Releases

Known Issues

  • A bug in Blender 3.6 causes custom nodes not to appear in the Search menu, so they can only be added from the Add menu. This has been fixed in Blender 4.0.

Changelog

v0.3.0

This release brings full support for Blender 4.3, which means there are a couple of exciting new features for UDON users! See the Blender Changes section for details.

Further, the focus of this release has been on ongoing improvements to UDON's core internal structure. These changes are not directly noticeable to the user, but this work ensures that UDON is as stable and robust as possible long term, and that continued development is streamlined.

Functional Improvements

  • Full support for Blender 4.3.
  • Support has been added for the new Node Gizmos feature in Geometry Nodes. Any gizmos you use in your node groups, continue working seamlessly after converting to a custom node.

Bug Fixes

  • All custom properties are now marked as non-animatable, as UDON does not support animated properties (animation support is on the roadmap). It was misleading for properties to accept keyframes/drivers, as any such animation was simply ignored. Now the properties refuse animation altogether, to avoid confusion.

UX Enhancements

  • When editing an unsupported node tree (e.g. Texture Nodes, Animation Nodes, Sverchok...), the UDON tab in the sidebar is no longer hidden. Instead, a note is shown, indicating that UDON does not support this tree type, and listing the supported tree types.

  • Various minor visual enhancements for better alignment and UI clarity.

Other Notes

  • The minimum supported Blender version is now 3.6 LTS. As per the compatibility policy, official support for Blender 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 has been dropped.

  • There has been a small change in the library format (node tree types use a different naming convention). This does not affect users, as UDON is able to read the old format, and automatically converts it when you make any changes to your library. This change is mentioned here just in case someone is parsing the library files themselves.

  • Many internal improvements have been made to UDON's architecture and general code quality. This ensures better reliability, less potential for future bugs, and smoother further development.

Relevant Blender Changes

  • Blender 4.3 brings a new Node Gizmos feature for Geometry Nodes. As noted in the improvements section, they are supported in UDON custom nodes, and work seamlessly.

  • Blender 4.3 also brings a new Warning Node, which allows you to display conditional warnings/errors/information on your node group headers. These work with UDON out of the box, and are displayed on your custom nodes, just like with node groups.

v0.2.1

Functional Improvements

  • Full support up to Blender 4.2.

Other Notes

  • Due to changes in Blender's menu system, custom nodes are no longer inserted in alphabetical order, instead being added to the end of the menu.

  • UDON v0.3.0 will require Blender 3.6 LTS or later, dropping support for Blender 3.3 LTS (as well as 3.4 and 3.5), since it has reached EOL. As per the compatibility policy, this means that unless another v0.2.x patch release becomes necessary, this is the last UDON version to support Blender 3.3 LTS, Blender 3.4, and Blender 3.5.

Relevant Blender Changes

  • Blender 4.0 brings a new and extremely useful subpanel feature, which allows you to organise your node group input/output sockets into collapsible sections (this does not seem to be documented yet, but you can find an explanation here and here). These subpanels work with UDON out of the box, so any panels you add to your node group will automatically be carried over with their sockets to your custom nodes! Though it should be noted that adding UDON custom properties to the subpanels is not currently possible, and at the moment they all appear above the subpanels.

  • Since Blender 4.0, all custom nodes (including library nodes) appear in the node search again.

  • Some node property names have been changed in Blender 4.2, to fix name collisions. This only affects the Geometry Color node, Shader AOV Output node, and the Compositor Box/Ellipse Mask nodes. If you have used any of these nodes inside your custom nodes and exposed their properties, they were likely working unpredictably in the first place due to the name collision, but they will now require you to manually fix the property links and recook the nodes.

v0.2.0

Functional Improvements

  • Implemented support for exposing Image properties:
    • Expose Image properties by clicking anywhere on the property UI widget (including the Open and New operators);
    • Custom Image properties are displayed with an ID selector including Open and New operators (matching native Image properties);
    • A full image UI, matching Blender's native UI, is (optionally) generated under custom Image properties, to control image parameters (color space, frame ranges, layer selection, etc.);
    • When loading image sequences with the Open operator, the frame range is automatically detected (matching the bahaviour of native Image properties);
    • Links to the main socket ("Image" or "Combined") of comp Image nodes are automatically managed, so they are preserved if the socket changes name when loading different images;
    • Many, MANY tiny details to ensure custom Image properties behave as close as possible to native Image properties across the board.
  • The default width of custom nodes (used for new instances of the node) can now be customised, and defaults to the width of the group instance being cooked;
  • Full support for Blender 3.6.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed cooking being slightly slower when using nested custom nodes;
  • Fixed a rounding error that caused float properties to sometimes have a step of 0, which made it impossible to manipulate them with the mouse;
  • Fixed node links inside custom nodes disappearing in some cases.

UX Enhancements

  • For clarity, the name of the property being exposed is now shown on the "Expose to Custom Node" operator in the context menu;
  • If no properties have been exposed, the Properties box in the Node Kitchen shows a hint explaining how to expose properties;
  • A new option was added (disabled by default), to hide the Node Pantry while the editor is inside a node group, to reduce clutter,

Other Notes

  • Optimised performance when changing property values on custom node instances (significantly reduces latency with complex node setups, especially when using many nested custom nodes);
  • Store an "udon_type" property on custom nodes (in preparation for stand-alone export capability);
  • Various code quality and architectural improvements with no user-facing changes.

v0.1.1

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed mistake in version comparison code (used for checking compatibility of UDON nodes);
  • Fixed error when cooking a node with a property called "type".

v0.1.0

Initial release.