Yes, indeed I do. An entire area of the UI that you (and many others) probably sadly ignore, to their detriment.
I think this may be why everyone feels like they have to learn how to use the node network and get sometimes frustrated by it. But the reality is there's another way, not as flexible, but just as useful in its own way...
Over on the left there in every Layout view is a list of the nodes in the group and of the type that matches the layout you're in, e.g. in Terrain you'll see the nodes in the Terrain group (but not, say, an object node you add to that group, as it's not of the right type, e.g. surface shaders). Right, so there's this list. It's semi-hierarchical, which can be handy, though also occasionally confusing, so the node network itself is often a better representation of node connections. But if you have a lot of nodes, scrolling through a list can be a better way to find a specific one than trying to find it in a messy network, so there's that.
Anyway, the main reason why it's useful are the buttons. Depending on which Layout you're in, these buttons will change, they are contextual and are useful to deal with the particular node types associated with each Layout. So in the Terrain layout, you have an Add Terrain button, which give you quick access to the most commonly used Terrain nodes. Of course if you know what those are already, using one of the other methods you mentioned *might* be faster, but this button also automatically connects them into the network, so there's that (one of your methods does too, of course). Below that (and below the list itself), you'll also find buttons to move nodes up and down in the network flow, which is something that actually takes 2 steps in the node network, but just 1 button click here. Handy sometimes.
Last but certainly not least you have the Add Operator button. There are a couple of nice things about this. First, it only highlights and becomes active when you have a node selected that it can operate on. It's easy to look at nodes in the main node adding menu and not really understand that they won't work for a particular node you want to connect them to, and the only way to find out is to add it and try to connect it (there are other hints in some cases, but it's not immediately intuitive most of the time). With this button you know that the Heightfield Operators only work with Heightfield nodes. The last handy thing about using this button is that does, as I said, automatically connect the added operator where it needs to go. For example if you have the Heightfield Shader itself selected, it knows that the operator actually needs to connect *between* the heightfield load/generate node and its Heightfield Shader. And if you have the Heightfield Shader selected, it still puts it in the right place. In fact even if you have a Heightfield Operator like Heightfield Adjust Vertical selected and you attempt to add another one, it will still do the right thing. So it takes some of the confusion out of using these operators basically.
That model of contextually useful buttons and functions in the node list is mirrored for all the other layouts too. Look in the Objects layout and you a handy list of object types you can add, along with a quick button for adding from the library. Once again the functionality here is designed to streamline things for you. Of course there is a big old Library button right above this, but if you want to open an Object from the library you have to click that button, then expand the Type or Category items and select Objects to filter to just objects. Using the option from the button at top of the Objects node list takes you right to a pre-filtered list of only objects in the Library. It's a little thing, but it saves time and makes things easier. Then below the node list you'll find a Gear button for options, in this case some of these options are *only* available here under this button, so definitely worth knowing about. And then there's a Populate All button, which you may know is also available under the Project main menu.
The buttons under the Shader layout are a bit simpler but still handy in the context they provide and the way they connect nodes. You can Add Layer, which is fairly straightforward, showing especially the Surface Layer for quick access, but coming in TG 3.2 there will also be an option to add multiple Geog Image Map Shaders, and I believe that's the only button that does it; it opens a special multi-file open dialog. There is also an Add Child Layer button which only activates when you have a Surface Layer selected, again giving you context as to what kind of nodes can do this, and again automatically taking care of the node connection.
I'll leave it to you to explore the rest of the Node List functionality, things like the cloud presets in the Atmosphere tab (not available anywhere else, even in the Library)...
Basically the node list is an important part of an efficient workflow in TG3. Thinking that all work should be done in the Node Network is definitely going to make your work slower. The node network is useful but it is not a magic bullet or a tool that handles everything with equal grace. Sometimes lists, or at least the buttons that accompany them, are quite handy...
- Oshyan
