Is it possible to set which material output node is used?

Question

It is possible to have more than one the Material output node. As far as I have seen, only one of them will be used. Probably the first. Can it be changed?

I often use a second simple diffuse shader to get the output of a node in the middle of the network. Kind of like a viewer node, but with a material. With a simple way to switch the active output node, it could be made lots smoother.

Possible duplicate of Way of seeing data as image anywhere in a Cycles nodes setup? — gandalf3, Dec 23 '13 at 18:15
Thanks, I will take a look at Gregs addon. But I still want to have an answer. :-) — Gunslinger, Dec 23 '13 at 18:21

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 24 '13 at 05:04

3

I bet there's no way as simple as Greg's addon, currently. If you still chasing for another possible answer, try using Add Shader, hit M to mute one to show another. (Select them both then hit M will do a quicker switch)

enter image description here

Personally, I would recommend Greg's addon. Whatever, if this is what you want.

answered Dec 24 '13 at 05:04

Leon Cheung

27,718
11
89
161

Clever idea :) Another way might be to use a mix shader with a factor of 1 so the bottom slot is used, the when needed mute the mix shader so the top slot is used. The only problem with this is that it is awkward to switch between more than two shaders. – gandalf3 Dec 24 '13 at 06:47

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:57

1

I think that the best way to do this is with this addon written by Greg Zaal, see this post.

However, after fiddling around a bit I found that the active material output node is the one that has not been selected for the longest time.

For example, say that the red shader (by shader I mean the material output node) is currently active in a node setup like this:

enter image description here

To make the green material output active:

Select the green material output
Select the blue material output again, so the green shader has now been unselected for the longest (not counting the red shader).
Select the red shader. The green material output will now be active.

To make the blue material output active:

Select the green shader
Select the red shader (the currently active material output). The currently active shader is now the blue material output.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:57

Community

1

answered Dec 23 '13 at 18:37

gandalf3

157,169
58
601
1,133

That's weird... – Matt Dec 23 '13 at 18:43
@Matt ikr :P I would have thought the last selected Material output node would be active, but no.. – gandalf3 Dec 23 '13 at 18:49
For some reason, this doesn't work for me. :-/ – Gunslinger Dec 24 '13 at 14:15
@Gunslinger Strange.. What OS/blender version? This could be a bug.. – gandalf3 Dec 24 '13 at 21:31
Windows 7 and 2.69 64bit. – Gunslinger Dec 25 '13 at 08:13
@Gunslinger Now it appears you must disconnect and reconnect instead of selecting.. Strange.. I was positive it was working for me the other day? Anyway, I think I will file a bug report in a bit. – gandalf3 Dec 28 '13 at 00:14
Yes, the last one that was the only one connected is the active one. – Gunslinger Dec 28 '13 at 08:45

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 21 '14 at 19:22

1

This behavior has been changed as of this commit. From the commit log:

Now it uses the last activated node like compositing does. This should have no effect on existing files until you activate another output node there.

answered Jan 21 '14 at 19:22

gandalf3

157,169
58
601
1,133

Is it possible to set which material output node is used?

3 Answers3