Standalone - Node-Based Image Editor

Ace-Angel

Heya to all,

I was wondering if anyone knew of image editors (like Photoshop) but set in a Node editing kind of way (a la UDK or ShaderFX)?

I know so far we have Substance - Allegorithmic, but it has a really high learning curve (even for someone coming in from shader based knowledge, since alot of the functions are hidden inside preset nodes, yo dawg, I heard...), especially since you need to find all the hidden math.

There is also Nuke/Combustion from what I can tell, works more like a traditional setup, but lacks alot of the standard functions and it's way to fiddly (I used for a very little bit, but nature of the beast felt very weird...and static).

I simply would like to know if such a simple application exists, where I can take an image, Blur it, then Color correct it, and if doesn't look right, I can go back and change anything I wish on the spot.

Cheers!

leslievdb

eyeon fusion perhaps? ive used it for vfx stuff but you can also use it for static images. im not entirely sure what you`re looking for but maybe its of some use to you. at least colorcorrection and filters are pretty easy to apply inside of the program

Computron

Does it have to be node based?

I have been using After Effects a lot recently and that is essentially non-linear, parametric photoshop for video. I see people use the scripting and expression systems to make tools for still image manipulations occasionally. One such example I was interested in recently was creating a depth map from a single 2d picture with shape layers and gradients. Before PS CS6, people would use AE templates to make tilt shift pictures.

The new Blender 3D has a node based compositor that is, IIRC, aiming at nuke level functionality.
(Also, if your into GLSL, You can also write shaders directly in it and view them live, so if your doing any OpenGL definitely take a look at it.)

Also, if you use .psd templates with smart objects and adjustment layers, even photoshop will allow you to do what you were looking for in your last sentence. You can have most filters become smart filters that will allow you to change them at any time, non-linearly, so you can change the blur kernel after you've done your color correction.

choco

Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for but its node based and its for photoshop :
http://www.filterforge.com/

rube

http://www.mapzoneeditor.com/

it's a node based texture editor. Might be what you're looking for. The free version hasn't been updated in a few year it seems. Oh, you mentioned substance already, this was the early predecessor to that.

also adobe lightroom has non-destructive edits so you can go back and change things.. it's not node based though, more like a modifier stack.

Jerc

Sure learning every bit of Substance Designer can be a hard task, like it is for every software. But creating simple filters or adjustments like the one you describe can be done in about 15 seconds without having to go through the presets at all

Fingus

Well Fusion is free now so give it a download and try it out. It's made for use with film, but it's just as great for still image compositing. Photoshop honestly kinda sucks for compositing, unless you wanna do paintovers and such.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fusion

Xoliul

Dude seriously, Substance Designer is 100% what you are after. Don't call yourself a tech dude and then refuse to properly learn it
Heck, i don't mind teaching you personally, ask me any question, email me, whatever!

rube

In his defense, that post was made 2 years ago.. Also you can do some stuff like that in photoshop with smart filters. Just convert a layer for use with smart filters and then any filter you add will be added as an effect instead of baked in. Not exactly real time tweaking but it works sometimes. It really does seem like SD might be what you were looking for though. Unless you actually did find a node based image editor.