Nuke W3. Intro to Nuke
Workshop Notes:
This is my first time getting to learn Nuke, yet with my experience in other 3D softwares like Blender or Houdini, I have been familiar with node-based workflow. Compositing is an important part of CG and VFX industry, I am eager to improve my skill and knowledge on this topic as I believe it will be beneficial in taking my personal works to another level of quality.
Basic Elements:
About Node-Based Compositing:
In compositing, nodes serve as the fundamental components. To craft a new compositing script, you insert and link nodes, forming an operational network. This setup lets you carry out various manipulations on your images (procedural workflow?)
In node-based software, intricate compositing tasks are simplified by connecting a series of basic image manipulations, known as “nodes.” These nodes come together to create a schematic layout, resembling a flowchart. A composite is represented as a tree-like graph, intuitively mapping out the journey from the original media to the end product. This is actually how all compositing software internally manage composites.
Flexibility and Limitations:
This approach offers high flexibility, allowing you to adjust the settings of an earlier image-processing step while observing the complete composite.
However, it’s worth noting that node-based systems often struggle with keyframing and time-based effects, as they don’t originate from a timeline like layer-based systems do.
Key Points to Remember:
Make sure to convert MP4 or MOV files into image sequences before proceeding, as Nuke is not well-optimized for MOV files. It’s designed to work best with image sequences, which are collections of ordered still frames that together form an animation. Typically, these frames are stored in a single folder and labeled in a sequential manner to maintain their order.
Workflow Steps:
- Import your video file.
- Tweak the frame sequencing and range using the retime and frame range nodes. Exercise caution not to alter the frame speed in the retime node.
- Invoke a write node to export the video as an image sequence.
- Choose either DPX or EXR as the file format.
- Don’t forget to add hashtags, enabling Nuke to properly write the sequences.
Typical VFX pipeline:
Further research
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