View Layer (Merge Collections)¶
Defines one view layer's worth of content and per-layer overrides. Connect its Collection output to one of a Scene node's Collection inputs — each connected View Layer node becomes one view layer in the assembled scene.
The node's internal name is "Merge Collections" (it combines multiple upstream collection inputs into one), but it's labeled View Layer in the node editor, since that's its real role once connected to a Scene node.
Inputs¶
| Socket | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Collection (×N) | Collection | Any number of collection inputs — deduplicated automatically if an object appears in more than one |
| Camera | Camera | Per-layer camera override — takes priority over the Scene node's own Camera input for this layer only |
| World | World | Per-layer world override |
| Render Passes | Render Pass | Per-layer render pass / AOV / Cryptomatte / light group configuration |
| Freestyle | Freestyle | Per-layer Freestyle configuration |
| Render Settings | Render Settings | Per-layer engine/samples override |
| Compositor | Compositor | Per-layer compositor node tree |
| Override (×N) | Object Override | Object-level overrides (material, transform, visibility, etc.) scoped to this layer |
Properties¶
Layer Name — used as the {layer} filename token and as this view layer's name in the assembled scene. Must be unique within the node tree; duplicates are auto-suffixed (.001, .002, ...).
Inputs — number of Collection input sockets (1–8).
Overrides — number of Object Override input sockets (0–16). Adding any object override here disables grouped single-blend-file queue submission for the whole job (see Sending Jobs) — a note appears on the node when this is active.
Output in Layer Subfolder — save this layer's output into a subfolder named after the layer, appended to the scene's output path.
Collection Flags (mini-outliner)¶
Expand Collection Flags to see every collection and sub-collection connected upstream, with three per-collection controls:
- Exclude (checkbox) — three-state cycle: included → excluded → (if a parent is excluded) force-included despite the parent, and back. Mirrors Blender's own Outliner exclude checkbox, including inheritance: a child under an excluded parent shows as inherited-excluded (greyed out) unless explicitly force-included.
- Holdout — render this collection as a holdout matte.
- Indirect Only — this collection contributes indirect light/reflections only, not directly visible.
Click Refresh Hierarchy (the refresh icon next to the header) if a newly connected collection doesn't appear yet.
Outputs¶
| Socket | Description |
|---|---|
| Collection | All input collections merged into one, carrying this layer's name, flags, and per-layer overrides through to the Scene node |
Native multi-view-layer rendering¶
When two or more View Layer nodes are connected to the same Scene node, Scene Assembler checks whether they can share one real Blender scene instead of each getting its own throwaway scene:
- Same camera (or camera sequence, compared by its actual entries — not collapsed to one representative camera)
- Same world
- Same render settings (the literal same upstream node, not just equal-looking values)
- No object-level overrides on any of the layers involved
If all of that holds, every connected layer renders together as native Blender view layers on one shared scene — one render pass covers all of them, which is faster than building and rendering a separate scene per layer. If any layer differs on camera/world/render settings, or any layer has an object override, Scene Assembler falls back to one scene per layer (today's original behavior) and the Scene node shows "Rendered as separate scenes (slower)" so you know why the merge didn't happen.
This decision is automatic — there's nothing to configure here. If you want several layers to merge, give them the same Camera/World/Render Settings node connections (or leave those sockets unconnected, so they all inherit from Output Defaults) and don't attach any Object Override inputs.
Tips¶
- Objects that appear in more than one input collection are deduplicated automatically.
- Particularly useful for combining a character collection, an environment collection, and a props collection into one view layer.
- A per-layer Camera, World, Render Settings, or Compositor connection here always wins over the Scene node's own input for that specific layer.