Chapter 7: Using the Node Panel

Node Panels provide access to the various parameters and other controls available to modify the operation of a node. The specific functions and uses of the individual nodes are described in Part III: Node Reference; this chapter provides an overview of the Node Panel view and the types of controls common to most nodes.

In This Chapter

Node Panel Control Strips

Types of Parameter Controls

Animating Parameter Values

Using Mask Inputs

In addition to setting node-specific parameters, you can use the Node Panel to

By default, the Node Panel view displays the data for the currently selected node in the Worksheet, at the frame currently specified in the Time Scooter. However, you can pin a Node Panel to a specific node, if you wish, so that the Node Panel no longer follows the current selection but continues to display the parameters for that node. For more information, see Dynamic Focus in chapter 4.

Tip:

 

Press the (numeral) 2 key while the cursor is positioned over a node to launch a new Node Panel window with that node data displayed in it.

Node Panel Control Strips

The top portion of the Node Panel includes two control strips: the Name strip and the Controls strip. Both strips are displayed in the Node Panel by default, however, you can turn their display on and off in the Tools menu of the Node Panel title bar.

Image showing the Name and Controls strips in the Node Panel.

Fig. 7.1 The Name strip and Controls strip available at the top of every Node Panel.

Name Strip

The Name strip is labeled with the node type (Image In, Blur, etc.) and includes a text field with the name that identifies an individual node of that type. It is also home to the Presets menu.

Name Field

RAYZ assigns each new node a name by default ("blur1," "blur2," etc.). However, you can rename a node at any time by typing the new name into the field and pressing the Enter key. It is best to keep node names short but descriptive.

Note:

 

It is advisable for users on all systems to conform to standard UNIX nomenclature when naming nodes. Do not use spaces or special characters such as the semicolon (;), backslash (\), ampersand (&), exclamation point (!), asterisk (*), or pipe (|).

Presets Menu

The node Presets menu enables you to save specific parameter settings to a Presets file and reload the settings into other nodes of the same type. This can save you from having to remember and reassign a complex set of parameter values that you want to reuse.

Presets can be used in different sessions and different RAYZ files. For example, if you save a Blur node preset you can load it into any Blur node you create in any RAYZ file.

Another way to duplicate all the parameter settings for a node is to clone the node itself, as described in Creating Clones in chapter 5. Presets are used instead of cloning when you want to start with the same settings but still be able to make further adjustments to parameter values separately from the original node.

Save as User Default

The Presets menu also contains a Save As User Default option, which saves the current parameter settings as the new User Default for the current node type. Use this when you want each new node of the same type to start off with these parameter settings.

To restore the RAYZ defaults for new nodes, select Project Defaults from the Presets menu and then select Save As User Default again.

Saving Presets

To save a node preset:

  1. Select Save As... from the Presets menu.
  2. Enter an appropriate name into the dialog box that appears and click the OK button.

The new preset will appear in the Presets menu list the next time you pull down the Presets menu for any node of the same type.

Loading Presets

To load a node preset, select it from the Presets menu.

Deleting Presets

To delete a node preset, remove the corresponding file from the Presets directory, which is located by default in the .rayz/2.0 application directory. The individual presets files are actually organized in subdirectories by node type. For example, a Blur node preset called "blurry" would be saved as "blurry.preset" in /rayz/2.0/Presets/blur.

Note:

 

The Presets directory path is specified in Edit > Preferences > File Paths > Node Presets Search Path. For more information about using the Preferences panel, refer to Chapter 13: Setting Preferences.

Controls Strip

The Controls strip has the Autokey and Pass Thru mode controls. Pass Thru is described next; Autokey is described in the section on Animating Parameter Values.

Pass Thru

Check this box to put the node into Pass Thru mode, or use the p hotkey equivalent. This turns off the node so that the incoming image data flows through it without being modified. This is convenient when you want to disable the node temporarily without actually disconnecting it from the data flow and rerouting the connections around it.

The hotkey for Pass Thru mode is the p key . (You can also use the hotkey to invoke Pass Thru in the Worksheet; just be sure to position the cursor over the node you want to affect before pressing it.)

Note:

 

Pass Thru is disabled in nodes without input connectors such as the Source nodes, which start a dataflow and thus have no upstream data to pass through.

Types of Parameter Controls

The workspace of the Node Panel displays parameters that are specific to each node operation, but the controls used to set these parameter values are common to most nodes: menus, checkboxes, buttons, data entry fields, and slider bars. See Checkboxes and Toggle Buttons, and Data Entry Parameters.

