Cycles Shader Graph Editor

The Shader Graph Editor gives you full control over how Cycles renders your shader. Its interface should be somewhat familiar to anyone who has used the shader graph editor in Blender.

The Shader Graph Editor can be accessed through the Cycles Shader Graph materials.

Source code for the shader editor is available under the GPLv2+ license on GitHub.

Interface

Shader Graph Editor interface

File - Save to Max - Saves the current shader to your 3ds max material. You must save the shader before it can be rendered.

File - Save to file... - Saves the current shader to a file than can easily be shared with other users.

File - Load from file... - Load a file from the disk into this shader editor. Note that you must "Save to Max" after loading this way for the shader to be used.

Edit - Undo/Redo - Undo or redo recent changes to your graph.

Edit - Duplicate - Make a copy of all selected nodes and their connections.

Select - ... - Change the current selection of nodes.

View - Focus Selection - Centers the view on the currently selected nodes.

View - Focus Output - Centers the view on the single Output node.

Theme - ... - Change the color scheme of the editor.

Windows

Create Node Window - Used to add new nodes to the shader graph. Click a category name to expand that category and view the available nodes. Click a node type to select, then click on any open space to create a new node of the selected type.

Parameter Editor Window - This window is only visible when you have selected some parameter of a node. Here you can edit that parameter's value. This window will have a different appearance based on the type of the selected parameter.

Usage

Create Nodes - Click a node type in the node selection window, then click empty space to create a node of that type.

Move Nodes - Click and drag a node in the viewport to move the node.

Select Nodes - Click to select a single node. ctrl + click to add to your existing selection. shift + click to toggle selection of a node. Box selection is also available.

Create Connections - Click and drag from a node's output socket to begin making a connection. Release the mouse button over another node's input socket to complete the connection.

Change/Remove Connections - Click and drag from a node's connected input socket to begin rerouting the connection. Release the mouse button over empty space to delete the connection.

Pan the Viewport - Middle click and drag with your mouse to pan the viewport around. The arrow keys can also be used to pan the viewport.

Undo/Redo - Use ctrl + z and ctrl + y to undo or redo.

Save - Save the current graph to Max with ctrl + s.

Delete - Delete selected nodes with the delete key.