Description

backdropTools.py is a module that contains a few simple but convenient functions to deal with:

• Changing color of backdrops
• Reorder smaller backdrops hidden behind bigger ones

The module comes with some predefined keyboard shortcuts, but you can change, or keep just the ones you want.

Color Tools:

Spread Backdrop Hues   (Alt+Shift+H) :  select multiple backdrops and automatically recolor them so each one has a different color, covering the whole hue range.   Shift Backdrop Hue  (Shift+H) : with one or more backdrop nodes selected, step through different hues until you find one you like   Increase / Decrease Backdrop Luminance   (Shift+> / Shift+<) : Keep the color of the selected backdrop(s), but make it darker/brighter.   Increase / Decrease Backdrop Saturation   (Alt+. / Alt+,) : Keep the color of the selected backdrop(s), but make it more or less saturated.

Backdrop reordering:

• Fix Backdrop Depth (Ctrl + Shift + A):
   Useful when you've got multiple backrops, and then create a new one and it sits on top, hiding the existing ones.
  The function/shortcut will try to fix the layering for either all the selected backdrops, or all the backdrops in the script if none is selected. 
  It doesn't try to find what backdrops are inside others. Instead, it orders them based on size (area), which should work for most situations. 

How to install

Download backdropTools.py, and copy it to your ~/.nuke directory, or anywhere whithin your Nuke's search path.

Then, for a basic installation add the following to your menu.py:

import backdropTools
backdropTools.addStandardShortcuts()

If you want to change the shortcuts with your own, look inside backdropTools.py and change the different menu entries.

Notes

Most of the above functions also have customizable parameters. Type:

help(backdropTools)

... to get a more detailed description on each function and the parameters you can use. 

There's also some convenience functions to convert back and forth from RGB, HSV, HSL, and the 32-bit int used by the tile_color knob, so you can reuse those in your own scripts to help deal with changing the tile color of other nodes.

Hope you enjoy it!