Nuke 16.0 has new features for compositing and review workflows that speed up review and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks to make pipelines more efficient.
BlinkScript editor
Foundry Nuke 16.0 has new features for compositing and review workflows that speed up review and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks to make pipelines more efficient.
The biggest update is the introduction of variable-enabled workflows that make multishot compositing native to Nuke. With this feature, artists have the option to apply changes to multiple shots at once within the same script. This ability is based on Graph Scope Variables used to define, store and access the data required for multiple contexts or scopes in a single Nuke script. Like mathematical variables, they hold information that can be referenced and used in different situations.
Once created, they help to manage scopes by using VariableGroup nodes in the node graph, organising variables into small groups and isolating environments for different parts of the script. Users can also switch scopes with the VariableSwitch node, quickly switching between different sections of the Nuke script with a split-and-join effect based on the value of a variable. This avoids copying and pasting between scripts.
Multishot UI
Juan Salazar, Director of Product, Compositing and Finishing at Foundry, said, "Nuke was first developed around a single-shot compositing workflow. Now 25 years later, deadlines are shorter, while shot volume and complexity grow. Our goal is to relieve some of the pressure on compositors, and enable them to spend more time on their artistry and less time manually applying changes to shots.”
From Single Shot to Graph Scope Variables
The single shot approach involves achieving consistency across multiple shots in a sequence, swapping between multiple Nuke scripts, either recreating looks or copying setups manually from one script to another. Instead, Multishot compositing workflows use the new Nuke variables to create a shot and sequence, alongside the Multishot nodes to integrate them into the node tree. Artists may reuse scripts across multiple shots and adapt them as they go, within the single script.
Multishot group view
Conversely, because the variables only affect specific sections of the Nuke script, making a change to one shot doesn’t result in breaking everything else. Graph Scope Variables come with a Variables Panel. Instead of navigating through the Nuke script to find what needs adjusting, artists can see and interact with only the relevant variables in this central panel
So, Variables lend the flexibility to work at scale and speed up labour-intensive workflows, but still maintain consistency and continuity across the project. Artists and studios are able to manage multiple shots, sequences and variations efficiently, without duplications. For instance, in LiveGroups, a user can work in one group across multiple scripts, with other artists working in different sections or shots of the same script.
With command-line render, users specify variables in the command line as a context, and then send selected shots to the render farms with the correct shot context.
Visibility in the Node Graph
Other improvements in Nuke 16.0 aim to save time when working across the Node Graph, BlinkScript and the timeline, promoting team collaboration.
Working in the Node Graph is now faster and smoother, giving artists the ability to view and edit the contents of Groups without opening a new tab. See and edit the contents of Groups and LiveGroups within the same Node Graph. This update supports multishot workflows, creating a way to organize and manage multiple scopes.
New Link Nodes enable simultaneous changes to nodes. Link Nodes, designed with multishot workflows in mind, allow users to make a linked copy of a node, while changes are updated in both nodes with the option for overrides. They are similar to a clone but more versatile.
The roto node is now faster for artists working with rotoscoping at scale – either with large shapes or many smaller ones. It includes improvements to caching, playback, interactivity when editing and moving shapes in the Viewer, and motion blur performance.
Working Faster with Timelines
Improvements to the feedback loop mean that VFX Supervisors and VFX editors working from the Nuke Studio or Hiero timeline can approve and deliver shots faster. New Multichannel Soft Effects help supervisors audition shots and clearly communicate creative intent with blurring, saturation levels and filters on input pixels. You can utilize Multichannel EXRs directly in the timeline, allowing the use effects and precise adjustments choosing specific layers. These can be combined, copied and pasted across shots in the timeline.
Contact sheet
The Contact Sheet allows shot comparison in the Studio environment, loading multiple shots from a sequence specifically for artistic, comparison and review purposes. It includes the ability to add and filter shots to the Viewer.
Quick Export makes exporting a sequence for review from the timeline substantially faster. Available in Nuke Studio and Hiero, it shortens the time it takes to share material with other teams.
Extensible BlinkScript Kernels
Changes made to BlinkScript in Nuke 16.0 are expected to make it easier to use, and for studios to adopt. Artists use BlinkScript to write their own code, defining image processes and customisable effects for Nuke pipelines. The code is written once and runs on various supported devices – either GPUs, to take advantage of massively parallel processing, or on CPUs for farm rendering and similar environments – without needing to change the code.
Motion blur
The Blink framework is based on Blink Kernels. A kernel contains code for each pixel in an image, describing the computations needed to produce the image. The power of Blink is that kernels are developed, generated and compiled on the fly, directly in Nuke’s editor. Users see the results immediately, while switching between GPU and CPU devices. BlinkScripts are used like other nodes, with dynamic parameters that can be saved, loaded and animated, and may be published and shared.
The 16.0 updates include improvements to the editor such as formatting changes, error handling updates and new keyboard shortcuts. BlinkScript Kernels are now more extensible, in other words, you can write your own functions for common operations and read them into multiple BlinkScripts, without having to re-write them each time. Also, new options called Safety Rails catch and report operations that could cause problems in the Kernel code when run directly on the underlying processor, so you can troubleshoot sooner and fix the causes.
USD-based 3D System – Beta
Foundry’s 3D system in Nuke, still in Beta, has updates as well. Among the nodes, the core node has UI updates, and new snap controls for faster geo and pivot manipulation. The GeoConstrain node now comes with new constraint types, and with the ability to constrain to faces and vertices, or offset constraints in time and space. The new GeoXformPrim node creates and edits Xforms in the USD stage to support scene management.
The ray tracing-based architecture in the 3D system, ScanlineRender2, improves sampling, motion blur, AOV outputs and so on, and USD version 24.05 has also been adopted to keep pipeline integrations running. www.foundry.com
