tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27246452815412562032024-03-13T00:13:50.859-07:00Isa Alsup, VFX CompositorIsa A. Alsuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03208639294629529707noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724645281541256203.post-13609316768292431842011-11-21T14:25:00.001-08:002011-11-22T05:06:21.433-08:00A busy year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For the last 14 months I've been happily very busy as a <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">co</span>mpositor </b>in Hollywood and as a <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">DF</span>X Supervisor</b> in Mumbai.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #f9cb9c;">In Mumbai India</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, supervising was an adventure.</span><br />
I had a mixed team of <b>Nuke,Shake </b>and <b>After Effects</b> compositors. Most of the work involved pulling green screens and integrating the cg and live action into matte paintings, which we had to upgrade with moving clouds, fire effects, smoke and other atmospherics. We had over 500 shots on one show, and during the time I was there we worked on about a dozen projects. We dabbled in some 3DStereo work. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GR6Elc7vS4e0BbJMEwqPxefFuyhEPMMNuU6O-R0GvuJgN63qEGHCWaY7Q1DTdP8quQ0xmwclF_rp4dPAKKn2iFiSL3rK8YLDb1Jr1waoE5O2P0NkrkTjU4QUHlQr7f7UFehVTXYw5CQP/s1600/NUKEicon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GR6Elc7vS4e0BbJMEwqPxefFuyhEPMMNuU6O-R0GvuJgN63qEGHCWaY7Q1DTdP8quQ0xmwclF_rp4dPAKKn2iFiSL3rK8YLDb1Jr1waoE5O2P0NkrkTjU4QUHlQr7f7UFehVTXYw5CQP/s1600/NUKEicon.jpeg" width="50" /></a>During my first safari in India, I taught <b>NUKE </b>at Reliance Media Works, also in Mumbai. Whenever possible I was hands-on in NUKE, setting up shot templates, working out problems and teaching best work-flows. I stress the importance of using the simplest node possible for the job and keeping comps neat for collaboration. I did some NUKE work setting up our pipeline for <i>Priest </i>and <i>Pirates, </i>which were a ton of roto and compositing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBMSbbl08SYEL3XZrKCgGxtvXdMzGoKzs-4iEs9iHUSIdlaOeQmL6-TUjOyLCEBaweoQMPBQpmIPQlfifzgHmH9dkEO_D3_-qbcEIXhydBDwyHHSQ373y8yV_jrBQaj_xUCpUbvypuIJ5/s1600/shake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBMSbbl08SYEL3XZrKCgGxtvXdMzGoKzs-4iEs9iHUSIdlaOeQmL6-TUjOyLCEBaweoQMPBQpmIPQlfifzgHmH9dkEO_D3_-qbcEIXhydBDwyHHSQ373y8yV_jrBQaj_xUCpUbvypuIJ5/s200/shake.jpg" width="50" /></a>I also dove into <b>Shake</b>, compositing shots and elements for artists to use in mass production. About half the crew worked in Shake, so I spent a good deal of time last winter helping them out with the finer aesthetics of integrating live action with matte paintings and adding digital opticals. Most of this work was for a local episodic pilot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0FtbnGUJpDdTQdyMRUhSg8BH92YsKQUF-Swu2zvv1qxopZoIx0yiekkkVxL7coXVoFrn4GiYDDBibrbiyMr5cHcRRIIiZgqLtKc3u9yAdpqIvW2VtW-59N3DaNJJ4P0XLmp5Pw6Ji-hk/s1600/AEicon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0FtbnGUJpDdTQdyMRUhSg8BH92YsKQUF-Swu2zvv1qxopZoIx0yiekkkVxL7coXVoFrn4GiYDDBibrbiyMr5cHcRRIIiZgqLtKc3u9yAdpqIvW2VtW-59N3DaNJJ4P0XLmp5Pw6Ji-hk/s1600/AEicon.jpeg" width="40" /></a>With only one other <b>After Effects</b> artist and lots of motion graphics work, well, I took-on a bunch of comp work to free him up for other shots. Although most of the work was finished before I arrived, I did get in on a couple of <i>Gulliver's Travels </i>shots in AE.<br />
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While I was hands-on as much as possible in compositing, I also had lots of work with my crew working in CG, matte painting, roto, matchmove and previs. As the on-floor supervisor, a lot of my time was taken up with meetings with client directors -- but still I got in lots of comp hours. <br />
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<img border="0" height="121" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_gbgQSa9DaE/TsuIgyjo-MI/AAAAAAAABYo/3ZpieQiwRl8/s200/films_alt.033.jpg" width="85" />
<img border="0" height="121" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bWfZ6n6nCM8/TsuBvhTf2ZI/AAAAAAAABYY/wBCAkHgzSyA/s200/films.042.jpg" width="85" />
<img border="0" height="121" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U4vMFGFi9Vs/TsuBvuSHXjI/AAAAAAAABYY/uRoFcBEHtfU/s200/films.041.jpg" width="85" />
<img border="0" height="121" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6-flDx-0DNA/Tss1dlVGy7I/AAAAAAAABWU/dBFkDlr_DZM/s200/films.034.jpg" width="85" />
<img border="0" height="121" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zn4C5Zx8-0I/Tss1eu2gfvI/AAAAAAAABWU/z9dAaWBGJaA/s200/films.035.jpg" width="85" />
<img border="0" height="121" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o-nmMOSGnKw/Tss1d5Qe91I/AAAAAAAABWU/_i6WENFHqqI/s200/films.036.jpg" width="85" />
<img border="0" height="121" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPWqyHpnx1U/TstAfs4datI/AAAAAAAABXQ/lvK78dXr7AM/s200/films.038.jpg" width="85" />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">Back in the USA</span>,</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> I jumped right into compositing </span><br />
at yU+co, a "player" in motion graphics main titles and such. My former AceFx partner, Stevan del George hooked me up with Garson Yu, who I last worked with during <i>Immortal Beloved </i>making the producer's tag for Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, Stevan needed a crack compositor to move comps from design to completion and help him focus more on his duties as studio stereographer.<br />
