Endless Possibilities with Dynamo by Jason Boehning Dynamo’s visual programming tools provide users with some exciting new opportunities in Revit and - maybe soon - beyond. If you spend any time around a programmer, they will tell you that a human should not do anything that a computer can do automatically. I’ve heard this from multiple programmers, and I completely agree. However, computers will never take away our imaginations, our creativity, and our freedom to explore new possibilities. I do think they can dramatically help the creation process, though. Whether it is the generative design aspect of computing, or creating a program to reduce mind- numbing, repetitive tasks, the processing power and programming capabilities of computers can significantly impact our design workflows for the better. removes the requirement of the user to know the API and a programming language. I do want to point out that at this time, Autodesk offers both Dynamo Studio and Dynamo within Revit. Dynamo Studio is a standalone program that can be used to explore parametric conceptual designs and automate tasks. Dynamo within Revit allows you to do many of the same things. However, it is tied directly to the Revit application, and users are constrained by that aspect. While the popularity of Dynamo exploded due to its ability to improve design processes within Revit, just think of the possibilities of Dynamo within other Autodesk applications. I have attended multiple open sessions at Autodesk University, In the Autodesk world, we have the API, or where Autodesk employees have suggested that Application Programming Interface. This allows users to create programs to automate certain tasks incorporating Dynamo into other applications is a and to communicate with other software. The only very real possibility. issue is that you have to have a significant amount I see Dynamo as a gateway to programming for of programming knowledge in order to use the API. non-programmers. Users can begin learning the Otherwise, you will just become frustrated and process of programming in an easy-to-understand could possibly make a huge mess. graphic environment, as opposed to having to The solution to this issue is Dynamo. Dynamo is a visual programming tool that communicates with other applications through the API. Therefore, it 6 www.cadlearning.com tackle a programming language. I think what scares people away is the thought of having to master difficult programming languages. I can tell