Related parameters may be grouped together in outline format, in which case outline arrows are used to expand and collapse each group. See Parameter Groups.

Many nodes feature a common group of parameters used to specify color values by entering numerical values, selecting a color interactively using a spectrum bar, or by sampling image pixels with an eyedropper. For a detailed description, see Using the Color Parameters in chapter 14.

Some parameter groups are dynamic; that is, they are created as necessary based on user input. For example, a new set of parameters is added to the Node Panel every time you add another input layer to the Multi-comp node. See Dynamic Parameter Groups.

An individual parameter or group may not be available in all circumstances. For example, an alpha channel control will be deactivated when the image being manipulated does not have an alpha channel. Whatever the reason, a parameter control will appear grayed out whenever it is unavailable.

Tip:

 

Whatever type of control is used, you can always undo and redo multiple changes to parameter values, as explained in the section on the Edit Menu in chapter 9.

You also have the option of changing default values for many node parameters in Edit > Project Settings > Node Defaults. For more information about using the Project Settings panel, refer to Chapter 13: Setting Preferences.

Parameter Groups

Related sets of parameters are often grouped together in the Node Panel using an outline type of display format. Groups of parameters are collapsed under a descriptive heading, or under a master-control parameter for the group.

A parameter group can be identified by the outline arrow on the left side of the parameter label, which is used to expand and collapse the group. Click this arrow to expand a collapsed group and to collapse an expanded group.

Parameter groups enable you to hide rarely used or highly complex parameters and still access them easily if you need them. They reduce visual clutter and enable more parameters to be visible in a Node Panel view without scrolling.

Image showing Brightness parameter expanded to access individual channel controls.

Fig. 7.2 Brightness parameter group has been expanded to access the individual channel controls.

Channel Groups

Any parameter in RAYZ that affects RGB values can be controlled individually or collectively using channel group parameters. You can adjust, say, brightness with a single master control that affects the RGB channels equally.

But you can also use the outline arrow to expand the group to access separate brightness controls for each individual color channel, as well as the alpha channel and a fifth image channel, labeled Other, if the image contains these channels.

Note:

 

When you adjust an individual color channel, you are making an incremental change relative to the master value. The channel parameter values in a channel group are always stored as deltas of the master parameter value.

Dynamic Parameter Groups

Some parameters are generated by RAYZ only in response to user action. In the Roto Node Panel, for example, a parameter group is created for each roto shape you draw in the Image Viewer. In the Multi-comp node, a new group is created for each input you connect. And in the Track node, a new group is created for each track point you add.

Image showing dynamic parameter entries in Multi-comp node panel list.

Fig. 7.3 List of input layers to a Multi-comp node. Each layer entry is generated dynamically when the corresponding input image is connected to the Multi-comp node.

These dynamic parameter groups are displayed in the Node Panel in a list. Each group can be expanded to access parameters for that object or input layer. In Multi-comp, for example, you would expand a layer group to specify, among other things, the opacity of that layer of the composite. In the Track Node Panel, on the other hand, you could adjust the size of the tracking area or the tracking method to use.

At their top level, dynamic parameter groups feature a set of controls that affect the object or input layer as a whole.

Image showing a dynamic entry with top-level controls labeled.

Fig. 7.4 Top-level controls available for a track point entry in a Track node.

Note:

 

Depending on the type of object or layer the dynamic entry corresponds to, the available controls may vary slightly. Refer to the individual node descriptions for specifics.

Deleting Input Layers

In nodes such as Track and Roto, where each parameter group represents an object created in the node (a track point or roto shape, e.g.), pressing the "X" button at the right end of the parameter deletes the object and the parameter group disappears from the Node Panel.

But when a parameter group represents an input layer to the node--Multi-comp (see Fig. 7.3) and Sequence are two examples--there are two ways to delete it, each of which produces a different result:

Checkboxes and Toggle Buttons

If a box is checked with a checkmark, it indicates that the labeled option is active, or "on." Checkboxes work like toggle switches: click a box that is checked to turn it off; click a box that is not checked to turn it on.

Image showing the Premultiply checkboxes in the Over Node Panel.

Fig. 7.5 Over Node Parameters: the foreground will be premultiplied; the background will not.

