Resolved Keyboard shortcuts are an essential and missing feature.

This has been brought up many many times.

Could we please have some keyboard shortcuts, like every other big boy shader editor since 2010?

1,2,3,4,5 -> Vectors/Colours
M - Mulitply
O - One Minus
S - Subtract
A - Add
D - Divide

Are we waiting for integration with a new input package?

 

Do you guys not think this is an important feature? There is so much amazing work going into making SG really powerful, then the first thing i'm asked by every new artist on the team is "where are the keyboard shortcuts?"

I'm just baffled that something like this would be considered a roadmap consideration, it's a bit like someone suggesting supporting normal maps or a multiply node...

 

+1. It's pretty absurd Shadergraph doesn't have this, given how pervasive 1,2,3,4 are.

That roadmap doesn't appear to have a place where we can view all the open suggestions, nor can I lend my support to an existing request. It would be nicer if there was a page where they could all be seen in one place and upvoted, to avoid duplicates, as well as discuss and converge on better versions of similar ideas. A bit like a forum.

 

Thanks, I missed that. I still think it's a bit limiting, as I might like to upvote an issue to indicate its important to me, but explain why, or comment on details about a topic. For instance, a huge limitation of the built in pipeline is the inability for UI renderers to use MaterialPropertyBlocks, which was a huge frustration for many users. It would be good to be able to indicate on the UI roadmap item that this was a previous flaw we'd like to avoid. Either way I appreciate feedback on the feedback website isnt exactly relevant to this thread nor your responsibility

Can you elaborate on why? Unless you're allowing remapping, or plan to integrate with / depend on another system in Unity like the new Shortcuts, this seems very trivial. I'm guessing there are good reasons why it isn't.

 

Do you have any more information around why the solution can't be accomplished with relative ease? The MaterialGraphEditWindow has a reference to the GraphData, which contains an AddNode method which looks very well put together. I don't mean to over-simplify, and I appreciate how self-entitled I will be coming across, I'm just really struggling to see why this wasn't one of the first things to get done.

I hate using UE4, but their material editor is crushing Unity, and it's not because of advanced features, it's because they have got the quality of life features like this.

 

I really appreciate you taking the time.

Respectfully, I think I have to simply agree to disagree.

Line 332 of GraphEditorView.cs

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. if (evt.keyCode == KeyCode.M) {
3.     if (m_Graph != null) {
4.         m_Graph.AddNode(new MultiplyNode());
5.     }
6. }
7.  

When you press M, a new multiply node is created. It functions as expected, and saves and loads properly (As far as I can test).

It's clear the GraphView/RegisterCallback approach might not enjoy the combination of hold keyboard button + mouse press. I also fully understand that whacking in some lines of code isn't the same as developing and following a robust and consistent approach.

 

