Use of modes in NODE editors

Intro

This proposal is supposed to provide an idea on how to solve the readability issues of node trees within blender by introducing two modes (Overview & Detail), that display the nodes in a distinctive way. Which allows in turn to optimize the views for their purpose.

Problem

When looking at node trees (geometry nodes, compositor and to some extend the shader tree) one point of critique that comes up is that it is hard to see at first glance whats going on.

From a birds eye view we got a graph of boxes visually indistinguishable from each other.

This might be an result of using the the same visual representation for all nodes and just slightly seperating them by the use of colors in the title (background).

The challenge is to provide visual readability while preserving the ability to edit values directly attached to the nodes.

Solution

Part 1 - Introduce visual identifiers

Introduce easy to read icons for all nodes types and display them in the node title, the menus.

Part 2 - Give node editors switchable modes

Add the ability to switch modes in the node editor itself.

Switching these modes changes the way the node tree is visually represented.

Add two node editor specific modes to it. One called "overview" like object mode and "detail" (edit mode).

Overview mode

In overview mode the node tree is visualized just as connected icons. For example: Math nodes can we expressed with their respective mode using the mathematical icon (ADD / DEVIDE / MULTIPLY...)

Imagine a node tree that looks like a picture, formula or blueprint itself to convey its function. You would see where transforms are made, where textures are uses and what interacts with what.

Detail mode

In detail mode each node is displayed as is. In its expanded state. So all nodes with their corresponding values are fully editable and animatable.

How to switch modes

Via shortcut: Pressing TAB as the default switch toggles between modes - as is

Via menu: As dropdown in the top left if the editor - as is

33.3%

Development Status: Open

Stephan

5 Jul 2021

2 Comments

brunnerh 5 Jul 2021

Modes generally suck . They cause overhead and mode errors .
Icons could be a nice addition, but they cannot really be a substitute. The main problem with understanding is not what happens but why it happens. A chain of math operations will still be a chain of math operations unless semantic information is added manually, the icons will not change this.
Currently the best way of achieving this at the low level, is changing the node labels.
...as for the high level:
one point of critique that comes up is that it is hard to see at first glance whats going on
If that is the case you are probably not using enough groups. Usually one can structure node trees into various levels of abstraction. This makes it easier to understand what happens overall at the current level and where to look in the subtree for whatever one is currently interested in.

christsdude 5 Jul 2021

This is a really interesting idea; readability of huge node trees from a bird's eye view is absolutely something that could use some TLC, and I think your idea of representation via icons is definitely a step in the right direction. Upvoted!

One red flag for me, though, is the use of modes to achieve this. Different modes should actually have different functionalities (not just differences in visibility). In Overview Mode as you describe it (to my understanding), pretty much all you can do is move nodes around, add/delete them, etc., which is pretty limited for an entire mode, and doesn't offer any unique functionality; its only advantage over Detail Mode is related to visibility, which doesn't warrant a whole new mode IMO. (You could resolve this by removing this functionality from Detail Mode, but having to switch between modes to do these different things would be hugely detrimental to the streamlined workflow of Blender's current node system, more so than the readability benefit is worth IMO.)

I think this would make more sense maybe as a display setting rather than a mode, although what you're describing actually removes the ability to edit things, which display settings don't usually do. So I'm not saying that suggestion is a fully fleshed out solution, but maybe it will help get you thinking.