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Version: 5.x

Material Editor Toolbar and Shortcuts

Introduction

This guide walks through the various toolbar buttons available in Material Editor, and lists all keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac.

In Lens Studio you can find the Material Editor window under Window > Panels > Material Editor, if it's not already shown in your layout.

Toolbar

The Material Editor toolbar provides some useful tools for creating custom materials.

Add Node Button (Tab)

Opens the Add Node menu, which allows you to browse through all available nodes and add them to your graph. This menu can also be opened using the Tab hotkey. Typing a node name while this menu is open will filter the results and let you quickly find the node you're looking for.

Snap to Grid Button

Enables or disables grid snapping, which snaps node positions to a grid when moving them around. This can make it easier to lay nodes out in an organized way.

Sub-Graph Button

Creates a new Sub-Graph encapsulating all selected nodes. Note that this feature is only available when at least one node is selected, and all selected nodes are allowed in Sub-Graphs. Parameter nodes and the Shader node are not allowed in Sub-Graphs.

Comment Button

Creates a comment group around any selected nodes. This is useful for documenting or organizing a graph.

Reset View Button

Resets the zoom level to 100% and positions the view to center on all nodes.

Mini-View Button

Toggles the Mini-View window, which shows a zoomed out view of the full graph and can be used to quickly navigate.

Preview Button

Toggles the Preview view, which shows a preview of how the material looks on a primitive mesh.

Graph Navigator

Provides a quick way to switch between graph materials and the sub-graphs inside them. The leftmost dropdown box shows a list of all graph materials in the project, and selecting any of them will switch to that graph. Any sub-graphs present in the current graph will show up in a dropdown to the right, and selecting one will jump into that sub-graph. This continues recursively for any sub-graphs nested within sub-graphs.

MacWindows
Pan ViewRight Click + DragMiddle Click + DragCtrl + Click + DragRight Click + DragMiddle Click + Drag
ZoomScroll Wheel Scroll Wheel 
Enter Sub-graphReturniReturni
Exit Sub-graphEscapeReturn + ShiftoEscapeReturn + Shifto
Center Viewhh
Fit View to All Nodesff
Fit View to Selected NodesShift + fShift + f
Select All Connected Nodes to LeftLeftLeft
Select All Connected Nodes to RightRightRight

Information Shortcuts

MacWindows
Cycle to Next View Mode (on selected)Up/DownUp/Down
Toggle Preview (on selected)pp
Toggle Info and Statsqq
Toggle Mini-viewmm
Create Comment GroupCmd + bCtrl + b

Manipulation Shortcuts

MacWindows
Delete Selected NodesDeleteBackspaceDeleteBackspace
Delete Selected, Auto-reconnectShift + DeleteShift + Delete
Open "Add New Node" MenuTabTab
Show Context MenuRight ClickRight Click
Insert Node in Existing ConnectionShift + Drag NodeShift + Drag Node
Remove Node from ConnectionShift + Drag NodeShift + Drag Node
Draw Line to Erase ConnectionsShift + Click + DragShift + Click + Drag
Create Sub-graphCmd + gCtrl + g
Duplicate Selected NodesCmd + dCtrl + d
Copy Selected NodesCmd + cCtrl + c
Paste Copied NodesCmd + vCtrl + v
Cut Selected NodesCmd + xCtrl + x
UndoCmd + zCtrl + z
Redo Cmd + Shift + zCmd + yCtrl + Shift + zCtrl + y
Abort Current ActionEscapeEscape
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