Packed channels in the node flow

Hello,

There are some shortcuts that can help keep things tidy when workin in graphs. In the case of  a 'common root node', as @davescm suggested you can use a Dot node, which is easily created using the Alt key. The same key lets you merge links using that node. Learn more about the Dot node here.

Additionally, when working with full materials you can use the Compact Material link creation mode, which collapses together connectors which belong to a same group, as well as connected inputs and outputs based on matching usages. See below a comparison of Standard, Material and Compact Material link creation modes.

The team actively discusses what we can do to accelerate workflows in our graphs, and your feedback is useful in that regard!

Best regards.

Yeah, Blender way is still one click fewer usually.  Especially when you alredy have necessary node nearby  you just shift+D to slide a copy over  other connection line.     Not looking through a long favorite list , type names  etc  in Designer. 

  And that ALt+shift drag  in SD  sometimes just doesn't work at first try , or laggy .  

Blender  soon gonna be  known  to evry school student in the world  and in all honesty in many regards it's so much more convenient than so called pro software.  My guess it's a power of evolution and natural selection there.   Should to be industry standard IMO.

And about material nodes lines  I also try to work in height channel mostly   but once it comes to compositing several materials into single texture; asphalt/dirt/ grass/curbstone   etc . scattering  fallen leaves , small details    it's where it starts to be monstrously inconvenient .  It's getting slow , nodes  starts to glitch .   Any shift and crop in transform nodes  makes  material blurrier and blurrier . I had to write special  formulas  to shift  material to say exactly 2 pixels  or crop it to exact pixel size without re-interpolating  but it involves inputting  previouce node size  in pixels usually .     It all doable   but  so prone to mistakes and weird glitches  I prefer Affinity Photo  to composite ready materials  or doind height blend  of them, thanks to its advanced layer system. 

Can't stand Sampler either.

When designing materials, I tend to avoid that macaroni look by working almost exclusively in gray until I reach the end of the graph. So I work on the height channel and, only when that is sorted, take the other channel feeds from there.

By using Frames and Dot nodes, and where appropriate sub graphs, it keeps things logical.

'auto connecting when you put a node over a line' - You are right in thatSD does not do this with nodes already in the graph, but by highlighting a line and hitting spacebar, your new node will be added in that line.

'Shift Right drag make a shared root point' - is that really easier that Right click and add dot node (or quicker still assigning dot node to a shortcut key then clicking the line and pressing that shortcut key)?

'Ctrl+Right click to kill a line' - Is that quicker than click and delete?

Dave