Grouping Nodes

You can group nodes to simplify cluttered schematics. When you group nodes, they collapse into one group node that you can use as a parent to, or child of, other clips and nodes. A group is represented by a single node that displays the group contents, inputs, and outputs.

You can create several groups and organize them in your schematic. You can then work on individual groups. For example, group a Keying and Colour Correction branch separately from an Action and filtering branch, and then work on each branch independently of the other. If you need to edit the nodes in a group, you can expand the group and make the necessary modifications.

A group is a dynamic node that you can customize using the Group List menu. The Group List menu lists all the nodes and connections contained in a group and lets you rename or hide them. In addition, you can define which input and output connection sockets are visible and available for connection in the schematic.

You can select a node in the Group List menu to display the group at the selected node's stage. The View box must be set to Result, Front, or Back to use this display option.

Editing a Group

Use the grouping controls to adjust the contents of a group.

To edit a group:

Select the group you want to edit.
When you select a group node, the Process Tree controls change to show the List button, and the Group List menu displays the Ungroup, Edit buttons, and the Sort Order buttons.

(a) Sort Order buttons (b) List button (c) Node List box (d) Edit Group button (e) Ungroup button
Click Edit Group.
The nodes in the group appear in an isolated schematic.

TipInstead of editing the group, you can access a single node's menu by selecting the node's name from the Node List box. Click the L (List) button to return to the Group List menu.
Modify the nodes as required.
NoteSelecting All from the Selection Mode box while editing a group selects all nodes within the current group; any nodes outside the group in the current Batch pipeline remain unselected.
Click Exit Group to return to the main schematic.
Change the order of nodes in the group using the Sort Order buttons. The single arrow buttons move the selected node one position up or down, and the double-arrows move the selected node to the first or last position within a group.
Click Ungroup to expand the group of nodes to their pre-grouped positions in the schematic.

Defining Group Display Settings

You can customize the group node using the Group List menu.

To define a group's display settings:

Select a group to display the Group List menu.

(a) Node name (b) Enabled icon visibility (c) Enabled UI visibility (d) Disabled input visibility (e) Disabled Output visibility

Change the group's interface by editing or toggling on any of the following node properties.

Click:	To:
Name	Change the node's name.
Icon	Toggle the node's visibility within the group.
UI	Toggle the node's availability in the Node List box.
Input	Hide or unhide the selected node's input sockets. Sockets are colour-coded with the same scheme as Batch nodes.
Output	Hide or unhide the selected node's output sockets. Sockets are colour-coded with the same scheme as Batch nodes.

Creating Custom Nodes

In addition to the standard node bins are two bins that can contain custom nodes. You can drag nodes, groups, branches, and whole Batch trees into a custom node bin to create a custom node. A custom node can consist of a single node, like a specific Colour Correct you need to use frequently, or a multitude of nodes that create an effect, such as a Keyer node parented to an Action node with layers connected to a GMask node. The newly created custom node can then be pulled out of the node bin and into a schematic work area to be used anywhere in Batch as often as you like.

To create a custom node:

From the Batch schematic, select a clip, node, branch, tree, or group.
Drag and drop the selection to the appropriate custom node bin. The left custom node bin contains nodes for the current user. The right bin contains project nodes that are available to all users.
The selection is copied to the bin. The original selection remains in the schematic. If the selection is dropped outside of the bins, the selection is deleted.

User custom node bin

NoteNo two custom nodes can share the same name. Attempting to drop a node into a custom bin with a similarly named node is not possible.

To use a custom node:

Select a node from one of the bins. If necessary, scroll through the custom node bins.
Drag and drop the node into the schematic work area.
A node appears with the same configuration that was used to create the custom node.

You can use custom nodes as often as you like. Each time a custom node is dropped into the schematic work area, it is given a new name and/or number.

To manage the custom node bins:

Click one of the following to manage the nodes in the custom node bins. Both the user and project custom node bins have their own set of commands.

Click:	To:
Load	Load custom nodes from another project or user.
Save	Save the current custom nodes so they can be loaded by another project or user.
Delete	Delete the selected custom node.
Clear Bin	Delete all custom nodes in the node bin. You must confirm the multiple deletion.
Arrow Buttons	Reposition custom nodes in the bin. The single arrow button advances one node at a time, and the double arrow button brings you to the first or last custom node.