Some parameters use toggle switches in the form of a button that you depress. They work just like checkboxes, but the button itself is labeled with the item it controls, either as text or an icon. The Overlay and Lock toggle buttons in the Track node (see Fig. 7.4) are typical examples that use icons. An example of toggle buttons labeled with text are the Channel Select parameter buttons, which are described next.

Channel Select

Most nodes provide a Channel Select parameter to control which channels of the input image are affected by the node operation. The Channel Select parameter consists of toggle buttons for the Red, Green, Blue, Alpha, and Other channels.

Image showing an example of the Channel Select parameters.

Fig. 7.6 Channel Select Parameters: In this example, the input image is RGBA, but the Alpha channel will not be processed by the node.

All buttons corresponding to channels that exist in the input image will be active. Each channel button is used separately to control processing of the corresponding channel.

The channel buttons that appear to be depressed, or "pushed in," are on, and the image channel that corresponds to that button will be processed by the node. Any image channel that is not selected will not be processed--the input data will be sent out of the node unchanged.

Data Entry Parameters

A data entry field is a parameter control that accepts the keystrokes you type. Most fields are for entering numeric values only and are usually associated with a slider bar control and an animation menu. A typical example would be the Brightness parameter, which represents the brightness value to use.

Some fields do accept text entries, however, such as the File field in the Image In Node Panel, in which you can enter the directory path and file name of image files.

Tip:

 

When editing multiple data entry fields in a Node Panel, press the Tab key to jump to the next field. The Shift-Tab key combination jumps the cursor to the previous field.

Fields and Sliders

Numeric fields are adjusted by typing directly into the field, or by using the associated slider bar to increase or decrease the field value.

The field shows the current value specified for the parameter, while the slider bar displays the value range (or suggested range, for parameters that are not constrained).

Image showing a typical data entry parameter.

Fig. 7.7 Data Entry Parameter: The combination of data entry field, slider, and animation menu (on the right end) is a typical configuration for a data entry parameter.

To use the slider associated with a field, click anywhere in the slider bar and drag to the left to decrease the value and to the right to increase it. The number in the field will update as you drag.

Tip:

 

To fine-tune values using the slider, hold down the Shift key as you drag back and forth in the slider. This will constrain the increment to a much finer scale.

Field Pairs

Data entry fields often come in pairs and are used to specify x,y coordinate values. Field pairs provide a scrolling arrow button for each field, which is more compact than the slider bar.

Image showing a pair of fields for entering x,y coordinate data with scroll arrow buttons.

Fig. 7.8 Data entry parameter with a pair of fields that use scroll arrows (vertical sliders).

To use the scroll arrow, click and hold on the button and then drag up to increase the field value or down to decrease it. You can drag the cursor beyond the boundary of the button; you only have to start the drag motion on the button.

For finer control, you can also drag right or left to change the value more gradually. (This is the equivalent of holding down the Shift key as you drag in the slider bar control.)

Size Menu

Field pairs for specifying the total width and height of the image are usually accompanied by a Size menu, which lists many film and video resolutions that can be selected as an alternative to actually typing width and height values into the fields.

Image showing the contents of the Size menu.

Fig. 7.9 Hold down the Size menu button (circled) to access a list of common resolutions.

The Size menu includes the following preset resolutions:

4K 4:3 4096x3072
2K 4:3 2048x1536
1K 4;3 1024x768
512 4:3 512x318

HDTV 16:9 1920x1080
NTSC (CCIR 601) 720x486
PAL (CCIR 709) 720x576
NTSC 640x486
PAL 704x576

IMAX (Full) 4096x3172
Super35 (Half) 2048x871
8-perf 70mm (Full) 4096x2028
VistaVision (Full) 4096x6114
CinemaScope (Full) 3656x3112
CinemaScope (Half) 1828x1556
Full Aperture (Full) 4096x3112
Full Aperture (Half) 2048x1556
Academy (Full) 3656x2664
Academy (Half) 1828x1332
Academy (Quarter) 914x666

Animation Menu

Any parameter that has an Animation menu can be animated. You can use the commands in the Animation menu to create keyframes and specify the type of interpolation to use between them. Just as important, the Animation menu also makes it easy to delete a keyframe, or all keyframes.

Animating Parameter Values explains how to animate Node Panel parameters using the Animation menu commands and Autokey mode. The following paragraphs cover the Animation menu status indicators as well as the Float Display item in the menu.

As shown in Fig. 7.10 and Fig. 7.11, the Animation menu indicates the current status of the parameter--whether it is animated, and if so, whether it is currently at a keyframe.

