[Bf-funboard] Automatic Shader set-ups

[Jason van Gumster]

Knapp <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 4:12 PM, Jason van Gumster <
> jason at handturkeystudios.com> wrote:
> 
> >
> > Knapp <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I have thought about just that but in this case I still think that when
> > we
> > > add a mix node it should not default to none, none.
> >
> > While I'm all for good general presets, I'm personally not a fan of that
> > idea
> > because that's not how I (and a number of other people I'm sure) use the
> > Mix
> > Shader node. Mixing Diffuse and Gloss does happen, of course, but I find
> > myself
> > mixing with a Transparent shader quite a bit... probably more often. If I
> > had
> > to delete unwanted Diffuse and Gloss nodes each time I add a Mix, I'd be
> > pretty
> > unhappy. I chose "Mix Shader" from the Add menu... not "Mix Shader and
> > Other
> > Stuff". That's what a group node is for.
> >
> >   -Jason
> >
> 
> I hear you and that is also why I asked. On the other hand, you still need
> to change it from none to something so why not from something to something
> else? What do you normally model?
> 
Because when I work with Cycles materials, I'm typically doing it from the node
editor... and one of the nodes I want to mix is typically already there. So the
workflow are the following steps:

  1. Add Mix Shader node, drag it to the noodle after an existing shader
       for an auto-connect
  2. Add another shader node (transparent, gloss, etc.)
  3. Connect that to the remaining input on the Mix channel

Compare this to what would need to be done if the Mix Shader node always came
with Diffuse and Glossy already connected:

  1. Add Mix Shader node
  2. Select extraneous Diffuse and Glossy nodes
  3. Delete extraneous Diffuse and Glossy nodes
  4. Drag Mix Shader node to a noodle after an existing shader for an auto
       connect
  5. Add another shader node (transparent, gloss, etc.)
  6. Connect that to the remaining input of the Mix channel

So not only is having those additional shaders connected violating user
expectation (Add > Mix Shader means "add mix shader" not "add mix shader and
other stuff"), but it's also slower.

  -Jason