The Schematic is the view in which you build the composition – a set of connected nodes – for a composition. When you create a new composition, the only node in the tree is the output node; by default, every composition has only one primary output node.

When you create a composition by importing media, the composition contains one input node (which points to the media you imported) and one output node. You then build the dependency graph by adding tool nodes. For more detailed information on the different types of nodes, see Node Overview.

You can set the direction in which processing proceeds in the User Preferences Creative tab. For 2D workflows, you can build the dependency graph left-to-right or top-down direction. For 3D workflfows, you can build the dependency graph in a left-to-right or bottom-top direction -- see Setting User Preferences.

When working in the Schematic view, you can:

• Show or hide the Schematic Navigator.
• Clean up the view (clean up all or a portion of the composition, automatically zoom to fit the dependency graph in the view).
• Change the name of a node.
• Work with connections (connect one node to another, insert a node between two nodes, disconnect one node from another, reposition a node within the composition, change the appearance of connections, have connections highlight when you pass the cursor over them).
• Work with groups and super tools (create a group, edit a group or enter a Super tool, exit a group or a Super tool, ungroup a group, add inputs and outputs to group nodes).
• Work with branches (collapse or expand a branch).
• Mute or unmute a node.
• Turn intermediate results on or off for a node.
• Set or clear a context point on a node. See Setting Context Points.
• • Reset the node to its default values.
• Cut, copy, paste, or delete nodes. Navigate nodes.