Image showing node panel parameters with Animation menus and animation status labeled.

Fig. 7.10 Ambient parameter is animated; Diffuse is animated and currently at a keyframe; Specular is not animated.

In the case of parameter groups, it is possible to animate one or more parameters within the group without animating the master control. If so, the Animation menu of the master control parameter will indicate this by displaying a blue bar across the top. When the group is collapsed, this serves as a visual cue that a parameter within the group is animated--just expand the group to find out more.

Image showing an instance of a channel parameter being animated when the master control for the group is not.

Fig. 7.11 Brightness parameter (top) is not animated, but the blue bar in the Animation menu indicates that a parameter within the group is. Expanding the group (bottom) reveals that the Red channel is animated.

Float Display Units

The parameter Animation menu also includes the Float Display option. Depending on the type of operation, parameter values may be expressed in different units of measure. Certain color correction parameters use color depth units (a range of 0 to 65535, for example), and parameters that specify size or position use pixels.

Regardless of the default unit display, however, you also have the option of working in floating point (i.e., fractional) units instead by checking the Float Display box in the Animation menu list.

For example, scale parameter values are expressed by default as the number of pixels in X and Y, such as 2048 x 1556. If you prefer, however, you can switch to Float Display and enter a scale factor (such as 0.5, to specify 50 percent of full size) into the fields to scale an image rather than calculating the pixel values.

Note:

 

However you choose to display parameter values, RAYZ always calculates and stores them at floating point precision to facilitate the use of proxies and clones. This means that you can mix and match the display of value units to suit your needs.

Animating Parameter Values

Virtually all parameters in RAYZ can be animated; that is, their values can vary over time. The default state for most parameters is not animated, which means that the value you set for the parameter applies to all frames of the input sequence.

There are several ways you can animate parameter values in RAYZ, depending on your preference and the specific task at hand:

This section describes how to use Autokey mode and the relevant commands in the parameter Animation menu. For more information about editing parameter values as curves in a graph, see Animating Curves in chapter 8.

Using Autokey Mode

The easiest way to animate node parameters may be to turn on Autokey mode, which affects all animatable parameters in a node.

Image showing the Autokey button active in the Node Panel.

Fig. 7.12 The Autokey button in the strip at the top of the Node Panel is used to turn the auto-keyframing mode on and off. When the button is depressed it turns green to indicate that Autokey mode is active. The arrow buttons on each side are used to navigate directly to the next or previous keyframe.

When Autokey is on, it changes the way RAYZ interprets any modifications you make to parameter values:

Autokey On: Whenever you go to a new frame and change a parameter value, a keyframe is created automatically and the values of the in-between frames are calculated using linear interpolation.

Autokey Off: When auto-keyframing mode is off, any change you make to a parameter value at any frame is applied to every frame.

Turning off Autokey mode does not change a parameter that has already been animated. If a parameter is animated and you turn Autokey off, the parameter field will only be active at keyframes (although you can still use the parameter Animation menu to add keyframes).

To delete a keyframe, or to change the default interpolation used between keyframes, use the Animation menu of a parameter, as described below in Animation Menu Options.

Note:

 

The Image Viewer provides a corresponding Autokey button which you can use instead when you are working directly on the image (as when animating a transform using the overlay). Whenever an Image Viewer and Node Panel are displaying the same node, the two Autokey controls are tied; a change to one button is automatically reflected in the other.

You can assign a hotkey to control Autokey mode in Edit > Preferences > Hotkeys > Toggle Auto Keyframe Mode. For general information about the Preferences panel, refer to Chapter 13: Setting Preferences.

Key-to-Key Navigation

The arrow buttons on each side of the Autokey button take you to the previous or next keyframe in the sequence. They are a quick way to navigate directly from keyframe to keyframe without entering frame numbers into the Time Scooter.

The arrow buttons always work as long as any of the node parameters are animated; Autokey mode does not have to be on to use them.

Image showing green tick-marks in Time Scooter that indicate keyframes.

Fig. 7.13 In the Time Scooter, green tick-marks appear at every keyframe.

Animation Menu Options

You can always animate any individual parameter in a node without turning on Autokey mode by using the appropriate option in the parameter Animation menu.

You can add or delete a keyframe at the current frame, delete all keys in the parameter, or reset a parameter to its project default value (which may or may not be animated). The current parameter status is indicated by the Animation menu icon, as shown in Fig. 7.10.

