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Rendering · Finial

The recipe graph

How a recipe flows from Render to Final, and how to add, rewire, branch and remove blocks.

A recipe is a set of blocks joined by wires. The render enters at Render on the left, runs through each block in turn, and comes out at Final on the right. Final is what you export.

Every block shows a small preview of its own output, so you can see where in the chain a look comes from.

Look at one step #

Click a block. The big picture shows that block's output, and the side panel shows its settings. Click an empty spot in the graph to go back to showing Final.

Change a setting and the picture updates. Only that block and the ones after it run again.

Add a block #

  1. Click the block you want the new one to follow. (With nothing selected, it goes just before Final.)
  2. In the side panel, click one of the add buttons, like + Tone down or + People.

The new block is wired in right after the selected one, and the blocks after it shift right to make room.

Rewire #

Drag from the dot on a block's right side to the dot on another block's left side. An input takes one wire: a new wire into it replaces the old one.

A wire can't loop back to an earlier block. If you try, Finial says "That wire would loop the recipe back on itself."

To remove a wire, click it and press Delete or Backspace.

Branch and combine #

One block's output can feed several blocks. To bring two branches back together, use a Mix block: it has two inputs, A (the base) and B (laid over it). For example, the Pen & ink over the render template sends the render to a Pen & ink block and a Tone down block, then mixes the ink over the color.

See Mix.

Remove a block #

Select it and click the close button at the top of the side panel, or press Delete or Backspace in the graph. The blocks on either side are joined, so the recipe keeps flowing.

Render and Final can't be removed. A recipe has exactly one of each.

Move around the graph #

Drag a block to move it. Drag the empty background to pan, and use the zoom buttons in the graph's corner (or scroll) to zoom.

When a block can't run #

A block that can't run shows why on its card, for example "Waiting on an earlier block". If nothing reaches Final, the picture says what's missing, like "Connect something into Final."

Undo and redo in the bar at the top work on every recipe change.