You can access many common render tree commands by right-clicking on the render tree work area. When the contextual menu appears, select the desired command.
To navigate quickly and efficiently in the render tree workspace, you should know a few basics. Along the top of the render tree workspace is a command bar with the Tools and Show menus. You can select a specific option in each of these menus to customize a navigation method. These options can be changed at any time, depending on your needs and the size of your render tree.
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You can access many common render tree commands by right-clicking on the render tree work area. When the contextual menu appears, select the desired command. |
Collapsing and Expanding Nodes
As your render tree grows, it may become necessary to collapse some nodes to gain some real estate in your work area. Nodes have can be collapsed to different degrees, depending on your needs. You can collapse/expand all of the nodes in the render tree, or only the selected nodes.
Three collapse/expand options are available:
• Expand All/Expand Selected expands nodes such that their parameter groups are visible.
- Parameter groups containing connected ports, or ports that have been added to texture layers, are also expanded.
• Show Connections Only/Show Connections Only for Selected expands nodes in the render tree such that only connected ports and those added to layers are visible.
- Parameter groups are expanded to show connected ports, as well as ports that have been added to texture layers.
- Texture layers are expanded to show their connected ports.
• Collapse All /Collapse Selected collapses nodes completely. Only their names are visible. All connections into their ports are shown as a single connection arrow.
To collapse or expand nodes
• Do one of the following:
- Right-click an empty area of the render tree work area and choose one of the collapse/expand options described at the beginning of this section from the menu.
or
- Open the Show menu in the render tree command bar and choose one of the collapse/expand options described at the beginning of this section from the menu.
or
- Click the triangle icon at the top of the node to cycle through the various collapse/expand options.
Collapsing and Expanding Parameter Groups and Texture Layers
When a shader has a large number of parameters, their ports are grouped in the shader’s render tree node. You can collapse and expand each group to see its ports. This is also true of texture layers that you add to a given node, each of which belongs to is own parameter group.
When working with a large and complex render tree, it may not take too long for nodes to start overlapping and cluttering the workspace. You can rearrange the nodes by having them snap the grid that covers the render tree work area.
To snap nodes to the grid
1. Right-click an empty area of the render tree workspace to open a contextual menu, or click Tools in the render tree command bar to open the Tools menu.
2. From either menu, choose one of the following:
- Snap to Grid causes the nodes to align themselves with the grid that covers the whole render tree workspace.
- Enable Grid Snapping causes nodes to snap to the grid whenever you move them. When this option is deactivated, you can move the nodes however and wherever you wish.
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If you have edited or moved nodes in the render tree, their positions may not necessarily be the same when re-opening the render tree view. |
You can frame the entire render tree, a selected node, or a selected branch.
To frame the entire render tree
• Do one of the following:
- Choose Tools > Frame All from the render tree command bar or press a. This zooms out of the work area until every node is visible in the workspace.
or
- Right-click an empty area of the render tree workspace and choose Tools > Frame All from the menu.
To frame part of a render tree
1. Select a single node or branch by left or middle-clicking, respectively.
2. Do one of the following:
- Choose Tools > Frame Selection from the render tree command bar or press f.
or
- Right-click an empty area of the render tree workspace and choose Tools > Frame Selection from the menu.
As you work with a render tree and move nodes around, you’ll probably want to clean up the workspace from time to time. You can position each node individually, or you can simply use the rearrange command. Rearrange places every node in an orderly and logical manner without any overlapping.
To rearrange render tree nodes
• From the render tree menu, choose Tools > Rearrange or Press Ctrl+r.
Alternatively, you can right-click an empty area of the render tree workspace and choose Rearrange from the menu.
- If nothing was selected, all of the nodes in the render tree workspace are rearranged.
- If a branch of the render tree was selected, only that branch is rearranged.
Panning and Zooming in the Render Tree
Moving about the render tree work area is as simple as navigating in any 3D view using the Pan and Zoom tool, the Rectangular Zoom tool, or the Track and Zoom tool.
To pan and zoom in the render tree
• Do one of the following:
- Select the Tools > Pan and Zoom option (or press z), then pan in any direction, zoom in or zoom out using the left, middle, and right-mouse buttons, respectively.
or
- Select the Tools > Rectangular Zoom option (or press Shift+z), then drag a rectangular region in the render tree work area. When you release the mouse button, the contents of the rectangle are sized to fit the render tree workspace.
or
- Select the Tools > Track and Zoom Tool option (or press s), then left-click+drag to track, and middle-click+drag to zoom in and out.
Alternatively, you can activate any of these tools by right-clicking an empty area of the render tree work area and choosing the desired tool from the menu.
The Pan View is a miniature representation of the render tree, where the visible work area is represented by a gray square. You can use it to quickly move to parts of a render trees that are too large to display in the available work area.
To view the render tree in the pan view
• Select the Show > Pan View option. As you move the visible area with your cursor, the corresponding portion of the render tree is displayed in the render tree view.
Updating the Render Tree Workspace
Clicking the Update button in the render tree command bar frames the current tree and removes any unconnected nodes from the workspace. This applies to any node not connected to the selected element (geometric object, camera or light). For example, if you have created a series of interconnected shaders that are not attached to your object, they are lost if you click Update.
Clearing the Render Tree Workspace
You can quickly clear the render tree work area by clicking the Clear button on the render tree command bar.
The Clear command clears only the workspace but does not remove or undo any of the connections that were made in the render tree. Unconnected nodes are deleted.
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