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I was tossed into <i>Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides </i>to make the final comp from production roughs and get things stereo-ready. This involved a lot of roto but more than anything, a streamlined pipeline to accommodate many changes to the look and content of the main-on-end titles. From there I jumped into the <i>Green Lantern, </i>followed quickly by <i>Conan, </i>and <i>Dolphin Tale</i><i> </i>-- all 3D movies. I moved into stereo production also -- assisting Stevan here and there and adjusting convergence from time to time.<br />
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In addition to these films, they tasked me with numerous other projects -- titles for the 2D film <i>Wings of Life</i>, several production company tags and commercials for McDonalds, Puffins cereal and the United States Navy -- 100% on watch! I was able to work about 30% in Nuke, 60% in After Effects and the rest in Maya -- an old love. <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #93c47d;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><b>Wings of Life</b> </i>and the other work Louie Schwartzberg is doing at Moving Art is way cool -beautiful, moving. I suggest you check it out. <a href="http://www.movingart.tv/wingsoflife">http://www.movingart.tv/wingsoflife</a> </span> </span></blockquote>
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<b>Anyway, it's been a busy 14 months and I've finally gotten a little time, so I've updated my <a href="http://isaalsup-comps.blogspot.com/p/isa-alsup-demo-and-resume.html">resume and reel</a> to reflect all this fine work -- work done in collaboration with great artists here and in Mumbai I was honored to work with. I love this job.</b><br />
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<br /></div>Isa A. Alsuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03208639294629529707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724645281541256203.post-86787361603060025802010-06-01T18:31:00.000-07:002010-06-01T18:31:40.812-07:00Updating Editing Skills with Lynda<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-size: x-large;"> Editing </span> might seem unrelated to a site dedicated to my compositing skills, but as a compositor I from time to time do a little editing. Often I need to check something in context, and it's a lot easier to use an editing program than build an edit in a compositing application. Mostly, I learned editing hacking away at my own demos with a little guidance from a friend. And an 8000 page (or so it seemed) pdf manual.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Friends have been telling me to visit <b>lynda.com</b> for their great tutorials. I procrastinated, there being many other priorities, and I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to the subscription. Boy was I wrong!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="background-color: black; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPaXxbu8qqm0_dfaEdXdiw9Jfh-EumJ8H0TS5VP-gJgFl_mAhRERCYAZ7DM1lMHeVnlCboRaYmoPm4DWTXRwLn1ASwNpjgAfC1z9RY-QtCU8mhVFZLK-dbev5-YRmi54JTevGXyovXWHn/s1600/VES_logo.png" width="144" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;">What got me to move was the <a href="http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/">Visual Effects Society</a>'s Linwood Dunn Online Training Scholarship. This scholarship gives VES members who apply two-weeks of premium access, on a rotating basis as slots are available. Shortly after I applied, my number came up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.lynda.com/home/otl.aspx?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=ldc_affiliate&utm_content=26&utm_campaign=CD1443&bid=26&aid=CD1443&opt=" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="lynda.com" border="0" src="http://affiliates.lynda.com/42/1443/26/" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> When I went to Lynda.com I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of offerings. My biggest interests, Mocha and Mokey are among the few applications they don't yet have lessons for. I decided to start with Final Cut Pro, and took <b>Larry Jordan</b>'s eight hour <i>Final Cut Pro 5 Essential Editing. </i>I chose FCP 5 because, well, that's what I have at home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Let me tell you, it was great.</b> Of course, it really took me a bit closer to 16 hours with stops and starts. At first I thought I'd just listen to the parts I "needed". But as things progressed, I became more familiar with the site and discovered that they give certificates you can print or link to from your website. This meant finishing all the lessons in the course. And naturally, I thought I could get by without the excercise materials, but when I got to the audio section, I just had to do the lesson excercises. They downloaded in a snap.</span><br />
