View Layer Properties Tab

View Layer

View Layers reference to Scene collections. They allow to set their visibility, selectability and other options. Each View Layer can use any collection you wish, and multiple View Layers can use the same collections or different collections.

Usually you have just one View layer for the whole scene. But you can create more View layers in the header, and rename them there.

View layers are by default active for all collections. You can exclude them for specific layers in the Outliner. Select the view layer, and turn off the collections that you don't want to have active in this view layer.

Note. The different render engines uses different view layer functionality. And so the panels and available options differs.

Render Engine

Shows the active render engine. Specific renderer does have other settings. And you can also switch to another renderer. But note that this is more a visual guide. It misses the Cycles render settings.

View Layer Panel - All Renderers

View Layer Prop

Add View Layer

Adds a new view layer.

Override panel - EEVEE + Cycles

The override panel allows you to define a material that is used on all objects in the current view layer. Think of it as a clay rendering.

Passes panel - EEVEE

Here you enable or disable passes for single features.

Data subpanel

Light subpanel

Other

Cryptomatte subpanel

Cryptomatte passes can be used to isolate objects or materials or assets in compositing.

Shader AOV subpanel

AOV stands for Arbitrary Output Variables. Here you can add custom render passes for arbitrary shader node components. These values can then be used in the post processing in the node editor.

To use Shader AOVs create the pass in the Shader AOV panel then reference this pass with the AOV Output shading node. Each AOV in the list consists of a Name and Data Type.

List of AOV

Name

The name of the render pass. This is the Name that is referenced in the AOV Output node. You can name it as you like as long as the name does not conflict with enabled built-in passes.

Data Type

Right clicking at the black triangle at the end will refveal the type menu.

Shader AOVs can either express a Color or a Value variable. The Color variable as the name suggest can be used for a color but also a normal value. A Value variable can be used for any single numerical value.

Passes Panel - Cycles

Here you enable or disable render passes for single features.

Data subpanel

Mist subpanel

When you activate Mist pass, then the Mist Pass subpanel shows.

Falloff

The falloff progression of the mist.

Light subpanel

Cryptomatte subpanel

Cryptomatte passes can be used to isolate objects or materials or assets in compositing.

Shader AOV subpanel

AOV stands for Arbitrary Output Variables. Here you can add custom render passes for arbitrary shader node components. These values can then be used in the post processing in the node editor.

To use Shader AOVs create the pass in the Shader AOV panel then reference this pass with the AOV Output shading node. Each AOV in the list consists of a Name and Data Type.

List of AOV

Name

The name of the render pass. This is the Name that is referenced in the AOV Output node. You can name it as you like as long as the name does not conflict with enabled built-in passes.

Data Type

Right clicking at the black triangle at the end will refveal the type menu.

Shader AOVs can either express a Color or a Value variable. The Color variable as the name suggest can be used for a color but also a normal value. A Value variable can be used for any single numerical value.

Light Groups sub panel

Light groups are a type of pass that only contains light render data from a subset of light sources and their influences. This is useful to set light sources to affect only specific objects in a scene.

Light Groups passes are created in the View Layer tab then light sources and influences are assigned to individual passes in the Object tab in the Light Option panel of the light source and objects.

Any light source (lamps, objects with emission materials and/or the environment) can be assigned to light groups.

To assign a light source to a Light Pass, use the Light Options panel in the Object tab of the light source.

Lightgroup Sync menu

Add used Light groups

Add all assigned light sources with light groups to the list. Sometimes there are objects that are assigned to a light group which are not in the list yet – typical when appended objects from another file, as an example.

Remove unused light groups

Removes all light groups from the list that has no user.

With light linking and Light Group passes, light sources can be set to affect only specific objects in the scene in the Object tab > Light Options panel.

Passes Panel - Workbench

Here you enable or disable render passes for single features.

Data subpanel

Filter Panel - EEVEE

Include

Use

Motion Blur

Render Motion Blur, if enabled in the scene.

Filter Panel - Cycles

Include

Use

Motion Blur

Render Motion Blur, if enabled in the scene.

Denoising

Use Denoising, if enabled in the scene.

Freestyle Panel

This panel and all further freestyle panels just shows when you have Freestyle activated in the Render Properties!

Enable

Enables or disables the freestyle layer in the current view layer.

Control Mode

You can either control the freestyle shapes by the settings in the panels. Or you can use a python script to define all the shapes. In this case the panels vanishes, and you can add your style script below.

View Map Cache

Keep the computed Key Map. And avoid recalculation if mesh geometry is unchanged.

As Render Pass

Renders the freestyle pass as a separate pass instead of adding it as an overlay to the Combined pass.

