use python script as animation node, and give it inputs

Question

I try to use a script with animation nodes, so i use the node "Script", this node has a button "New Input", but clicking it don't seem to do anything.

Is it any way i could use a script as an animation node, with some inputs like floating points, integers, strings, or even blender object?

Answer 1

Script node works the same way the other subprograms work in Animation Nodes:

• Define a subprogram
• Then invoke it from another part of the node tree

Let say we have:

• a simple text block with some code in it. Here it calculates a string from a list of objects
• a group of objects composed here by a cube, a plane, a circle (objects are grouped using CtrlG)

And we want to use the text value of the script to be the text displayed by the text object on the right:

Here in this script 'text' (a string or a text type in AN) will be the result and 'objects' (a list of objects) will be the input.

You can do the following:

• Add an object group node. Set it to the objects group's name
• Add a text object output node. Set it to the text object.

• Add a subprogram as script.
• Set its input and choose "object list" as type. Eventually rename the input variable value (here we need to rename it to 'objects').
• Set its output and choose "text". Rename it if needed (here we want it to be named 'text').

• Add the invoke subprogram node which corresponds to our subprogram's name ("my script" here but you can rename it) and connect input and output of this node.