FAQ
Quick answers to the questions almost everyone asks in their first week with DNA.
Getting things moving
How do I animate a parameter? Right-click any parameter and set a keyframe (or press K), move the playhead, and change the value again — DNA fills in the motion between. See Keyframing. For value-driven motion instead of keyframes, type = in the field to write a Parameter expressions.
How do I make my graph cook every frame? Anything time-based ($T, a simulation, a live input) drives the graph automatically while the transport plays. If a node looks frozen, check its cook policy badge — see Cook policy.
Why won't my simulation move? Simulations only advance while the transport is playing. Press play; pausing freezes the solver in place. More in Simulation.
When something looks wrong
My node's output disappeared — where did it go? First suspects: the node is Bypassed (press B to toggle), another node is Soloed, opacity is at zero, or its layer scope is hiding it. See Node controls and Gotchas.
I wired a field into the viewport and see nothing. A field is a formula, not an image — it has no pixels until something samples or bakes it. Rasterize it or sample it onto geometry. See Fields and Rasterizing.
My shape went blurry when I scaled it up. That is a raster (image) hitting its fixed resolution. If you want it sharp at any zoom, keep it as an analytic shape. See Analytic shapes.
Performance
Why is playback slow? Usually one expensive node recooking constantly. Open the Performance panel to find it, then freeze it, lower preview resolution, or reduce counts. See The performance panel and Making it faster.
Sharing your work
How do I export? Open the Export panel (Cmd-E), pick a target, set your range and quality, and render. See Exporting and Video & image export.
Video, image, audio, and Web App exports ship today. Audio-plugin, standalone-app, and embedded targets are not finished yet, and the Web Player has no audio output. See Exporting.
How do I play a finished piece outside the editor? Save it as a bundle and open it in the DNA Player (desktop, full live I/O) or the Web Player (browser). See The player.
Reusing setups
How do I reuse a setup across projects? Select the nodes, collapse them into a subgraph (Cmd-G), and save it to your asset library. See Subgraphs and Reusable subgraphs.