OutlinerNodes is a Node-based scene organization tool for Blender — inspired by VFX and Animation productions, and built for artists.

The goal of this add-on is to help you stop rebuilding the same collection structure, constantly jumping between render layers and object hierarchies, and adjusting the same parameters by hand on every shot. OutlinerNodes brings a Katana/Gaffer/Houdini -style node graph to Blender's outliner: define how your scene should be organized once, then apply it - to this scene, or the next one, or a hundred of them.

What it's not: it won't make cool renders for you (you’re an artist and this is just the tool).

What it is: It's the tool you reach for to make the most boring part fun - the thing that makes your scenes clean enough to render and navigate them once you open them months later. OutlinerNodes is a modular, reusable system for organizing scenes at any scale. One layer or a hundred, one shot or a whole show — the same graph scales with you.

Key Features

• Node-based filtering — a powerful pattern language that lets you procedurally select exactly what you want.
• Render layer management — create, and configure view layers directly in the graph without jumping between them.
• Reusable node groups — package a filtering/organization pattern once, instance it anywhere, nest it as deep as you need.
• Element library — save a selection of nodes as a reusable snippet and drop it into any project from a shared library.
• Snapshots — capture and restore graph or outliner states, so nothing is ever a one-way operation.
• Non-destructive — the graph describes intent; nothing changes in your scene until you press Apply.
• Cross-platform — built and verified for consistent behavior on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Built For

Artists and teams managing scenes that are far past the point of manual organization.

Disclaimer

The add-on is in active development and most certainly has some bugs. There is a chance that at some point it may present unexpected behavior. If you encountered something that is not there by design, please DON’T PANIC. First check your graph (70% of the issues I had so far were because of the wrong sequence of operations), and if it’s actually broken report with the full description of the issue and a graph snapshot.

OutlinerNodes future development fully depends on your Suggestions and Support. At the moment all implemented features are based on my production needs and experience. If there’s something you think should be included please use the suggestion form and potentially it’ll make it into the upcoming releases.

And last but not least. The add-on includes some AI-generated code. Otherwise it would take me years to finish. I’m currently working on it solo while balancing a full-time job and family. If OutlinerNodes gains traction and/or funding, I’m planning to hire actual developers for help. As of now, it’s just me writing new futures when I have time, running it through the agent, and fixing things afterward. It also handles test automation and audits to make sure the consistency.