3D view updated to the nodeView selected ( like Nuke / Houdini )

[shangu]

Hi

It is more a question related to building efficiency.

Is there a way to refresh the 3D only for a specific node selected ( like the Nuke Viewer pointing on a node ) and occlulting the rest of the graph,  displaying the level of transformation of the selected graph stage only ? 

I have some problem to work precisely on some part of a graph without breaking the link ? 
may be i miss secret feature ? 

thanks, shangu

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi shangu,

Great question.  

The 3D preview reflects the entire node network, so in order to isolate a single node, you would have to disable all the downstream nodes from the "specific" node.  

You can manually deselect nodes by selecting them in the Node Network pane and pressing the "d" key.  This may not be the most efficient workflow, and there are certain nodes that may rely on downstream nodes for their final output.  For example, the Power Fractal v3 shader has a parameter to "Obey downstream smoothing filters".

It may also be possible to write a script which uses Terrgen RPC to automatically disable nodes downstream from the selected node, and even re-enable them.

[shangu]

Thank you Kevin 

i understand, with d as disable you can switch off stages.
It is more a question of general design for nodal network ergonomy.

ergonomy to speed up, i want to isolate a node processing too much to track it down or simply build more progressively the graph ( newbie ).

 a better knowlegde and practice can solve issue.

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi Shangu,

Perhaps this is more of what you're referring to?  Many of the nodes have the ability to show their current state in a preview window of their own.  In the image below, I've clicked on the Power Fractal v3 node to open its window, then clicked on the "Open shader preview in new window button" near the top of the window.  This opens a small preview window showing just the terrain.  You can rotate the view in 3d space and zoom in and out as well.