Finding the best software out there to help you with your digital media design process is often easier said than done. To start, breaking away from tried-and-true solutions is harder than it might seem.
After all, why abandon something if it works, even if it doesn’t work that well. Then along comes a piece of software like Patternodes 2 that not only gives you a huge incentive to dump your current workflow process but also improves upon it and your output at the same time. So what exactly is Patternodes 2?
It is a robust piece of software for Mac OS 10.12 and above systems that helps designers create and animate vector patterns using a sequence of user-defined connected nodes. This all starts with a node-based interface that represents graphical elements, changes, or repetitions, the devs report.
How to Download Patternodes
To download the program, click on the Download button at the end of the review. Check out also another interesting tool from Lost Minds – Vectoraster.
The Program Review
It can be likened to parametric design or visual scripting in a 2D space, they note. What makes Patternodes 2 so user friendly and elegant to use is that the node sequence is completely non-destructive. In other words, should you decide that you want to make a change in the sequence, you will not unwind parts of it to do so. It allows for truly modular and surgical design processes and is perfect for the artist that likes to tweak and pinch and pull right up until final production.
Most software doesn’t allow for this kind of responsive environment and, if so, not in this kind of robust manner. Parameters set for one node can also be ported over to another to allow for complex relationships between them and increasingly intricate designs.
Built from the ground up with experimentation in mind, Patternodes 2 allows users to see their output in action as well as modify it on a small or large scale during that process. Among the many features that fans of Patternodes 2 love, one of the chief among them is the realtime output visualization that it gives you.
Outside of that, the software’s ability to automate seamless pattern tiles as well as the ability to add animation to any parameter makes it almost too good to be true. Export options are available in JPEG, PNG, or TIFF as a bitmap or SVG, EPS, and PDF as a vector file.
Animations, meanwhile, can be exported to GIF, SVG, QuickTime MOV, MPEG4 or numbered PNG, JPEG or PDF files. Along with a huge and growing community of users, Patternodes 2 also comes with extensive user documentation and reference guides to help you get acclimated to its approach to node-based animations. There is also an extensive collection of sample files to help you get started on your designs. Should you need help while using the program, the software has built-in assistance that can guide you through some of the more basic processes that Patternodes 2 offers.
All in all, Patternodes 2 is a must-have for designers and is one of the best pieces of software we have found in this category. It makes for efficient work and produces excellent output on a consistent basis.
