Integrating Node Wrangler features into core Blender #121749

New Issue

Nika Kutsniashvili · 2024-05-13T17:10:07+02:00

2024-05-13 17:10:07 +02:00

With Extensions platform launching for 4.2 what were once add-ons shipped with Blender are moving in to online platform. There are some exceptions made for add-ons which are integral for using Blender, such as Cycles and FBX i/o. Those will be converted and made regular parts of core Blender.

Design for tackling core add-ons

Node Wrangler is one of the most, if not THE most, used add-ons that come with Blender, so argument can be made that it deserves to ship with Blender. In fact, users were constantly demanded that this add-on was enabled by default. But Node Wrangler is a massive add-on loaded with functionalities that may not be useful for casual user and is better suited to be part of an extension. Most users are not even aware of most of the things add-on is capable of.

So since Node Wrangler contains both: functionality that is part of core UX for every user (such as ctrl-shift preview), and functionality that is better suited for an extension, it makes most sense to decouple those.

Proposal is to integrate more useful features of Node Wrangler into core Blender as python scripts, and what is left can be added on extensions platform, and users can download it from there.

I went through the code and testing to determine which features should be integrated, and this is my proposal:

Should be part of core Blender:

Preview Node (Since Shader editor doesn't have Viewer node, this functionality is needed to Shift-Click on node and preview it by connecting it to Material Output node. Most used feature of the add-on)
Connect to Output [O, Shift-Alt click] (Connects selected node to Output node. In Shader editor this is same as Shift-Ctrl clicking it, but in Compositor and Geometry Nodes, where that shortcut uses Viewer Node, this one (Shift-Alt click) connects node to Group Output/Composite, instead of Viewer node)
Lazy Connect (Holding Alt and hovering over two nodes automatically creates link from first to second. Output and Input are chosen automatically based on some criteria, and while not always perfect is super fast in most cases)
Make Link (Holding Shift-Alt and hovering over two nodes creates link between them, but instead of automatically choosing it shows two menus in succession that lets user choose output and input sockets, if there are more one)
Lazy Mix (Holding Shift-Ctrl and hovering over two nodes creates overlay around nodes, and on release creates Mix node with first outputs from selected nodes linked. It's tricky and can be improved to better determine correct data-type, but is very useful and very widely used even in current form)
Select Frames Children / Parent Frame [] (Those kind of operator exists in almost every context and makes sense here too, also is very useful)
Reset Backdrop [Z] (Works in Compositor only. It's similar to "Fit Backdrop to Available Space" operator in View menu, but this one resets Scale to 1 instead of fitting to view)
Reset Node [Backspace] (Resets node to default values. This feature isn't available built-in for entire node, and resetting properties individually puts all values to 0 instead of reseting to values node comes with.)

Should be part of extension:

Merge Selected Nodes (Can connect outputs of any two nodes with Mix, Join Geometry, Mesh Boolean or Math nodes with any mode. It is too massive and general, and while great functionality, it doesn't work outside few intended cases, shortcuts are hard to remember and mostly unnecessary for casual users)
Add Texture Setup (Shift-T while node selected to add connected Coordinates - Mapping nodes)
Detouch Outputs [Shift-Alt-D] (Similar thing, but not exactly already possible with holding Alt and dragging node)
Add Reroutes [Numpad /] (Adds reroute node for every output socket and connects them)
Link Active to Selected [ \ ] (What title says, but is way to tricky with too much options and doesn't work in most cases)
Clear Label
Modify Labels [Shift-Alt-L] (While this is better than built-in Batch Rename in some cases, it's better to improve Batch rename than have separate operator just for nodes)
Frame Selected [Shift-P] (Already possible with Ctrl-J, but we can change shortcut of that to Shift-P if it makes more sense and is seen as parenting operation rather than joining on user level)
Align Nodes [Shift-=]
Switch Type [Shift-S] (This is already depricated in add-on)
Save Viewer Image (In Compositor when Viewer node selected shows operator in sidebar > Node panel that can save image shown externally)
Change Factor of Mix Nodes (Not exposed anywhere, probably not a finished feature)

Undecided:

