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# Nodes for Scene Building

Define the appearance or layout of scene content.

## Topics

### Base Nodes

Provide a reference, point of view, or foundation to all things displayed in a scene.

[Using Base Nodes to Lay Out SpriteKit Content](/documentation/SpriteKit/using-base-nodes-to-lay-out-spritekit-content)

Use nonvisual nodes to define the layout of a scene.

[`SKNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKNode)

The base class of all SpriteKit nodes.

[`SKCameraNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKCameraNode)

A node that determines which parts of the scene are visible within a view.

[`SKReferenceNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKReferenceNode)

A node that’s defined in an archived `.sks` file.

### Nodes that Draw

Display images, shapes, particles, text, video, tiles, or even 3D content.

[Maximizing Node Drawing Performance](/documentation/SpriteKit/maximizing-node-drawing-performance)

Structure your nodes for maximum performance.

[`SKSpriteNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKSpriteNode)

An image or solid color.

[`SKShapeNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKShapeNode)

A mathematical shape that can be stroked or filled.

[`SKEmitterNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKEmitterNode)

A source of various particle effects.

[`SKLabelNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKLabelNode)

A graphical element that draws text.

[`SKVideoNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKVideoNode)

A graphical element that plays video content.

[`SKTileMapNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKTileMapNode)

A two-dimensional array of images.

[`SK3DNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SK3DNode)

3D SceneKit content drawn as a flattened sprite.

### Nodes for Environmental Effects

Provide environmental effects to your scene, such as audio, lighting, or areas with specific physics characteristics.

[`SKAudioNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKAudioNode)

A node that plays audio.

[`SKLightNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKLightNode)

A node that lights surrounding nodes.

[`SKFieldNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKFieldNode)

A node that applies physics effects to nearby nodes.

### Nodes that Modify Drawing

Modify the rendering of child nodes by cropping, applying Core Image filters, or performing 3D transformations.

[`SKEffectNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKEffectNode)

A node that renders its children into a separate buffer, optionally applying an effect, before drawing the final result.

[`SKCropNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKCropNode)

A node that masks pixels drawn by its children so that only some pixels are seen.

[`SKTransformNode`](/documentation/SpriteKit/SKTransformNode)

A node that allows its children to rotate in 3D.


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