Click Physics (the atom) on the bottom toolbar to open Forces, eight sliders that shape how your graph spreads, live as you drag them.
Where: Space Studio › Bottom toolbar › Physics · Keys: [Space] pauses or plays the physics, [Shift+R] stops all movement
Dark Energy & Playing with Physics0:46 · plays from YouTubePlay video
What it is
Forces tunes the arrangement. Every slider drags live, so you see the graph re-spread as you move it, which is why these live on the bottom toolbar rather than in Settings: they're adjustments you want to watch happen. Hover over the i beside any of them for a description. The settings are saved with the project.
How to use it
Drag a slider and the graph re-spreads with the arrangement you last ran on the whole graph: Dark Energy, Layers or Group. Let go and the change is one step you can undo (Adjust forces).
Structure
Structure Separation: the distance between structures that share no connections. Good for balancing several structures, or keeping tabs on stray nodes you haven't hooked up yet. It greys out when everything is joined into one structure, since there's nothing for it to separate, and in Layers. In Group it sets the space between the classification clouds.
Connector Length: the base length of every connector, which alone sets how big the whole graph is. In Group it loosens each cloud, and in Layers it spaces the nodes along each row.
Branches
Hub Reach: pushes the neighbours of a busy node further out, so it stops crowding everything around it.
Branch Weight: connectors reach further when more sits behind them, and pull in close to a dead end.
Settling
Settling: how far nodes may travel after the spread to bring linked branches together. At zero the layout keeps a strict branching shape.
Branch Angle: how wide branches fan out from the same node.
Branch Grouping: how strongly a node's branches gather by classification. Turn it up and each node's branches sort into one arc per colour, while at zero the order is left to the connections alone. It pairs well with Highlighting, because each kind of thing keeps to its own side.
Minimum Gap: the closest two cards are allowed to sit. It's a floor, not a spacing, so it only acts on cards that would otherwise overlap.
Hub Reach, Branch Weight, Settling, Branch Angle and Branch Grouping shape Dark Energy's branches, so they're greyed in Layers and Group, and say why.
Live physics: pause and stop
Between arrangements, a gentle live physics settles the graph whenever you add, move or connect something, then comes to rest by itself a few seconds after you stop.
[Space] pauses the physics, and plays it again.
[Shift+R] stops all movement at once.
Right-click a node and choose Re-physics selection to let the physics rearrange just your selection. See Nodes.
Each connector's Influence decides how hard it pulls in the live physics. See Arrows, Direction and Pull.
Tips
Dragging a slider re-spreads the whole graph, whatever's selected.
If your graph feels dense, raise Connector Length to push everything further apart, or zoom out and let the structure read as a shape.
If your computer struggles with a very large graph, Filamental switches on Performance mode by itself to keep it smooth, and you can set when it does. See Settings. A graph that big is often a sign it wants splitting into projects joined by Bridges.
The keys don't fire while you're typing.
How this helps you
Use Connector Length first to set the overall size, then the branch sliders to share that length out.
Use Branch Grouping on a busy hub so its neighbours sort by colour.
Use [Space] to freeze the graph while you take a picture or explain something.