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. internal class KeyboardShortcutHelper
3.     {
4.         private MaterialGraphView GraphView { get; }
5.         private GraphData GraphData { get; }
6.  
7.         public KeyboardShortcutHelper(MaterialGraphView graphView, GraphData graph)
8.         {
9.             GraphView = graphView;
10.             GraphData = graph;
11.  
12.             GraphView.RegisterCallback<KeyDownEvent>(OnKeyDown);
13.         }
14.  
15.         void OnKeyDown(KeyDownEvent evt) {
16.             if (GraphData == null) return;
17.  
18.             Vector2 pos = evt.originalMousePosition;
19.  
20.             switch (evt.keyCode) {
21.                 case KeyCode.O:
22.                     CreateNode(() => new OneMinusNode(), pos);
23.                     break;
24.                 case KeyCode.M:
25.                     CreateNode(() => new MultiplyNode(), pos);
26.                     break;
27.                 case KeyCode.L:
28.                     CreateNode(() => new LerpNode(), pos);
29.                     break;
30.                 case KeyCode.D:
31.                     CreateNode(() => new DivideNode(), pos);
32.                     break;
33.                 case KeyCode.S:
34.                     CreateNode(() => new SubtractNode(), pos);
35.                     break;
36.                 case KeyCode.A:
37.                     CreateNode(() => new AddNode(), pos);
38.                     break;
39.                 case KeyCode.F:
40.                     CreateNode(() => new FractionNode(), pos);
41.                     break;
42.                 case KeyCode.Alpha1:
43.                     CreateNode(() => new Vector1Node(), pos);
44.                     break;
45.                 case KeyCode.Alpha2:
46.                     CreateNode(() => new Vector2Node(), pos);
47.                     break;
48.                 case KeyCode.Alpha3:
49.                     CreateNode(() => new Vector3Node(), pos);
50.                     break;
51.                 case KeyCode.Alpha4:
52.                     CreateNode(() => new Vector4Node(), pos);
53.                     break;
54.                 case KeyCode.Alpha5:
55.                     CreateNode(() => new ColorNode(), pos);
56.                     break;
57.             }
58.         }
59.  
60.         private void CreateNode(Func<AbstractMaterialNode> createNode, Vector2 pos) {
61.             AbstractMaterialNode multiplyNode = createNode();
62.  
63.             var drawState = multiplyNode.drawState;
64.             Vector2 p = GraphView.contentViewContainer.WorldToLocal(pos);
65.  
66.             drawState.position = new Rect(p.x, p.y, drawState.position.width, drawState.position.height);
67.             multiplyNode.drawState = drawState;
68.             GraphData.AddNode(multiplyNode);
69.         }
70.     }
71.  

Add this to the top of GraphEditorView.cs

Code (CSharp):

1. KeyboardShortcutHelper shortcutHelper = new KeyboardShortcutHelper(graphView, graph);

Add this to the end of the constructor for GraphEditorView

-

Any early warnings on which quirks this is going to hit would be appreciated so I can ahead of them before they bite me!

This, if it continues to work, makes ShaderGraph fundamentally better. Would be totally down for cleaning it up + PR.

 

I think it's excellent that decisions are being thought out before action being taken, and that lots of use cases are being considered - It's a great approach to ensure ongoing commitments don't become technical debt.

I think the goal of maintaining parity with VFX Graph is admirable, but the list of differences at present is testament to the fact that ultimately, the focus is on feature set before consistency. This is infinitely truer in the context of Unity's wider code base.

If a feature can get a massive amount of the way towards covering 90% of users/use cases, without actively impeding your ability to extend or exchange it later, then I believe there is a strong case to be made that the decision Unity have made is the wrong one. One day of developer time to save countless hundreds of hours in the short-medium term is amazing value.

I'll stop pushing! I appreciate I don't have the full picture. Thank you very much for taking so much time. Stay safe!

 

How is there still not a save shortcut in the unity shader graph? This is essential

 

+1 for this feature, also thanks DigitalSalmon for workaround

 

Almost a year old, and still nothing Hard to imagine how many thousands of hours have been wasted by developers.

 

Lack of shortcuts has been the only thing holding me back from using Shader Graph.

As a Houdini user, I feel like my arms and legs are tied and I'm only allowed to use 1 finger to do my work inside Shader Graph.

I'll definitely be using your solution for the time being @DigitalSalmon thanks for taking the time and effort into doing something that Unity Tech Team should have done for us (as an addable asset from the asset store or package manager) a long time ago.

 

@DigitalSalmon

Thanks for code blocks.
I build simple hacking-styled shortcut executor based on your codes.

https://github.com/seonghwan-dev/ShaderGraphEnhancer

I'll convert this to hooking constructor way soon.

 

And we're into 2022, and there are still no proper keyboard shortcuts in ShaderGraph!

I can only draw the conclusion that Unity think your time doesn't matter, as this *still* missing feature has become a constant reminder of how headline$ are more important than quality of life features.

There shouldn't need to be a feature request. There shouldn't need to be almost 2 years of dev work. This is an embarrassment to the engine.