Tip:

 

You can create hotkeys for Animation menu options such as "Add Key" in Edit > Preferences > Hotkeys > Context Sensitive > Parameter Editing.

Add Key

To add a keyframe, use the Time Scooter to navigate to the frame and select Add Key from the Animation menu.

Delete Key

To delete a keyframe, navigate to an existing keyframe and select Delete Key from the menu.

Delete All Keys

To "de-animate" a parameter, select Delete All Keys. The new parameter value, which applies to all frames, will depend on where you are when you select the command:

Reset to Project Defaults

To return the parameter to its default value (the value it had when you first created the node), select Reset to Project Defaults from the Animation menu. The project default value may or may not be animated, depending on the parameter.

Change Interpolation

You can also change the interpolation function used between keyframes. Navigate to an in-between frame and select an option (Linear, Ease, Bezier, etc.) from the Change Interpolation submenu. The new interpolation curve will be used for all the in-between frames in the current segment. You can apply a different type of interpolation to each segment.

The Change Interpolation submenu is equivalent to the Curve Actions menu in the Curve Editor. For information about each interpolation function, see Controlling Interpolation of Curve Values in chapter 8.

Edit Expression...

To use an expression to control a parameter, select Edit Expression from the Animation menu (or use the hotkey: Shift-e ). This opens a panel in which you can create and edit an expression to control the parameter value. The Expression Editor is described in See How to Enter an Expression.

If the parameter is already animated, choose "Change interpolation to expression" from the Change Interpolation submenu of the Animation menu. Then you can use the Edit Expression command to apply an expression to the current segment.

Note:

 

The Edit Expression command is not available for a parameter with multiple values, which in most cases means a parameter that controls both x and y coordinate values.

However, you can still use the Curve Editor to enter an expression to control each value separately as described in See Entering Expressions in the Curve Editor.

Using Mask Inputs

Many nodes provide a mask input connector (it is labeled with an "M"). This optional input is used to connect a mask image, which controls which pixels in the primary input are modified by the node.

How Masks Control Node Processing

Mask inputs can be used in numerous ways to control image processing in a node. To simulate atmospheric haze in a CG image, for example, you could use a channel of z-depth data as the mask input to a color correction node to desaturate the image slightly and reduce its luminance as the distance from the camera increases. In a Blur node, the z-depth data could be used to selectively blur pixels based on depth.

Another example would be to use the output of an edge detection node as a mask input to filter only the edges of an image. Or a matte of a specific object in an image could be used to limit the effect of a filter to that object, or to everything but that object.

Note:

 

In addition to or instead of mask inputs, some nodes feature other types of optional inputs that affect node processing in various ways. Refer to the individual node descriptions for more information about using such inputs.

Mask Input Parameters

Whenever you connect a mask input to a node, corresponding mask input parameters in the Node Panel are activated. These parameters enable you to specify which channel of the mask input to use and how to interpret the mask channel data.

Image showing the Mask Action and Mask Channel parameters in the Node Panel.

Fig. 7.14 The Mask Action and Mask Channel parameters appear in the Node Panel for every node type that accepts a mask input.

Mask Action Menu

The Mask Action menu lets you specify how the information in the selected mask channel will be used by choosing On/Off or Mix.

In either case, the value of each pixel in the mask channel governs how the corresponding pixel in the primary input image will be processed. (The "corresponding pixel" refers to the pixel with the same x,y coordinates.)

The difference is that the On/Off method, as the name implies, simply turns each pixel fully on or fully off, while the Mix method controls the extent to which each pixel is affected by the node operation.

On/Off

The On/Off method specifies whether a pixel will be modified by the node:

Mix

The Mix method, which is the default, uses the value of each mask channel pixel to determine the extent to which the corresponding pixel in the primary input will be affected by the node operation.

Each output pixel will be a mixture of the filtered and unfiltered value of the primary input pixel, with the ratio being determined by the value of the mask channel pixel. (RAYZ uses the floating point value of the pixel; that is, the pixel value expressed as a percentage of the maximum value for the color depth.)

For example, a mask channel pixel with a float (fractional) value of 0.32 will turn on the node operation 32 percent, so that the corresponding output pixel will be a mixture of 32 percent of the filtered input pixel value and 68 percent of the original input pixel value.

Mask Channel Menu

The Mask Channel menu enables you to specify which channel in the mask image will be used to govern the mask action, when the mask input has more than one channel. This menu defaults to the alpha channel, if there is one, however you can choose any channel.