Node group operators #101778

New Issue

Background

With node group assets becoming more prevalent and geometry nodes becoming essential
for manipulating geometry in Blender, we want to add the ability to implement operators
with geometry node groups.

Relevant node groups would need a geometry input and output, and could have other inputs (and possibly outputs), with similar mappings as the geometry nodes modifier.

Additionally, specific inputs could be marked as editable modally, for example, a "Factor" input could be controlled by moving the mouse cursor left or right.

The specific data design still needs to be settled on (i.e. is the node group an operator, or does an operator reference a node group?).

Design

The node group itself is the operator asset
Geometry nodes gets new input nodes in a new "Operator" menu
- Selection
- Mouse coordinates
- View transform
- 3D cursor location
- ...
Geometry node groups with these input nodes can only be used as operators
- This design is similar to the shared node groups between shader and geometry nodes, for example.
The group outputs are used to adjust the output geometry
- The geometry output will adjust the "active" geometry
- We might need to store a specific mapping for outputs, but relying on the name is a start

Next Steps

Map mesh edit mode operators to see what data they use and change

See D15493 for a prototype.

### Background With node group assets becoming more prevalent and geometry nodes becoming essential for manipulating geometry in Blender, we want to add the ability to implement operators with geometry node groups. Relevant node groups would need a geometry input and output, and could have other inputs (and possibly outputs), with similar mappings as the geometry nodes modifier. Additionally, specific inputs could be marked as editable modally, for example, a "Factor" input could be controlled by moving the mouse cursor left or right. The specific data design still needs to be settled on (i.e. is the node group an operator, or does an operator reference a node group?). ### Design - The node group itself is the operator asset - Geometry nodes gets new input nodes in a new "Operator" menu - Selection - Mouse coordinates - View transform - 3D cursor location - ... - Geometry node groups with these input nodes can only be used as operators - This design is similar to the shared node groups between shader and geometry nodes, for example. - The group outputs are used to adjust the output geometry - The geometry output will adjust the "active" geometry - We _might_ need to store a specific mapping for outputs, but relying on the name is a start ### Next Steps Map mesh edit mode operators to see what data they use and change See [D15493](https://archive.blender.org/developer/D15493) for a prototype.

It would be useful to provide a module for converting custom panel settings to input sockets as part of the input sockets signature.

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Node group operators #101778

Background

Design

Next Steps