And to return to parity a year on - The VFX Graph arithmetic nodes are still different, so the idea that parity should have any influence over feature priority is just not valid.

 

Totally agree, would be useful for VFX Graph too!

 

All the roadmap suggestions we make are hidden, so nobody will vote them anyways, except the person making the suggestion.

Simple things like these shortcuts, register variables or having some custom attributes are still not added after years. Some features like enums are broken, exposed and override shader declaration makes 0 sense, the custom functions needing _float or _half makes any shader library unusable without modifications.

Maybe, in a few years, because 5-6 years is still to little for these tools to mature, while we got some better tools developed by 1 person in months.

 

It doesn't really feel like anyone at Unity is working on Shader Graph does it?

People who actually use these tools would not make the decisions that are being made.

Poor management? Lack of funding? Never used the superior competing tools?

 

It feels like shader graph is yet another tool made because a cool blog post can be written about it. The only good part I can find about it, is that it kind of work properly with the ever changing render pipelines. Other than that, it is like using instagram for creation shaders.

 

In 2020, Unity reported 1.5 million monthly creators.

Assume just 1% of them use ShaderGraph in a capacity where shortcuts would have saved them just 5 minutes time across a whole 1 month period.

23 months have passed since this thread was created. 23 months. Almost two years.

1,500,000 * 0.01 * (5/60) * 23 = 28,750 hours of developer time wasted. I think the real figure could easily be 5x that.

Quality of Life features really matter, and small savings add up. Imagine how ridiculous it would be if Undo/Redo were not mapped to hotkeys, because that is the level of absurdity we are talking about here.

What state of internal affairs are necessary for shortcuts to take 2 years to be implemented?

 

The fact that this feature is still not considered a priority shows very well how RIDICULOUS Unity is.

 

This is your monthly reminder that Unity's flagship shader tool does not have keyboard shortcuts.

Fun fact about shortcuts - One of the earliest examples was a "shift" key on a typewriter in 1878, used for upper/lower case switching. That was 144 years ago.

 

well, contextual shortcuts dropping with 2022.1. I hope this will enable them for SG and VFXGraph

https://blog.unity.com/technology/unity-20221-beta-is-now-available-for-feedback

 

Hello from the future! It's now May 2022!

Today's fact - It's been roughly 4,889,728 seconds since this thread was started.That's "1358 hours", or, if you prefer, "Enough time to implement a basic feature".

Is the Shadergraph team hiring? Does such a team even exist? Would you like one less passive aggressive user, and one more very capable developer to come onboard to improve your package, perhaps to implement keyboard shortcuts? benjamin@digitalsalmon.co.uk

 

I'm a bit confused about where to implement that in the script.
I come from UE so im only good at graphs but i suck at scripting.
Where is the end of the Constructor for GraphEditorView?

 

Hey - Sorry mate, probably too much work to implement if you're not comfy with C# (Welcome to Unity!)

You're not missing out on much - That hack does as *okay* job, but it's not really a QoL improvement as it doesn't rely on a "click" event. At some point I might take another crack at it.

Best bet is to up vote the feature request, though I expect my general tone conveys my faith that anyone at Unity cares at all about Shadergraph.

 

Adding keyboard shortcuts has now taken more time than a new project takes to load in Unity 2020.x

 

I can't believe we're halfway through another year and this is still "under consideration".

I mean, how can we still not even use CTRL+S to save a graph in 2022?

 

I created an executable file (.exe) to support the creation of node shortcuts.
millionart/UnityShaderGraphHelper (github.com)

 

Anther mnth, anther letter n my keybard sacrificed in a bld ritual in the hpes that Unity will cme dwn frm their clud and put a dev team n their flagship shader editr.

Hpefully they arrive sn r things are ging t get tricky.

 

Boy the Shadergraph team have been busy. Amazed they found time to update the package version number.