Add Principled Setup (Ctrl-Shift-T while Principled BSDF selected to import multiple PBR images and connect with correct names, colorspaces and middle nodes, such as Normal and Displacement)
Swap Links [Alt-S] (It's an easy way to swap links in Mix and Math nodes, and also if there's only one link it can change which input it goes to very quickly, good for changing socket after connecting with Lazy Connect)
Batch Change Blend Type (& Math Operation) (Very useful right now, but do they fit in future design?)
Copy Settings to Selected (If two of the same type of node selected copies settings from active to selected. Similar functionality exists for object-level properties, could fit in Blender's design. Currently broken and needs a fix)
Copy Label to Selected
Reload Images (There is RCS request to put this button in the header. Refreshes external images and is very important when working with images that are being modified in external image editors. VSE has similar operator, so fits in the design)
Delete Unused Nodes [Alt X] (Can be seen as similar clean-up tool as Delete floating vertices in Mesh edit mode)
"Attributes" menu (In Shader editor Add menu > Input it adds list of all available attributes and on selection adds Attribute node with correct mode and attribute name written inslide. Is SUPER fast way of adding attribute, also makes all attributes available when searching in Add menu)
Import Multiple Images/Image Sequence - (In Add > Texture menu. Similar thing exists in VSE as built-in operator. Is very useful, but needs to be decided if they should be in Add menu, or available in more 'built-in' manner?)

Features can be implemented one-by-one, as separate PR's, so it's not immediate to agree on which features to port right away. We can start by most obvious ones and leave rest for discussion / feedback.

Features than will be implemented in core Blender also have to be removed from add-on, so that extension doesn't add features that already exist (and sometimes may have been slightly modified). This is easy now when they're still hosted here, but once they're ported and uploaded on extensions that will have to be done on remote repository with collaboration of maintainers.