Edge detection subpanel

How the edge detection happens.

Style Module subpanel

This panel appears with Control Mode Python Scripting. Add a python script that defines the style.

The structure of such a style is not defined nor described. Please ask the Blender developers.

Freestyle Line Set Panel

The line set settings.

List of Line Sets

A line set holds the line style. You can have more than one line set. But just one LineStyle per set.

The line sets can be activated or deactivated with the checkbox at the end.

Lineset Specials menu

Move Line Set up or down

Moves the selected up or down in the list.

Line style data property

Data Browser

A list of available LineStyles.

Select by Image Border

Select feature edges by image border.

Visibility Subpanel

Determine how to use visibility for feature edge detection.

Type

Quantitative invisibility

Select feature edges within a range of quantitative invisibility values. The value is called QI.

Edge Type subpanel

Face Masks Subpanel

Selection by Face Marks

Select Feature Edges by Face Marks.

Collection Subpanel

Freestyle Strokes Panel

Caps

Select the shape of both ends of the stroke. Butt, Round or Square.

Chaining Subpanel

Chaining

Enable chaining of feature edges.

Method

How feature edges are jointed to form chains.

Plain

Feature edges are jointed plain.

Sketchy

Feature edges are jointed sketchy.

Rounds

Number of rounds in a sketchy multiple touch.

Splitting subpanel

Split Pattern sub subpanel

Use Split Pattern

Enable chain splitting by dashed line patterns.

Sorting subpanel

Sort Key

How to determine the stacking order of chains.

Integration Type

How the sort key is computed for each chain.

Sort order

Sort by default or inverse.

Selection Subpanel

Dashed Line subpanel

Dashed Line

Enable dashed line. A line is then displayed as dashes.

Freestyle Modifiers

The Freestyle panels Freestyle Color, Freestyle Alpha, Freestyle Thickness and Freestyle Geometry allows you to use so called modifiers. Modifiers allows you to modify these settings in several aspects.

Some modifier, like the along stroke modifier, does have the same name. But has here and there different functionality.

Color, Alpha and Thickness Modifier

Header

From left to right.

Color Ramp

The color, alpha and thickness modifiers all have a color ramp.

Controls

Tools menu

Reset Color Ramp

Resets the color ramp to its default state.

Color Mode

Interpolation

Color Ramp

The color band. A click at one of the color stops makes it the active one. You can move the color stops by clicking at them and dragging them around.

Active Color Stop elements

Adjust the active color stop.

Pos

The position and color of the active color stop. The range goes from 0.000 to 1.000.

Freestyle Color panel

Modify the color of the stroke.

Base Color

Here you can choose the base color that needs to be modified.

Freestyle Color modifiers

Along Stroke

Add a colorband along the stroke.

Crease Angle

Add a color band along a crease angle. Which is the angle between two adjacent faces) If a stroke segment does not lie on a crease , then its properties are not touched by the modifier.

Curvature 3D

This modifier is based on the radial curvatures of the underlying 3D surface. The curvature of a 2D curve at a point is a measure of how quickly the curve turns at the point. The quicker the turn is, the larger the curvature is at the point. The curvature is zero if the curve is a straight line. Radial curvatures are those computed for a 2D curve that appears at the cross section between the 3D surface and a plane defined by the view point (camera location) and the normal direction of the surface at the point.

This modifier requires to have the Face Smoothness option on and the object needs to have Smooth Shading.

Distance from Camera

Recalculates the base property by the distance to the camera.

Distance from Object

Recalculates the base property by the distance to a chosen object.

Material

Alters the base property on the current material under the stroke.

Material Attribute

What attribute of the material under the stroke to alter.

Ramp

Shows and activates the color ramp.

Noise

Uses a noise based pseudo random number generator to add some variation along the stroke.

Tangent

Modifies the base value on the traveling direction of the stroke, evaluated at the stroke’s vertices.

Freestyle Alpha panel

Modify the transparency of the stroke.

Base Transparency

The base transparency that you want to modify.

Freestyle Alpha modifiers

Along Stroke

Add a gradient along the stroke.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Crease Angle

Add a gradientalong a crease angle. Which is the angle between two adjacent faces) If a stroke segment does not lie on a crease , then its properties are not touched by the modifier.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Curvature 3D

This modifier is based on the radial curvatures of the underlying 3D surface. The curvature of a 2D curve at a point is a measure of how quickly the curve turns at the point. The quicker the turn is, the larger the curvature is at the point. The curvature is zero if the curve is a straight line. Radial curvatures are those computed for a 2D curve that appears at the cross section between the 3D surface and a plane defined by the view point (camera location) and the normal direction of the surface at the point.

