Manipulating the Scene Graph

Katana's Scene Graph tab is designed to work with scenes of almost unlimited complexity by only displaying the elements of the scene graph that are needed. By default the scene graph starts with its locations collapsed, so only /root is visible.

Selecting and Deselecting Locations

To select multiple scene graph locations:

Select the first location.

Shift+click a second location.

Katana selects both locations and all in-between locations that are visible within the scene graph.

Select the first location.

Ctrl+click the locations to add.

To select the parent of the selected location(s):

Right-click on the selected location(s).

Select Select > Select Parents.

To select the children of the selected location(s):

Right-click on the selected location(s).

Select Select > Select Children.

To select the leaves of the selected location(s):

Right-click on the selected location(s).

Select Select > Select Visible Leaves.

To invert the selection with its siblings:

Right-click on the selected location(s).

Select Select > Invert Selection.

To select the material location assigned to the currently selected location:

Select a location with a materialAssign attribute.

Right-click on the selected location.

Select Select > Select Assigned Material Location.

Katana selects the location of the material that is assigned at this location. That material location is stored in the materialAssign attribute.

To deselect a location, Ctrl+click on the location.

Selecting Locations with the Search Facility

Katana scene graphs can get extremely complicated. To make it easy to find the location you need, Katana has a search facility.

To use the search facility:

Click

to bring up the search dialog.

To narrow the search results you can:

• Select the type of locations to search for in the dropdown at the top of the dialog (Selected, Pinned, Cameras, Lights, and All), or

• Type text in the Filter field to narrow the search to only include locations with matching text.

• Search for nodes by their Name or Type by switching between the two options in the dropdown next to Filter.

To select a location, select its path within the dialog.

To select all the locations displayed in the dialog, click Select All Matching.

Note: Only locations that are exposed within the scene graph are searched.

The Type filter also filters nodes by their nodeType. When dealing with renderer-specific nodes, such as Shading Nodes, the node’s Type may not be the same as its NodeType. For example, the Type for a DlPrincipled Node is DlShadingNode, while its nodeType is dlPrincipled. The Type parameter defines the node as being a 3Delight node, while the nodeType defines what the node’s function is within a shading network. Seeing a node’s nodeType allows you to quickly see which Shading Nodes are present in your shading network and how they may be contributing. This applies to any shading nodes belonging to third party render vendors such as Arnold, USD or RenderMan.

Expanding the Scene Graph

To expand the Scene Graph completely below a location:

Right-click on the location to expand.

Select Expand All.

Warning: Use with caution on big scenes as it can be time consuming to expand the entire scene graph.

Assemblies, components, and lod-group (level of detail group) locations are special locations designed to help organize complicated scene graphs. They are explained in greater depth at Making Use of Different Location Types and Proxies.

To expand the Scene Graph to a limited level:

Right-click on the location to expand.

Select the level of the scene graph to expose:

• Expand To > assembly, component or lod-group

Expands the scene graph from the selected location until it reaches either an assembly, component, or lod-group location. If none are found down a scene graph branch, it expands to the leaf location. This is the same as double-clicking a scene graph location.

• Expand To > component

Expands the scene graph until it reaches a component location. If none are found down a scene graph branch, it expands to the leaf location.

• Expand To > assembly

Expands the scene graph until it reaches an assembly location. If none are found down a scene graph branch, it expands to the leaf location.

• Expand To > lod-group

Expands the scene graph until it reaches an lod-group location. If none are found down a scene graph branch, it expands to the leaf location.

• Expand To > Viewer Visibility

Expands the scene graph until it reaches a Viewer Visibility working set location with a non-empty state.

• Expand To > Render

Expands the scene graph until it reaches a Render working working set location with a non-empty state.

• Expand To > Live Render Updates

Expands the scene graph until it reaches a Live Render Updates working set location with a non-empty state.

Note: You can also right-click on a location and select Expand To and Select Proxy Children to reveal scene graph locations that provide proxy data.

To expand the Scene Graph location to only one level:

• Click next to the location name.

Right-click on the location to expand.

Select Expansion > Open.

Collapsing the Scene Graph

To collapse a location and all its children:

Right-click on the location to collapse.

Select Close All.

To collapse a Scene Graph location:

• Click next to the location name.

Right-click on the location to collapse.

Select Expansion > Close.

To collapse the Scene Graph completely:

• Right-click on /root and select Close All.

• Click > Clear Scene Graph State.

This option doesn't just clear the scene graph, it also clears your selection and pins from the scene graph.