Layer Manager
Tap each scene and layer as its own image alongside the final composite. This is the node form of the Layer Manager panel and the inverse of the Composite node.
What it does
Layer Manager exposes a socket for every layer or scene unit currently in the graph, plus one socket for the final composite, without each layer being wired in by hand. Each tap is a live, isolated render of that one unit, matching what isolating it in the viewport shows. The final composite tap matches the viewport's combined result, all units in stack order.
With Content disconnected it taps the whole ambient scene: the layers and scene units already present in the graph. Wire something into Content to composite a specific set instead. Layer Manager is a downstream, Export-facing view onto the scene and never drives the live viewport preview. It is the inverse of Composite, which merges wired inputs into one, where Layer Manager splits the ambient scene back into its parts.
When to use it
Exporting every layer as a separate image alongside the final composite in one pass. Wire the taps into Export.
Per-layer preview without rebuilding the composite by hand for each one.
The final combined image without wiring every layer into a Composite node.
| Parameter | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
content | Any | Collection(AttributedCollection { col... |
tap_count | Number | 1 |
strength | Number | 1 |
Gotchas
Changing what the viewport itself shows is a scene and viewport concern, not this node.
The number of taps tracks the live layer and scene count automatically and is not set by hand. Add or remove a layer and the taps update to match. No empty tap remains for a layer that no longer exists.
A tap costs a render only when something downstream reads it. An unwired tap costs nothing.
Worked example
Add a Layer Manager node with nothing wired into Content. It picks up the full ambient scene automatically.
Look at the per-layer taps it exposes, one per layer or scene unit, and the final composite output.
Wire the taps required, plus the final composite if needed, into an Export node for per-layer output alongside the combined image.