With Extensions platform launching for 4.2 what were once add-ons shipped with Blender are moving in to online platform. There are some exceptions made for add-ons which are integral for using Blender, such as Cycles and FBX i/o. Those will be converted and made regular parts of core Blender. [Design for tackling core add-ons](https://devtalk.blender.org/t/changes-to-add-on-bundling-4-2-onwards/34593/1) Node Wrangler is one of the most, if not THE most, used add-ons that come with Blender, so argument can be made that it deserves to ship with Blender. In fact, users were constantly demanded that this add-on was enabled by default. But Node Wrangler is a massive add-on loaded with functionalities that may not be useful for casual user and is better suited to be part of an extension. Most users are not even aware of most of the things add-on is capable of. So since Node Wrangler contains both: functionality that is part of core UX for every user (such as ctrl-shift preview), and functionality that is better suited for an extension, it makes most sense to decouple those. Proposal is to integrate more useful features of Node Wrangler into core Blender as python scripts, and what is left can be added on extensions platform, and users can download it from there. --- I went through the code and testing to determine which features should be integrated, and this is my proposal: **Should be part of core Blender:** - [x] **Preview Node** *(Since Shader editor doesn't have Viewer node, this functionality is needed to Shift-Click on node and preview it by connecting it to Material Output node. Most used feature of the add-on)* - [x] **Connect to Output** [O, Shift-Alt click] *(Connects selected node to Output node. In Shader editor this is same as Shift-Ctrl clicking it, but in Compositor and Geometry Nodes, where that shortcut uses Viewer Node, this one (Shift-Alt click) connects node to Group Output/Composite, instead of Viewer node)* - [ ] **Lazy Connect** (Holding Alt and hovering over two nodes automatically creates link from first to second. Output and Input are chosen automatically based on some criteria, and while not always perfect is super fast in most cases) - [ ] **Make Link** (Holding Shift-Alt and hovering over two nodes creates link between them, but instead of automatically choosing it shows two menus in succession that lets user choose output and input sockets, if there are more one) - [ ] **Lazy Mix** (Holding Shift-Ctrl and hovering over two nodes creates overlay around nodes, and on release creates Mix node with first outputs from selected nodes linked. It's tricky and can be improved to better determine correct data-type, but is very useful and very widely used even in current form) - [ ] **Select Frames Children / Parent Frame** [] *(Those kind of operator exists in almost every context and makes sense here too, also is very useful)* - [ ] **Reset Backdrop** [Z] *(Works in Compositor only. It's similar to "Fit Backdrop to Available Space" operator in View menu, but this one resets Scale to 1 instead of fitting to view)* - [ ] **Reset Node** [Backspace] (Resets node to default values. This feature isn't available built-in for entire node, and resetting properties individually puts all values to 0 instead of reseting to values node comes with.) **Should be part of extension:** - **Merge Selected Nodes** (Can connect outputs of any two nodes with Mix, Join Geometry, Mesh Boolean or Math nodes with any mode. It is too massive and general, and while great functionality, it doesn't work outside few intended cases, shortcuts are hard to remember and mostly unnecessary for casual users) - **Add Texture Setup** *(Shift-T while node selected to add connected Coordinates - Mapping nodes)* - **Detouch Outputs** [Shift-Alt-D] (Similar thing, but not exactly already possible with holding Alt and dragging node) - **Add Reroutes** [Numpad /] *(Adds reroute node for every output socket and connects them)* - **Link Active to Selected** [ \ ] *(What title says, but is way to tricky with too much options and doesn't work in most cases)* - **Clear Label** - **Modify Labels** [Shift-Alt-L] *(While this is better than built-in Batch Rename in some cases, it's better to improve Batch rename than have separate operator just for nodes)* - **Frame Selected** [Shift-P] (Already possible with Ctrl-J, but we can change shortcut of that to Shift-P if it makes more sense and is seen as parenting operation rather than joining on user level) - **Align Nodes** [Shift-=] - **Switch Type** [Shift-S] *(This is already depricated in add-on)* - **Save Viewer Image** (In Compositor when Viewer node selected shows operator in sidebar > Node panel that can save image shown externally) - **Change Factor of Mix Nodes** *(Not exposed anywhere, probably not a finished feature)* **Undecided:** - **Add Principled Setup** *(Ctrl-Shift-T while Principled BSDF selected to import multiple PBR images and connect with correct names, colorspaces and middle nodes, such as Normal and Displacement)* - **Swap Links** [Alt-S] *(It's an easy way to swap links in Mix and Math nodes, and also if there's only one link it can change which input it goes to very quickly, good for changing socket after connecting with Lazy Connect)* - **Batch Change Blend Type (& Math Operation)** *(Very useful right now, but do they fit in future design?)* - **Copy Settings to Selected** (If two of the same type of node selected copies settings from active to selected. Similar functionality exists for object-level properties, could fit in Blender's design. Currently broken and needs a fix) - **Copy Label to Selected** - **Reload Images** (There is RCS request to put this button in the header. Refreshes external images and is very important when working with images that are being modified in external image editors. VSE has similar operator, so fits in the design) - **Delete Unused Nodes** [Alt X] *(Can be seen as similar clean-up tool as Delete floating vertices in Mesh edit mode)* - **"Attributes" menu** (In Shader editor Add menu > Input it adds list of all available attributes and on selection adds Attribute node with correct mode and attribute name written inslide. Is SUPER fast way of adding attribute, also makes all attributes available when searching in Add menu) - **Import Multiple Images/Image Sequence** - (In Add > Texture menu. Similar thing exists in VSE as built-in operator. Is very useful, but needs to be decided if they should be in Add menu, or available in more 'built-in' manner?) --- Features can be implemented one-by-one, as separate PR's, so it's not immediate to agree on which features to port right away. We can start by most obvious ones and leave rest for discussion / feedback. Features than will be implemented in core Blender also have to be removed from add-on, so that extension doesn't add features that already exist (and sometimes may have been slightly modified). This is easy now when they're still hosted here, but once they're ported and uploaded on extensions that will have to be done on remote repository with collaboration of maintainers.

👍 12 ❤️ 10

Nika Kutsniashvili added the

Type

Design

label 2024-05-13 17:10:07 +02:00

Iliya Katushenock commented

2024-05-13 17:18:33 +02:00

I do not like idea of putting things from addons into core. This can be addon.

👍 2

Iliya Katushenock added this to the Python API project 2024-05-13 17:18:44 +02:00

Damien Picard commented

2024-05-13 23:33:23 +02:00

Switch Type [Shift-S] (This is already depricated in add-on)

There wasn’t any kind of consensus, but discussions in blender/blender-addons#101514 hinted at this being possibly part of core Blender.

> - **Switch Type** [Shift-S] *(This is already depricated in add-on)* There wasn’t any kind of consensus, but discussions in blender/blender-addons#101514 hinted at this being possibly part of core Blender.

