Pre-Compositing Anchors

In a scene, there are unique anchors for the following elements: render layers, render passes, and cameras. Anchors identify these elements in the resulting Composite composition that is created after importing a 3D scene.

One or more anchors can be associated with any node in a dependency graph. You can add, remove, and edit anchors. You can also view a node's list of anchors. When a node has an associated anchor, the anchor tab at the upper-left of the node turns blue.

In a pre-compositing scene, each render pass is uniquely identified by a render pass anchor. The same applies to render layers/render pass anchors and cameras/camera anchors.The various anchor names in the 3D application are used by Composite during the import of pre-comp files. The anchors are used to locate the entry points for each type of 3D asset in the resulting Composite compositions. For information about viewing, editing, adding and removing anchors, see Working with Pre-Compositing Anchors.

Camera anchors are specifically set on composition output nodes and on the output socket of link nodes identify each camera view of a stereo setup. Also, anchors are crucial to the update process, so they should not be changed. It is also important to have properly defined anchors in the composition templates—see Creating a Pre-Compositing Template.

To view a node's anchor:

1. Place the cursor over a node or an output socket that has an anchor, which is indicated by blue anchor tab, and press the d (lowercase) key to turn on the Details mode. Now you can place your cursor over any node, as well as its output socket to view its details. Press d again to turn off the Details mode or if you have tooltips turned on, simply hover over the node.
   

   a)	Details of a link node with anchors.
   b)	Details of the output socket of a link node.

2. To view the details of all nodes in the dependency graph, press Shift + D. Press Shift + D again to turn off the Details mode.
   

To add an anchor to a node:

1. Right-click the node on which you want to add an anchor and select Add.
2. In the Add Anchor dialog box, type in a name for the anchor.
   
3. Do one of the following to specify the type of anchor:
   • In the Type field, type in the kind of anchor you are adding. It can be anything you want.
   • Click the button below the Type field and select an anchor type: Custom, Render Pass, Render Layer, or Render Camera.
4. Click OK.
5. To view the anchor, place your cursor over the node and press the d (lowercase) key.
   

   The new anchor was added to the bottom of the list of anchors. The type of anchor is indicated in parentheses.

To remove anchors:

1. Right-click the node on which you want to remove an anchor and select Anchors and one of the following:
   • Remove All: To remove all the anchors associated with the node.
   • Remove: To select a specific anchor to remove from the list.

To edit an anchor:

1. Right-click the node on which you want to edit an anchor and select Anchors > Edit Anchor and select the anchor you want to edit.

   The Edit Anchor dialog box displays.

   
2. Edit the anchor name and type and click OK.

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