Node Editor

The Node Editor presents an editable schematic of the dependency graph, displaying nodes and the connections between their attributes. It allows you to view, modify and create new node connections. You can access the Node Editor from the Windows menu. (Window > Node Editor).

Node view modes

There are three ways to view nodes within the Node Editor: simple, connected and full.

The simple mode shows one input and one output master port, represented as circles. The icon also denotes that you are in the simple mode.

The connected mode shows the input and output master ports, as well as any connected attributes. These attributes have their own ports, which are displayed as small circles. The icon also denotes that you are in the connected mode.

The full mode shows the input and output master ports, as well as primary node attributes. The set of primary attributes for a given node is based on the properties of the attributes such as whether they are keyable or dynamic. The icon also denotes that you are in the full mode.

Input attributes are displayed on the left side of a node in full mode. Output attributes are displayed on the right side. To expand a node's attribute list, click the located next to the attribute. If an attribute can be connected as either an input or an output, a port is available on both the left and right sides of the node. For more information on node connections, see Displaying connections.

You can select the Show All Attributes option from the node marking menus to temporarily replace the full mode for a node with a listing of all of the attributes. The displaying of all of its attributes is only valid for this draw instance. If you regraph the node, or if you change the view mode of the node, you must re-select this option to see all of its attributes again. See Node Editor Marking Menus for more information about the Node Editor marking menus.

Changing view modes for multiple nodes

You can change the view mode for multiple nodes in one step by selecting the nodes and selecting the desired mode icon in the toolbar. You can also do the same via the menu options (Edit > Simple Mode, Connected Mode, Full Mode) or their shortcuts. See Node Editor Edit menu and Node Editor Toolbar for more information.

NoteWhen none of the nodes are highlighted (active) in the Node Editor, clicking the icons in the toolbar, or selecting the same options from the Node Editor Edit menu, or using the Edit menu shortcuts, affects all nodes.

Toggling swatch size

In any view mode, you can toggle between a larger and a smaller version of the node swatch by the node and selecting Toggle Swatch Size from the node marking menu.

Functionality

The following table lists the functionality of the Node Editor at a glance.

To...	Do this
Display connections.	Select a node and click the icon in the toolbar to display the input and output node connections.
Create a node.	Click Tab and enter the type of your node. Alternatively, you can drag and drop from the Create bar in the Hypershade or the Create Node window.
Copy a node into the Node Editor.	You can a node from the Outliner to bring it into the Node Editor.
Create a connection using connection lines.	Expand the node to its full mode by clicking . Middle-mouse or left-mouse drag to create connection lines between your output and input attributes.
Create a default node connection.	+ a node onto another in the Node Editor.
Connect nodes using the Connection Editor.	+ a node onto another in the Node Editor.
Delete a connection.	Drag on a connection line and release the mouse in the background area to delete a connection. Or, you can click the connection line(s)/marquee-select and press Backspace (Windows and Linux) or Delete (Mac OS X).
Change an existing connection.	Drag on a connection line to disconnect and then reconnect with a new input/output.
Lock the view.	Click the icon to lock your view so that any new nodes you create do not appear in the graph. Or, you can disable the Add to Graph on Create option from the Node Editor work area marking menu.
Resize nodes.	You can resize any node in any of the view modes: simple, connected, or full. The resize corner on the bottom right corner of a node denotes that it can be resized.
Pinning a node to the view.	You can pin a node so that it stays within the Node Editor view and retains its position even after a regraph. Click to pin and to unpin. You can also pin or unpin multiple nodes in one step via the toolbar icons.
Connect a node to an attribute in the Attribute Editor.	a node from the Node Editor onto a field in the Attribute Editor.
Assign a material.	In the scene view, select the object(s) that you want to assign the material to. Then, in the Node Editor, right-click the material to expose its marking menu and select Assign Material to Viewport Selection. Or, you can a shader or material from the Node Editor onto an object in a model pane.

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