Core Concepts
Node Graph Concepts
Socket types, why frames get written to disk, and the shortcuts that speed up building graphs.
Dope Track uses its own node tree type. Pick Dope Track from the tree selector at the
top of any Node Editor.
Frames Get Written To Disk
Processing nodes work on image sequences, and those sequences are real files sitting in a folder.
Footage -> Convert Footage -> [frames written to disk]
-> Import as Footage -> new Footage node
Some nodes have no output socket at all. Convert Footage and Stabilize write frames,
then give you an Import as Footage button. Press it and you get a fresh Footage node
pointing at what was just written. Lens Distortion gives you both: a normal
Image Sequence output, and the button if you'd rather have a clip.
It feels like an extra click at first. The payoff is that every node downstream reads the real files, at their real resolution, format and frame numbers. Nothing is guessing about output that might not exist yet.
Socket Types
Links only connect sockets of the same type, so the colors tell you what fits where.
| Socket | What it carries |
|---|---|
Video | A movie file, straight from a Footage node |
Image Sequence | Frames on disk, which is what most heavy nodes want |
Images | A folder of stills, for photogrammetry and lens calibration |
Manual Tracks | Markers you placed by hand in Blender |
Mask Frames | A mask sequence, rendered or AI-generated |
Lens Data | Focal length and distortion values |
Auto Track | A full solve: cameras plus point cloud |
Camera Data | Just the camera motion |
Object Data | A solved moving object |
Mesh | Reconstructed geometry |
Faster Ways To Build
Drag and search. Drag from any socket and let go over empty space. You get a search list of every node that can connect to it. Pick one and it appears already wired up.
Reroutes. Hold Shift and drag with the right mouse button across a wire to drop in
a reroute. It picks up the color of the wire it sits on, and nodes read straight through
it.
Lazy connect. Hold Ctrl + Shift and drag with the left mouse button from one node
onto another. Every matching socket pair connects at once.
Where Files Go
Nodes write their output next to your source footage, in a folder named after the node and a hash of its settings. Change a setting and you get a new folder. Change it back and the old result is still sitting there.
The Files panel in the node editor sidebar lists all of it, shows what your current file still uses, and lets you delete the rest. Handy after a long session of trying things.
Node Width
Drag a node's edge to resize it. Messages and warnings inside the node wrap to whatever width you pick, so a wider node fits long text on fewer lines.