With the recent announcement of beta39 I decided to clean up and release some of the helpers I built to make working with vvvv more enjoyable for me. It’s mostly hacks to change the look and feel of the editing environment, maybe they’re of use for someone else as well.
WindowMode
This one has been debated since the dawn of time.
This node offers the option to make vvvv’s windows behave like the regular Windows windows you know, meaning they show up in the task bar, are reachable via alt-tab can be arranged with Windows’ built in keyboard shortcuts etc.
Also it adds a window menu to the title bar that can be accessed and navigated with the keyboard. That enables a new way of capturing windows and renderers that are off-screen.
Step-by-step:
alt+tab : focus off-screen window
alt+space : enter window menu
m : select move
any cursor key : move window, this will also stick the window to the mouse cursor
Installation is easy, just drop the node anywhere. Suggested location is in your root patch, accompanied by a VVVV-Node to disable showing the window vvvv would usually present in the task bar.
As long as the node is present it will automatically change the appearance of created windows. If you’d like to go back to vvvv default behaviour, just delete the node.
Known Issues:
Windows that ware made borderless and then bordered again with ctrl-8 will mess things up a bit. I found no way to catch that. Closing the window (alt-3) and then opening again (alt-1) should restore the appearance.
This one comes in handy when quickly patching stuff and running out of space for nodes and also for tidying up messy patches.
It allows you to quickly add some empty space below a selection of nodes. The usual way would be to select the nodes below, move them and go back to where you wanted to add new nodes. In situations where the entire patch is not visible in the window this is slow and chances are you miss something on the side and/or your beautifully crafted and aligned links get messed up.
Installation is the same as WindowMode, just drop the node somewhere, preferably the root patch.
As long as the node is present you can use it as follows:
Select the node(s) you need space below.
Press ctrl+alt+shift and left-drag down with the mouse. Your mouse cursor will change to indicate the operation.
Upon releasing the drag all nodes and linkpoints below the selected node(s) will be moved by the vertical amount you dragged (this also works in the opposite direction by dragging up).
Known Issues:
When starting the drag, vvvv tries to center the patch view on your selected nodes, this makes for a clunky user experience at times.In that case ignore the selection rectangle, it’s all about how far you move the mouse. (see Dev Wishlist)
Installation is simple. Create the node, open the help patch and be instructed ;)
Dev Wishlist for b39
It would be super cool if there was an alternative to VVVV.PluginInterfaces.V2.IHDEHost.SelectNodes that does not center the view on the selected nodes