 

Some things that SG should have by default, like shortcuts, register variable, category color made by Cyan:

https://twitter.com/Cyanilux/status/1406202741018464257
https://github.com/Cyanilux/ShaderGraphVariables

Sad that asset store developers cannot use these features

 

Remember remember the 9th of September. The day that Shadergraph still didn't have keyboard shortcuts.

 

Almost halloween! Todays spoooooky fact! "Shortcut" is defined as "an alternative route that is shorter than the one usually taken." - Like when competent developers make shorter routes for their users, saving them time!

The opposite of a shortcut is "the long way" - Like when incompetent developers don't bother for years whilst claiming their package is "flagship", then wonder why all their users are leaving for Unreal Engine.

 

Shortcuts in Shadergraph would save me hours just of: pressing spacebar, taking my hand of the mouse to write "Multpily", pressing enter, seeing no results, realizing I spelled Multiply wrong, clicking on the shadergraph window again, pressing spacebar, typing Multiply again and pressing enter.
vs how Amplify does it
pressing "M" and left clicking.

 

As we approach this threads 3rd birthday, let's all decide what to get it as a present - I think if we all pitch in by, for example, paying for a Unity license, we might just have enough to hire it a competent development team that gives a crap about it's users?

Or maybe a t-shirt that says "I visited Unity's flagship shader editor and all I got was infuriated by their utter contempt for their users".

Or how about we just buy a cake, get it delivered to the SG team, but then we just eat it ourselves when it gets return to sender because there isn't one.

 

Such a shame. Read whole thread, I am more than happy to see some other passionate developers such as @DigitalSalmon implemented his own solution and really trying to get some attention here.

This is another good reason which keeps me on track using Amplify Shader Editor instead of this

 

I can't believe the year is 2023 and Unity's own solution doesn't support such a basic, essential, and easy to implement, feature. This is just mind boggling..
Our team just moved from our previous Unity 2019 project where we used a 3rd party shader editor (Amplify), to try Shader Graph and needless to say we won't be using it.

 

Please may we have keyboard shortcuts in Shadergraph?

 

I got married last Tuesday! That means I was able to meet a lovely girl, get engaged, plan and execute a wonderful wedding, and in that time... we still don't have keyboard shortcuts.

I'll be sure to let you know when my first born child arrives in the hopes that one day I may be able to teach them Shadergraph without them having to endure the utterly shameful experience that Unity thinks it's developers currently deserve.

 

Congrats on the marriage, @DigitalSalmon ! Here's to hoping the next generation might be able to use a modern shader editor with normal modern features

 

Not to come on this forum and just complain, but... yes, keyboard shortcuts are a base feature. Just popped open ShaderGraph after not trying it for a couple years, and sure enough, Ctrl+S does nothing. As far as I know, ShaderGraph is not an experimental feature, and is not considered deprecated. So why doesn't Ctrl+S save my graph?

I tried to check the linked product board, and failed to find any task about keyboard shortcuts. Not sure what else to say, other than... please?

 

I'm glad there is... progress? But...

Voting? Under consideration? Why would Unity wait for years, then ask for permission to finish their flagship shader editor?

We want to see it work how Unreal, Shaderforge, or Amplify work. Like a real shader editor please.

 

The first thought when using shader graph was "wow this is so much slower than Amplify shader, did the persons who made this ever use another editor or make shaders with it? Its impossible to imagine anyone who had used ASE would go back to this usability"

I am still now using shader graph since third party things tend to break in really bad ways despite shader graph being much slower to use, at least it has a solid featureset and it can do basically all the things needed, so respectful on that id say. One big plus on SG is also that subgraphs don't require the main graph to be calculated again.

The space search is also considerably slower than the ASE version as the search is a bit clunky in comparison and this is the main tool.

Unity is doing features to check a checklist off, not to offer an optimal experience and the classic "Unity dosn't work with their own tools" is here as strong as always UX wise.