User guide

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3. In the Conditional Visibility Options window, click on the icon to choose the user parameter to test
against, and select the pop-up menu from the list.
4. Repeat the process above for the second Color, RGB widget, and the Arnold entry in the pop-up menu.
If you select the group’s > Finish Editing User Parameters, and view the completed Group node’s
Parameters tab, only one color widget at a time displays in the group’s Parameters tab. Which one that is, is
dependent on the value chosen in the pop-up menu.
Super Tools
Super Tools are compound nodes where the internal structure of nodes is dynamically created using Python
scripting. This means that the internal nodes can be created and deleted depending on the user's actions, as well as
modifications to the connections between nodes and any input or output ports. The UI that a Super Tool shows in
the Parameters tab can be completely customized using PyQt, including the use of signals and slots to create
callbacks based on user actions. To help with this, we have a special arrangement with Riverbank Computing - the
creators of PyQt - allowing us to give user access to the same PyQt that The Foundry uses internally in Katana.
Many of Katana’s common user level nodes (such as the Importomatic, Gaffer and LookFileManager) are actually
Super Tools created out of more atomic nodes. It can be useful to look inside existing Super Tool nodes and macros
to get a better understanding of how they work. If you Ctrl+middle-click on a suitable node, you open up its internal
Node Graph.
In general, Super Tools consist of:
• A Python script written using the Katana NodegraphAPI that declares how the Super Tool creates its internal
network.
• A Python script using PyQt that declares how the Super Tool creates its UI in the Parameters tab.
13 GROUPS, MACROS, AND SUPER TOOLS | SUPER TOOLS