User Manual

Automatically Creating a Merge Node When Adding Nodes
There’s a nice shortcut for connecting Merge nodes if you want to connect the incoming clip
immediately to your node tree as the top layer of a composite, and that’s to drag a clip from an
Operating System window or a Generator from the Effects Library right on top of any
connection line.
When you drop the resulting node, this automatically creates a Merge node, the background
input of which is connected to the next node to the left of the connection you dropped the clip
onto, and the foreground input of which is connected to the new node that represents the clip
or Generator you’ve just added.
Dragging a node from the Media Pool onto a connection (left),
and dropping it to create a Merge node composite (right).
Additionally, If you drag two or more nodes from an OS window into the Node Editor at the
same time, Merge nodes will be automatically created to connect them all, making this a fast
way to initially build a composite.
By dragging three nodes from an OS window to the Node Editor (left),
Merge nodes are automatically created to connect them all (right).
Automatically Creating a Merge Node
by Connecting Two Outputs
Here’s an endlessly useful shortcut for when you have a disconnected node that you want to
composite over another node. Drag a connection from the output of the node you want to be
the foreground layer, and drop it on top of the output of the node you want to be the
background layer, and a Merge node will be automatically created to build that composite.
Dragging a connection from a disconnected node to another node’s output
(left), and dropping it to create a Merge node composite (right).
Chapter – 56 Working in the Node Editor 1088