b°wide NodePack – NodeGroups for Blender Cycles and Compositor

Here is my hand picked selection of NodeGroups i’ve created over the past 2-3 years. There’s everything, from simple little Tools, Materials, UberShaders to Compositing. Some are made quickly, on some i spent countless hours.

With this first release i’ve put together some information about every NodeGroup. Not too much, but mainly what the NodeGroup is supposed to do. I think it’s important to get a quick start on them, cause really, some of them might seem confusing (even for me 😉 by just looking at it.

I’ve taken quite some time to re-check everything, set usable and good defaults and to make them as easy as possible.

All of those NodeGroups are made by me, with the exception of the CondFresnel in the Metal-Kn.

I always try to not let them break energy conservation – so they should be safe to use in any circumstances.

My future plan is to pick some of them and explain in detail what they are doing. And this is where i need your support. Since this all takes a lot of work, and there are so many NodeGroups to choose from, i need you to tell me, about which NodeGroup/s you want to know more, please leave a comment bellow.

I honestly hope you enjoy them, learn from them, use them and show us the results here. If you have ideas for further NodeGroups or any questions, please let me know.

Lastly, it really takes a lot of time doing this, so if you find them useful please consider a donation.

Update: It now is Public Domain. Free to use for anything.



To the extent possible under law, Sebastian “bashi” Röthlisberger

has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to

b°wide NodePack. This work is published from: Switzerland.

DOWNLOAD (as 7z)

DOWNLOAD (as .blend)

as a bonus here my Startup.blend. Make this your default Blender startup if you like (ctrl+u).

For install and manage NodeGroups see my Post here.

Update 16.Okt 2013: Fixed the Defocus_Bokeh

Cycles:

UberShader

Name: DSBA_Mixer(Auto)

Function: Diffuse, Specular, Bump and Alpha Mixer

Note: This Node has Automatic switch built in. If Specular or Bump Color has no Input it uses the Diffuse Color for them. Means you can use just one (Diffuse) Input Image and generate Specular and Bump from that.

Name: MultiShader

Function: Easy access to all Cycles Shader in one NodeGroup. Automatic weighting of output to 1.

Shader

Name: Car3Layer

Function: Shiny Car Shader with Sprinkles. With Lack Absortion and Color Shift.

Name: Glass Unified

Function: Unified Glass Shader, from Architecture to Acrylic Plastic

Note: Includes Fake Caustics (Enable Shadows in Properties – Render – Light Paths!), Dispersion, Absorbtion

Name: Plastic III

Function: Plastic Shader, usable for a wide range of Materials

Note: Includes Translucent and SSS

Name: Paper

Function: 2-Sided translucent Paper

Name: Chrome(brushed)

Name: Ceramic

Note: Interior & Exterior

Name: Carpet

Function: Carpet Shader for Hair/Strand

Note: Takes Images as Color (reduce Noise below 0!)

Name: WoodP

Function: High-Res Procuderal Wood Texture

Note: Use Global Mapping for scaling (inside NodeGroup)

Name: Wood(from Image)

Function: Material for 1 Wood image.

Name: Soap Bubble

Name: Galvanized Steel

Name: CarbonIV

Function: Carbon Shader with Coating.

Note: Check Texture Coordinate inside, default is Generated, you might change it to UV.

Name: FabricII

Function: Fabric Shader

Check! + Leaf II

Name: Leaf

Function: Leaf Shader

Special

Name: HDRPortalLighting

Function: Portal Lightning Glass. Uses HDR/Image for Lighting.

Note: Background Image INSIDE! Works on Mesh & Lights!

Ex. Usage: Use this instead of Glass for Windows.

Presets

Name: SSS Presets BI

Function: ported values for SSS from BI presets

Shader Additions:

Name: Coat II

Function: Realistic Coating. From Shiny Glossy to Dull.

Note: Allows fine Control over Gloss and coupled Roughness.

Tip: Plug Image to Edge Gloss.

Name: Scratches

Function: Add Scratches to a Shader based on an Image.

Name: Dirt

Function: Add Dirt to a Shader based on an Image.

World Shader

Name: Background Control

Function: Node Group for Blender Cycles to control a HDR (or Image) Background. Allows to Control strength and color individually for Lights and Environment.

Note: Background Image INSIDE!

Name: B_Hemi

Function: Very close match to BI Hemisphere Lighting.

Image Loaders

Name: ImageBox

Function: Loads an Image, with Scale control, Box or UV

Note: Make Instance before Use! Load Image inside (ImageTexture, there are two, one for Vector Generated and one for UV)

Name: RandomImageBox

Function: Loads an Image, add Noise Offset (pseudo Random), with Scale control, Box or UV

Note: Make Instance before Use! Load Image inside ([h RImage], there are two, one for Vector Generated and one for UV).

Use the Mapping inside for more control over the Image!

Value/Color Editing

Name: ImageBlur

Function: Blur an Image by bluring the Vector through Noise.

Ex. Usage: Put before Image Vector Input.

Name: Metal-Kn

Function: Outputs Realistic Color for common Metals based on Fresnel calculation with k n.

Note: Thanks to the guy that made this NodeSetup, i found it on blenderartists.org (i think), so all thanks to him. I just looked up some values for Metals and put them into a usable NodeGroup. [CondFresnel] NodeGroup inside.

