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two window

Blossom Merz edited this page Sep 21, 2026 · 17 revisions

Home > Two-window mode

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Bridging Modeling & Nodes

Two-window mode

Open the Modeling and Nodes windows as separate windows that stay in sync.

Two app windows side by side. The Modeling window holds the hand-drawn construction (a hexagon with its defining points) and owns the construction; the Nodes window holds the node graph (Slider -> Array -> Preview) and owns the node graph. A two-way dashed link labeled in sync runs between them - only the inputs travel across, and each window regenerates its geometry locally.

By default the Modeling and Nodes panes share one window, split by a divider. You can also open them as two separate windows - useful on a small screen (a large model window plus a small node window for tweaking sliders) or across two monitors.

Opening a second window

From the Nodes menu, choose Separate Window. The node editor opens in its own window and the main window switches to showing just the model - both kept in sync.

The classic single-window layout is unchanged; it is the Docked item in the same menu, and two-window mode is purely additive.

Combining back into one window

When you're done, choose Docked from the Nodes menu to bring the node editor back into the main window and return to the single split-pane layout. The two views merge back into one window with the divider between them, right where you left off - nothing in the graph or the construction is lost in the round trip. The separate window's own close button does the same thing, so closing it by hand docks it rather than shutting the graph down.

Putting the editor away

The third placement is Closed: the model window on its own, no node pane and no node window. The graph does not stop. It is still evaluated by this window's engine, so anything it realizes stays on the canvas and keeps updating as you draw; you simply cannot see or edit the graph until you choose Docked or Separate Window again.

Whichever of the three you leave it on is remembered, so Locus opens that way next time.

How the two windows stay in sync

Each window runs the full app and computes its own geometry; only the compact inputs travel between them - the node graph and the hand-drawn construction. The generated geometry (like a halftone field) is regenerated locally in each window, not sent over the wire.

Ownership is split so edits never clobber each other: the node window owns the node graph, the model window owns the construction, and each only broadcasts its own side. Add a slider in the node window and watch the model react; draw a point in the model window and the node graph sees it.

Good to know

  • The File menu lives only on the model window: it owns the document, so there's one save owner.
  • ⌘S still works from the node window. Even though only the model window carries the File menu, pressing Save in the node window routes through to that one save owner and writes the document - you don't have to click back to the model window first.
  • The native menu bar follows whichever window is focused.

Caution

Desktop feature, still maturing Two-window mode is a desktop-app feature (a second browser tab is the dev-mode equivalent). A few refinements - undo across windows, cross-window drag-and-drop - are still in progress. Confirm current behavior against the build.

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Getting Started

Modeling - Drawing

Modeling - Editing

Annotation

Layers

Modeling Menus

The Nodes Window

Node Library

Clusters

Bridging Modeling & Nodes

Patterns & Symmetry

Image-Driven Fields

Saving, Exporting & Files

Preferences & Language

CLI

Reference

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