Layer
Tap a layer's content and wire a track matte. Promote it, or assign it to a scene, to composite as its own layer; the matte mode is set in the layer manager.
What it does
Layer is the compositing handle for a single layer in a stack. Content takes an image, a shape or a collection, and passes it straight through unchanged. What the node adds is what a layer needs to sit in a stack: an order index, opacity, blend mode, an optional track matte, and, when the layer is promoted or belongs to a scene, a camera.
Rasterize bakes the layer's content into a real image that can feed another node or a feedback loop. Off, the layer stays live: shapes and collections keep their true form and are still read downstream by anything that wants position or orientation.
When to use it
Giving a piece of content a place in the layer stack: order, opacity, blend mode.
Keying one layer's visibility off another's alpha or brightness, with a track matte wired in.
Choosing the camera for a 3D scene layer, or driving that choice from the graph rather than a dropdown.
Baking a layer's content down to a real image for use elsewhere in the graph.
| Parameter | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
content | Color Field or Volume or Primitives or Collection | — | Layer content — this layer alone (Content layers; leave unconnected for Scene/Adjustment) |
matte | Raster | — | Track matte — its Alpha/Luma keys this layer (set the mode here or in the layer manager) |
camera_wire | Camera3D | — | Scene camera wire — a wired Camera3D selects this scene's camera (alternative to the dropdown) |
layer_index | Number | 1 | Layer stack index — drives the layer's order (mirrors the layer manager) |
opacity | Number | 1 | Layer opacity — how transparent this layer is when composited |
strength | Number | 1 | Effect strength / bypass — 0 passes the input through, 1 is full effect |
blend_mode | String | "Over" | Compositing blend mode |
matte_mode | String | "None" | Track-matte keying mode — keys this layer on the matte's Alpha or Luma. One of: None, Alpha, Luma. |
matte_invert | Boolean | false | Invert the track matte |
camera | String | "default" | Scene camera — Default (viewport) or a Camera3D node in this scene |
matte_source | String | "" | Track-matte source layer — pick a sibling layer to key this one (alternative to wiring matte) |
rasterize | Boolean | false | Off: the layer stays live (composited as its own unit). On: bake the layer's content to a real raster that lives in the scene and can feed downstream nodes / feedback loops. |
position | Vec3 | (0, 0, 0) | Translation (X, Y, Z) |
rotation | Vec3 | (0, 0, 0) | Rotation in degrees (X, Y, Z) |
scale | Vec3 | (1, 1, 1) | Scale (X, Y, Z) |
anchor | Vec3 | (0, 0, 0) | Pivot offset (X, Y, Z) — rotation/scale orbit this point |
Gotchas
Content can be left unconnected on purpose. A Scene or Adjustment layer draws its content from its membership, the layers below it, so there is nothing to wire.
The Matte-Source dropdown picks a sibling layer by name as the track matte instead of wiring one in, which suits quick reordering experiments. If picking a sibling does not visibly key the layer yet, wire the matte directly into the Matte input instead.
Opacity and Strength do different jobs. Opacity is the composite-time transparency of the whole layer. Strength is a wet/dry mix of this node's own effect against its incoming content, where 0 is fully passed through.
Matte mode and invert live in the layer manager, or on this node's params, which stay in sync with it. Wiring a different track matte does not change the matte's keying behaviour while the mode is still set to None.
Worked example
Add a Layer and wire your content into Content.
Promote the node, or assign it to a scene, so it composites as its own layer in the stack.
Set Blend Mode and Opacity for how it sits over the layers below.
Wire an image into Matte and set the matte mode in the layer manager to key this layer's visibility off it.
For a 3D scene layer, pick a camera from the dropdown, or wire a camera node into the Camera wire input to drive it from the graph.
Turn on Rasterize to bake this layer's content into a real image you can pass to another node.