Octane Standalone Needs a Serious UI Rethink

[frankserin]

I recently started using the Standalone version and, as an Octane user, I can say that Octane is one of the most powerful render engines available today. The rendering performance is incredible.
You have built an incredibly powerful GPU renderer, but the workflow constantly puts unnecessary barriers between the artist and that power.

Why are we still dealing with enormous, kilometer-long node graphs?
Why can't complex networks be properly collapsed into clean, compact nodes?
And this isn't a limitation of node-based workflows. Houdini solved this. Cinema 4D solved this. Other modern DCCs solved this.

Octane can render an absolutely insane scene at incredible speed.
But managing that scene can feel like running with steel shoes.

The renderer is flying, while the interface constantly slows down the artist.
We are in 2026, yet opening Octane Standalone sometimes feels like stepping into software designed around the UI conventions of 2005.
Please improve the Standalone node system and UI.

[Zay]

What is wrong with grouping the nodes? Isn't that exactly what you're asking for? Or am I missing something?