In this fifth part of the intro to the NDK, I will provide a full example of a working tool I called PointGradient, which builds onto the principles we learned about in parts 1 through 4. This PointGradient Node is similar to other existing nodes on Nukepedia, such as Kevin Fisch’s https://www.nukepedia.com/tools/gizmos/image/kf-n-point-gradient/ or Nikolai Wüstemann’s [...]
In this new chapter of the NDK tutorial, we will look into op engines and pixel engines. These functions process your image data and are used in most plugins. We will also briefly cover in_channels and _request which are useful secondary functions you use to ensure your op functions properly. Using your combined knowledge of [...]
There is a lot you can customize in the Nuke interface using Python and many new nodes you can create with gizmos, expressions, and Blinkscript. There are also many limitations that can only be lifted by digging deeper and getting into the world of the Nuke Development Kit (a.k.a. NDK), the C++ API for Nuke. [...]
The recent release of Nuke 13 brought along the update from Python 2 to Python 3. After all, Python 2 has been officially dead since January 2020, and Python 3 has been around since 2008, so that update was due. Python 3 comes with quite a few improvements and a few changes that can easily [...]
After doing a little bit of thinking about UI in part 1 of this article, it would be great to start producing some actual pictures of stars. As I often do in my posts, this isn't a tutorial that gives you the final answer (though you could skip ahead and grab the final result), but [...]
One task compositors are often asked to complete is to create a starry night sky. Whether you are working on an Epic Space Odyssey or the newest Rom-Com miniseries, you might be asked to sprinkle some stars in the sky. Some directors are a bit pickier than others, and you might be asked to ensure [...]
Even though it’s the compositor’s bread and butter, Keying can still be a particularly painful subject. I’ve been pulling keys for over a decade, yet it is often scarier than comping a full CG realistic shots with projected matte paintings and volumetric smoke. One can never have too many tools on their belt for pulling [...]
Last week we started playing with Higx PointRender, and we saw how it wasn’t really a particle system as we’re used to. Let’s dive a little deeper to understand what differs between this method and Nuke’s particle system, see how we can get our points to behave more like particles, and what are the limitations [...]
For the very few of you who have missed it, the talented Mads Hagbarth recently released his Higx PointRender. While the tool is not free, it’s pretty affordable compared to what some others might charge for tools that can accomplish this much. There are a few video tutorials on the official website, plus some experiments on [...]
This post if for the artists who have been dipping their toes in the water of Python development and are considering taking it to the next level. We will cover some of the points that differ between an artist/amateur level of development and an entry TD level. I’m covering quite a few subjects in this [...]
