Here is what it looks like ungrouped
How can I make it all high resolution with super smooth lines? The edges are currently very rough looking as you can see in this pic.
I tried changing the Output rendering resolution to 200%, but I didn’t see any difference. How can I increase the resolution for the highest resolution please? Here are some pics.
Try using a much higher subdivision in your UV Sphere, as the higher subdivision seems to help with the mapping. I use the scale of the texture itself with no mapping node, but that’s not what causes it. It is the actual geometry here. I have had the same issue when using UV mapping on my cartons for packaging previews, and adding geometry subdivision fixes it there.
On the left is the default at 32 and 16, on the right is 92 and 76.
That worked. I just increased the levels viewport, render and quality in subdivision to the max which appears to be 6.
Thanks so much for all your help!
Okay, now I have a couple of new questions listed below:
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I have made some edits in my node group. How can I save it and delete the old node group?
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I have 2 objects that I would like to merge and apply the checkered pattern, so the 2 merged objects appear as one object. How can I do that? Currently, I am only able to apply the pattern individually on each object.
I am doing my own research on my end, but since you are a pro at this, I would greatly appreciate your assistance! Thank you
Save the node group with the changes with an updated name for the group. You can append it to the original library file if you want to keep it there for later.
Joining two mesh objects is an operation that comes up a lot. You can manually stitch objects together in edit mode after joining them as one object. You could also use a Boolean modifier and choose Union and then not have to do the physical stuff. The rub here is that you are probably wanting a particular flow of your texture across the newly joined objects, and this will depend on UV mapping.
The main takeaway from this is that it depends on how you unwrap your UVs and how your model flows with the current UV mapping. You can try setting a Texture Coordinate node and a Mapping node and try different effects by mapping from Normal, from View, from Camera etc.
I just created a new object after editing my old node group and saving it with a new name. However, when I try to append it to my new object, I can’t locate the node group. What happened?
My object is selected. I also tried clicking on Add > Group in the Shader Editor, but it’s empty.
I am completely lost here. I can’t seem to append my updated node group as it’s missing. I opened a new file and created a new object >I clicked on APPEND but none of my saved node groups pop up. It’s weird, bc I was able to make it work before. When I edited my old node group and saved it with a new name, I must have messed it up. I am happy to delete everything and start from scratch again, if needed. Again, I would appreciate your assistance. THX
Then make your group and save it in the new file as a library. You don’t want to have the Material Output node inside your group really as you can plug the group node into the existing Material Output node in your material.
The file you Append from needs to hold the group node, and then you need to navigate to that file from inside your new file for Append to list the group nodes.
I still don’t understand. I saved my nodes as a group in another file. Then I created a cube (see pic) and tried appending the nodes group, but it’s missing in the popup window when I click Append. Can I bother you to break this down for me as I am completely lost here.
Yeah, I guess something is lost in translation as you seemed to already understand before now and then you aren’t finding success now.
I created the group node in my main file, I also clicked the fake user shield
Inside the group node looks like this
Created new file to append to
Append by navigating to the library file
Find the Node Tree folder inside the library
Choose the nodetree for append
When it appends, the whole material seems to be there
In your intended material, add your Node Group by choosing Add>Group>choose node group by name
You can then make it a single user copy and make adjustments without affecting the original appended node group in the material that came into file.
Thanks so much for breaking this down for me in such detail.
I never clicked the fake user shield. The main problem is that I get stuck when I have to navigate to the library file to locate the Node Tree Folder when I am ready to append the nodes group to my new object. That’s the issue. I am on a MAC.
I deleted blender and reinstalled it, but that didn’t fix the issue. For some odd reason, I can’t find any saved node groups to append. I made sure to shield icon on the node group. Here is an example of a couple of saved nodegroups that are missing. What are your thoughts?
Deleting Blender and reinstalling serves no purpose in this particular instance.
You must navigate to the folder and file that your library node groups are in to append them, that’s it. If you can’t find them, remake the file from scratch or even modify the file I gave you and save that to use as a library source file.
You can test using my file - save it to your desktop and try appending my group node to a fresh file. I used to use a mac at work 4 years ago, and I worked with Blender on it for 7 years there before I left - and I didn’t have an issue appending node groups to my compositor scenes at all. I’m sorry it’s been so long, I may have forgotten something here that is mac specific that I did that I don’t experience on Windows and Linux.
I finally figured out what I was doing wrong! Now I know where my saved node groups are located, and I have written down all the steps I took, so I will never ever forget. 
When I append my node group with the checkered pattern, how can I replace the pattern without having to create a whole new node group from scratch?
Many thanks!