Ex. Usage: Plug output to Shader Glossy BSDF

Name: NanometerColor

Function: Output Color according to Wavelength (390-700) or 0-1 (set Nanometer to 390 for 0-1)

Name: FresnelRoughness

Function: Control Roughness by Fresnel

Ex. Usage:

Name: LightColor_Presets

Function: Output RGB Color for common Light sources.

Name: RGB255-Color

Function: Converts RGB Color with range 0-255 to Blender RGB 0-1.

Name: Selector

Function: Output 1 on given “Channel” if inputs match Value.

Note: Includes [Output 1 if input is equal Value] NodeGroup

Name: Output 1 if input is equal Value

Name: Selector0-1

Function: Color/Image Switcher with 12 Channels. Ideal to save Colors or fast switch Images.

Name: Random Selector

Function: Outputs “random” (predefined) Color/Image per Object

Note: Includes [RangeCut] NodeGroup

Name: RayLength

Function: Simulates absorbtion in Glass

Ex. Usage: Plug [RayLength] Color to Shader Glass BSDF Color.

Helpers

Name: Range

Function: Map input Values to range (same as range in Vector Mapping)

Name: RangeCut

Function: Outputs 1 if Input within Min/Max

Compositor:

Image Edit

Name: PassCombine

Function: Combines Cycles Render Passes

Name: PassCombineDeNoiser

Function: Combines Cycles Render Passes & Denoise Channels based on Normals (Bilateral Blur)

Note: enable Render Normal!

Tip: Try FireFlyReducer_IV on Indirect Passes before PassCombineDeNoiser.

Name: UnsharpMask(fast)

Function: Sharpening an Image by Unsharp Mask (USM)

Name: UnsharpMask(NoiseAware)

Function: Sharpening an Image by Unsharp Mask (USM) with Noise reduction.

Name: SaturationYUV

Function: Worlds better than Blenders Saturation for Video Files!

Name: Firefly Reducer

Function: Reducing FireFlys – Cycles “Hot Pixels” with low Render passes.

Name: WBIII

Function: White Balance

Note: Set WB Color (Color Picker) to Mid-Bright Light. Mute (m) WBIII to take that Color Sample!

Input isSkin: set this to 1 to take WB Color from bright Skin. Helpful in cases where you need WB but have no Gray in Image but Person.

This ones still under construction! It can blow your RGB Values out the Sky!

Includes [Average Color] NodeGroup.

Name: WBII (Tanner)

Function: White Balance, Algorithm from http://www.tannerhelland.com

Name: ShadowCompositor

Function: Composit Shadows on White in Image.

Note: Use Curves Inside!

Name: ChannelMixer

Function: Convert Color Image to BW

Note: Node Groups ChannelMixer(Color) and ChannelMixer(Value) inside. Just two different Way of control Channel Mixer.

Name: ContrastByPower

Function: Influence Contrast by Power function.

Name: ShadowRecover

Function: Brighten up Shadows.

Name: ShiftCorrection

Function: Correct Image for Shift distortion.

Color Generators

Name: Kelvin (Tanner)

Function: Output Color for Kelvin Value

see: Kelvin Algorithm from http://www.tannerhelland.com

Helpers

Name: Scale

Function: Crop & Scale & Transform Images. I use this one a lot for Previews, to make the Compositor much faster to work on.

Ex. Usage: As first Node right after Image Node for Preview.

Name: Split Mixer

Function: Split two Input Images to One for Comparison, X or Y, 50%

Name: ShowOverLimit

Function: Display/Warning for Colors out of Limit (RGB). (default 0.922 is 235 as for Broadcast)

Name: 601/709 Converter

Function: Convert REC 601 Color Space to REC 709 and vice versa

Name: Average Color

Function: Returns Average Color of Input Image (As best as Blender allows.. with Blur and some more)

Name: FrameON/OFF

Function: Outputs 1 if current frame is between Start/On and End frame.

Ex. Usage: Connect Off/On output to Mix Fac.

Name: Scale Image to Ref. Image

Function: Resize an Image to the size of another one.

Name: ColorSampler

Function: Sample the color of a specifed area in image.

Z Depth Related

Name: Defocus_Bokeh

Function: Defocus image based on Z Depth value using Blenders Bokeh Blur

Note: Set Focal Length to Blender Camera Focal Length (paste this to Defocus_Bokeh – Focal Length: “#bpy.context.scene.camera.data.lens” – without “” – to set a driver to Blender Camera Focal Length). Further Bokeh edit inside NodeGroup. You might lower the Bokeh Blur – Max Blur inside NodeGroup for high F/Stop to speed up calculations. Tip: Get Focus Distance from Color Picker on Z Depth (only to 1!).

Name: Z Adjust

Function: Adjust Focus Point in Compositor

Input Camera: Input here the 3D Camera Focus Distance

New Z: Set here the new Focus Distance

Ex. Usage: Render Layer Z – [Z Adjust] – Defocus

Note: You can use the Vector – Map Value (Offset) for similar Effect.

Name: Z Focus Finder

Function: Shows Z Distance, output either 0-Distance, or Distance +-Range

Name: Z Tilt

Function: Try to Simulate Tilt Effect for Depth of Field

Ex. Usage: Render Layer Z – [Z Tilt] – Defocus

Name: Z Ranger

Function: Output Z Range for Compositing

Ex. Usage: Render Layer Z – [Z Ranger] – Mix Fac