPosition( [posx,posy] )