Environment — Natron 2.5.0 documentation

# Environment

The interface of Natron is composed of different elements

Standard layout of Natron

## Generic Description

The purpose of Natron is to process video images using elementary “effect” bricks called nodes.

See: Main concepts

The image is processed in order passing through each node. The nodes are connected with links that define the order of the processing. These connected nodes are called the node graph.

Each node has parameters allowing to customize the effect produced on the incoming image.

## The Toolbar

It is the list of icons on the left-hand side of Natron.

Each icon is a menu giving access to different categories of nodes (ie. image processing tools) that Natron offers to process or create images.

See the Toolbar section

## The Menu bar

Located on top of Natron window, it gives acces to various actions other than adding nodes to the node graph. Most actions are done on the whole project like saving, rendering…

## The Viewer panel

Here is displayed the result of the image processing. To choose what is displayed, each viewer is related to a viewer node in the graph that can be connected to any intermediate point in the graph.

## The Properties editor

This panel shows the parameters of one or several nodes from the graph.

## The Node graph

This panel is were connections are made between the nodes to define the processing order of the image.

See: Nodes for informations on using nodes one by one.

See: Nodegraph for informations on creating a Node Graph to process your images

## The Curve editor

This panel allows one to graphically edit the changes in-time of the parameters of the nodes (these are the same as the numerical values shown in the Properties editor).

## The Dopesheet

This panel allows one to quickly edit the timing of the animations but without access to the actual values. Each little box correspond to a keyframe set on a parameter from one the nodes.

## The File Browser

This panel allows one to choose where to write or read an image to/from the disk. It is opened from the properties of a read or write node

See The File Browser section for more informations.

- Using the menus
- Using the toolbar
- Working with nodes
- Navigating inside the Node Graph
- Node Graph Tidiness
- Properties panels
- Using the color controls
- Using node presets
- Animating parameters
- Compositing viewers
- Using the file browser
- Undoing and redoing
- Progress bars