Erindale commented

2024-05-17 09:57:28 +02:00

I would also vote for swap links to be included. It's invaluable for cleanup and speed imo

👍 2

W_Cloud commented

2024-05-18 17:24:42 +02:00

https://blenderartists.org/t/voronoi-linker-addon-node-wrangler-killer/1495885
After using this plugin, I haven't used the fast connection of Node Wrangler anymore.
This plugin also has many useful features such as quick preview,quickly link to expand socket, fast mathematical operations, swapping links, hiding node sockets, hiding node options, custom preview target socket, quick socket renaming and exchange group (group input output)node socket order,
The quick connection of this plugin is both fast and precise.This plugin also implements the Reset Node you mentioned.
I think this plugin greatly enhances the user experience. You can refer to it.

https://blenderartists.org/t/voronoi-linker-addon-node-wrangler-killer/1495885 After using this plugin, I haven't used the fast connection of Node Wrangler anymore. This plugin also has many useful features such as quick preview,quickly link to expand socket, fast mathematical operations, swapping links, hiding node sockets, hiding node options, custom preview target socket, quick socket renaming and exchange group (group input output)node socket order, The quick connection of this plugin is both fast and precise.This plugin also implements the Reset Node you mentioned. I think this plugin greatly enhances the user experience. You can refer to it.

👀 1 ❤️ 8

Robert Zhang commented

2024-05-18 17:53:36 +02:00

To use the nodes to do something, I believe everyone have to enable the node wrangler, except he/she don't know this addon.
So it's time to put it in the core. I vote yes.

To use the nodes to do something, I believe everyone have to enable the node wrangler, except he/she don't know this addon. So it's time to put it in the core. I vote yes.

👍 1

Nika Kutsniashvili referenced this issue

2024-05-20 18:10:50 +02:00

Nodes: Port "Connect to Output" operator from Node Wrangler #122016

Nika Kutsniashvili commented

2024-05-20 18:14:01 +02:00

First PR for porting preview functionality in shader editor, the most important part of the add-on #122016

❤️ 6

Jacques Lucke referenced this issue from a commit

2024-05-28 16:43:09 +02:00

Nodes: port "Connect to Output" operator from Node Wrangler

Nika Kutsniashvili referenced this issue

2024-05-29 11:17:03 +02:00

Nodes: port "Lazy Connect" feature from Node Wrangler #122428

Andres Stephens commented

2024-05-30 02:38:05 +02:00

Preview node for the Compositor shortcut should also be implemented.

Jacques Lucke referenced this issue

2024-05-31 16:40:40 +02:00

Add-ons: make node wrangler a core add-on #122557

Dalai Felinto referenced this issue from a commit

2024-05-31 16:53:38 +02:00

Add-ons: make node wrangler a core add-on

SiweiWang commented

2024-05-31 23:25:16 +02:00

https://blenderartists.org/t/voronoi-linker-addon-node-wrangler-killer/1495885
After using this plugin, I haven't used the fast connection of Node Wrangler anymore.
This plugin also has many useful features such as quick preview,quickly link to expand socket, fast mathematical operations, swapping links, hiding node sockets, hiding node options, custom preview target socket, quick socket renaming and exchange group (group input output)node socket order,
The quick connection of this plugin is both fast and precise.This plugin also implements the Reset Node you mentioned.
I think this plugin greatly enhances the user experience. You can refer to it.

Voronoi linker does a lot more things than node wrangler

> https://blenderartists.org/t/voronoi-linker-addon-node-wrangler-killer/1495885 > After using this plugin, I haven't used the fast connection of Node Wrangler anymore. > This plugin also has many useful features such as quick preview,quickly link to expand socket, fast mathematical operations, swapping links, hiding node sockets, hiding node options, custom preview target socket, quick socket renaming and exchange group (group input output)node socket order, > The quick connection of this plugin is both fast and precise.This plugin also implements the Reset Node you mentioned. > I think this plugin greatly enhances the user experience. You can refer to it. Voronoi linker does a lot more things than node wrangler

👀 2

passivestar commented

2024-06-02 09:31:57 +02:00

I mostly enable node wrangler to use Ctrl+Shift+T because my workflow is mostly PBR. It's also a dependency in some of my scripts and addons, for example my substance integration addon that relies on it to load textures from substance into blender (I now have to show a message asking users to enable it manually): https://github.com/passivestar/substance-tools

Would be awesome to see Ctrl+Shift+T nativized!

I mostly enable node wrangler to use `Ctrl+Shift+T` because my workflow is mostly PBR. It's also a dependency in some of my scripts and addons, for example my substance integration addon that relies on it to load textures from substance into blender (I now have to show a message asking users to enable it manually): https://github.com/passivestar/substance-tools Would be awesome to see `Ctrl+Shift+T` nativized!

👍 5

lichen commented

2024-06-29 08:57:55 +02:00

Shift-Alt click does not work in the composition editor

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Integrating Node Wrangler features into core Blender #121749