This modifier requires to have the Face Smoothness option on and the object needs to have Smooth Shading.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Distance from Camera

Recalculates the base property by the distance to the camera.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Distance from Object

Recalculates the base property by the distance to a chosen object.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Material

Alters the base property on the current material under the stroke.

Material Attribute

What attribute of the material under the stroke to alter.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Noise

Uses a noise based pseudo random number generator to add some variation along the stroke.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Tangent

Modifies the base value on the traveling direction of the stroke, evaluated at the stroke’s vertices.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Freestyle Thickness panel

Modify the thickness of the stroke.

Base Thickness

The base thickness that you want to modify.

Thickness Position

The thickness position of silhouettes and border edges.

Relative

Silhouettes and border edges are shifted by a user defined thickness ratio.

Thickness Ratio

The thickness ratio to shift the silhouettes and border edges.

Freestyle Thickness modifiers

Along Stroke

Add a gradient along the stroke.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Calligraphy

Generates different thickness, based on the orientation of the stroke. The result is a stroke thickness that orients at calligraphy.

Crease Angle

Add a gradientalong a crease angle. Which is the angle between two adjacent faces) If a stroke segment does not lie on a crease , then its properties are not touched by the modifier.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Curvature 3D

This modifier is based on the radial curvatures of the underlying 3D surface. The curvature of a 2D curve at a point is a measure of how quickly the curve turns at the point. The quicker the turn is, the larger the curvature is at the point. The curvature is zero if the curve is a straight line. Radial curvatures are those computed for a 2D curve that appears at the cross section between the 3D surface and a plane defined by the view point (camera location) and the normal direction of the surface at the point.

This modifier requires to have the Face Smoothness option on and the object needs to have Smooth Shading.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Distance from Camera

Recalculates the base property by the distance to the camera.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Distance from Object

Recalculates the base property by the distance to a chosen object.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Material

Alters the thickness of the stroke based on the current material under the stroke.

Material Attribute

What attribute of the material under the stroke to alter.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Noise

Uses a noise based pseudo random number generator to add some variation along the stroke.

Tangent

Modifies the base value on the traveling direction of the stroke, evaluated at the stroke’s vertices.

Mapping

The mapping type. Linear or Curve.

Invert

Inverts the values.

Freestyle Geometry

Modify the geometry of the freestyle strokes.

The modifier Sampling is on by default.

Freestyle Geometry Modifiers

2D Offset

Offset the stroke vertices from its original position.

2D Transform

Scale the stroke.

Backbone Stretcher

Stretch the stroke.

Backbone Length

Amount of backbone stretching.

Bezier Curve

Turn the stroke into a bezier curve.

Error

The maximal allowed distance between the new bezier curve and the original backbone geometry.

Blueprint

Turn the strokes into a blueprint/cad like style stroke.

Guiding Lines

Replaces a stroke by straight lines that connects both of its ends.

Offset

Add an offset to the the start and end points along the original stroke, before generating the new straight one.

Perlin Noise 1D

Adds one-dimensional Perlin noise to the stroke. This modifier will give an identical result for two strokes with the same length and sampling interval.

Perlin Noise 2D

Adds one-dimensional Perlin noise to the stroke. Different to the Perlin Noise 1D modifier the modifier generates noisy displacements using 2D coordinates of stroke vertices as the input of the noise generator.

Polygonization

Simplify the stroke.

Error

The maximum distance allowed between the new simplified stroke and the orginal stroke.

Sampling

Changes the definition and precision of the stroke for hte following modifiers.

Sampling

The smaller this value, the more precise are the strokes. The computation of smaller values needs more memory and time.

Simplification

Simplify the stroke by merging stroke vertices that are close to each other.

Tolerance

How close the vertices nees to be to each other to be merged.

Sinus Displacement

Adds a sinusoidal displacement to the stroke.

Spatial Noise

Adds some spatial noise to the stroke. Spatial noise displacements are added in the normal direction of each stroke vertex.

Tip remover

Removes a part of the stroke at the start and the end of a stroke

Tip Length

The length of the stroke that you want to remove.

Freestyle Texture

You can use a texture for the freestyle lines. The texture is created and managed in the texture tab. The material is created and managed in the Shader editor.

In this panel you just manage some settings for it

Freestyle Animation

Allows you to add an animation.

Custom Properties Panel

Here you can define custom properties that can be used for scripting.

Here you might also find custom properties from addons or scripts.

Add

Adds a new property.

Edit

Opens a panel where you can adjust the settings for the custom property.

Remove

Removes the property.