Adding Custom Hotkeys for Nodes in Materials, Unreal Engine (AppendVector, Clamp, Particle Color, etc.)

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This technique was told by: Pashtetuser

Hi guys. To add custom hotkeys for frequently used nodes like AppendVector, Clamp, StaticSwitchParameter, and others, follow these steps:

1. Go to the “Config” folder in the directory where Unreal Engine is installed.
Example: UE_5.4\Engine\Config

2. In the “Config” folder, open the BaseEditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini file in a text editor.

3. Search for the section [MaterialEditorSpawnNodes] around line 820.
*You can quickly find this by using the search function (usually Ctrl+F). If your text editor doesn’t have a function to number lines, I recommend you download Notepad++

4. Look at the available examples and insert the names of the nodes you need.
*Usually, to find the exact names of the nodes, type them in the Material Editor’s search bar. In the line, you just need to replace the node name and the hotkey.

Example:
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionEyeAdaptationInverse Key=K Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)

  1. Reboot Unreal Engine. After rebooting, you will be able to change the hotkey inside the Unreal Engine settings. You will no longer need to open a text document.

Challenges:
The names of some complex nodes in the Material Editor search (where I told you to look for names) will not match the required names for the BaseEditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini
To find the correct names for BaseEditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini, I recommend asking ChatGPT

Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/rXB8XpDxyVo

My added nodes:

+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionReroute Key=Five Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionAppendVector Key=Q Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionClamp Key=Z Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionStaticSwitchParameter Key=X Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionParticleColor Key=G Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionVertexColor Key=H Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionDynamicParameter Key=Y Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionSubtract Key=R Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=/Script/Engine.MaterialExpressionEyeAdaptationInverse Key=K Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)

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5 Likes
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The AppendVector is going to tickle me to do this. As I lost the will to life the times I accidently place appendmany being the default node when you type in Append. (Probably not the only one)

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Yeah. You are definitely not the only one. I need a hotkey for that too.

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Unfortunately, it is indeed impossible to add a shortcut for MaterialExpression. If you add it to MaterialExpressionMaterialFunctionCall, it will only result in an empty material function.

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But actually, I have written a plugin that can solve this problem, although it might make things a bit more complicated. Let me explain from the beginning.

Material Nodes Queen

1 Like
5

1. The way to add shortcut keys for expression node.

As Dimi said, you can go to UE_5.x\Engine\Config\BaseEditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini and find [MaterialEditorSpawnNodes] to add shortcut keys.

Actually, there is also a way to add shortcut keys at the non-engine level, which is in the project config. You can go to Projectpath/Config/DefaultEditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini to incrementally add shortcut key commands. If this file does not exist, you can create a new one.

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Now there’s a problem. The shortcut key must be added to the MaterialExpression class. MaterialExpressionMaterialFunctionCall can only create empty material functions, so it can’t be solved.

1 Like
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2. Material Nodes Queen

And the plugin I wrote has an AppendMany class, trying to set a shortcut key.

[MaterialEditorSpawnNodes]
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionReroute Key=Five Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionAppendVector Key=Q Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionClamp Key=Z Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionStaticSwitchParameter Key=X Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionParticleColor Key=G Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionVertexColor Key=H Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionDynamicParameter Key=Y Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionSubtract Key=R Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionEyeAdaptationInverse Key=K Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)
+Node=(Class=MaterialExpressionAppendMany Key=Nine Shift=false Ctrl=false Alt=false)

GIF 2024-7-22 17-25-49

This can only be considered as another solution. If you are interested, you can take a look at my plugin.

1 Like