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<div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.lynda.com/home/CertificateOfCompletion/AllCertificates.aspx?lpk5=795650&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=ldc_affiliate&utm_content=120x60&utm_campaign=cert_of_comp" style="clear: left; float: left; height: 60px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 120px;" target="_blank"><img alt="cert_banner" src="http://www.lynda.com/images/CertificateOfCompletion/120x60_cert_banner.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 60px; width: 120px;" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">So I finished this class</span> </span>and I can say that my skills --and confidence --are greatly improved. I decided I had to have Lynda in my life. So I bought myself a month's gift certificate. Gift certificates are nice, there is no automatic renewal, but the drawback is that they don't offer a <i>premium</i> gift certificate. Remember, premium has the exercise files. I hope to upgrade to a premium annual pass.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Once I finish Jordan's second editing class, I plan to brush up on my After Effects with the latest version. A few months ago I taught myself NUKE doing the NUKE 6 tutorials on the Foundry website. I might just go back and do Lynda's Nuke 5 lessons just to see if I missed anything. (Not much, afterall, I did just <i>teach</i> Nuke 6 in India.) There's a bunch of other stuff I want to update and learn as well. So much for TV!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I liked Lynda.com so much I signed up for their affiliate program. In return, they're letting me offer my readers a <a href="http://www.lynda.com/promo/freepass/Default.aspx?lpk35=930&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=ldc_affiliate&utm_content=655&utm_campaign=CD1443&bid=655&aid=CD1443&opt=">free 24 hour pass to lynda.com.</a> Enjoy!</span>Isa A. Alsuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03208639294629529707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724645281541256203.post-65058324135991124382010-04-07T14:51:00.000-07:002011-11-22T05:17:11.473-08:00Getting into 3D Stereo Compositing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Anachrome optical diopter glasses." height="102" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Plastic_3D_glasses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 20px;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Image via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plastic_3D_glasses.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">3</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">D</span> Stereo </span><span style="font-size: small;">compositing has been on the lips l</span>ately of everyone I've talked to, specifically conversions from 2-D to 3-D. I can't name names, but if you're at all awake right now, you'll know that 3-D stereo films are having a big comeback since it's Golden Age in the early 1950's (well before my time). I'm confident and hopeful that this time, 3-D films are here to stay, and 3-D TV is coming up fast.<br />
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I'm sure many others have had experiences touching "3-D" now and then over the years. It's been interesting watching the development of 3D and I'm really excited to see it taking tinseltown by storm.<br />
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My first ventures into "3-D" were as 3d Supervisor at The Post Group in the mid 1980's. We were early pioneers of digital paint and compositing and 3d-CGI, using such tools as the Aurora, Paint Box, Harry, Mirage, Bosch and Wavefront. My colleague and friend<b> Evan Ricks </b>( Big American Films, Shanghai, China) did a couple of still renderings using Wavefront so I jumped in and did some too. Not having a market for our new skills, and faced with lots of production deadlines we left it at that. I worked on Disney's <i>Captain Eo, </i>but my contributions were non-stereographic titles. Nonetheless, I liked the show and was glad to have a small association. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF18UYsUeXV5V_lNzxDudDmYQ2VbAl-wqVvOq8EV7Ol-tL3EaMSfjjRSCDGUTK2vkSvTIMNhfx7ILtM3LtE-uEGlHNkkIvEB0OuYF0e4bshSeR2rBobVYnFhiaRKDE8rWWAXBVFicbIwKk/s1600-h/Spacehunter_movie_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF18UYsUeXV5V_lNzxDudDmYQ2VbAl-wqVvOq8EV7Ol-tL3EaMSfjjRSCDGUTK2vkSvTIMNhfx7ILtM3LtE-uEGlHNkkIvEB0OuYF0e4bshSeR2rBobVYnFhiaRKDE8rWWAXBVFicbIwKk/s200/Spacehunter_movie_poster.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Around this time I saw Lamont Johnson's <i>Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone </i>with Molly Ringwald (1983). Interesting film, but the 3D gave me horrific eyestrain and a major headache --as I recall I had to leave the theater. (I've since learned this could have been a projection issue.)<br />
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A few years later my friend and employer <b>Chris Mitchell </b>at Atomix tapped me to help revise some CGI work done for a stereographic ride film, I forget the name, but it had something to do with space. I met the great stereographer, <b>Peter Anderson </b>at this time. Our project was delivered in anamorphic D1, and to view it we used a mirror rig that fit over the monitor, with the images side by side (and rotated as I recall). Later I did a small project, again with Chris and Peter,<i>Marlboro 500.</i> This was live action and I designed some visual effects which were composited. Another artist did some Houdini CGI and I added Wavefront smoke effects and composited the job in Composer. I missed a chance to work again with Peter on the <b>Cirque du Soleil </b> IMAX film <i>Journey of Man</i> due to scheduling conflicts to my deep regret.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIoQeuktmdYZJD_WFVbmdGP1edMNMiFx37G-cCbdug2Jjs_jnJHUJkmZp4PvxL-mgSSVRDH0fAaJ_w77i_8T9-tw-R__EwXcfd91B9MaSpuuMXB7FjNI5IpEOjPF1X8hpYUl7qyI0tgv_A/s1600-h/Wikipedia_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIoQeuktmdYZJD_WFVbmdGP1edMNMiFx37G-cCbdug2Jjs_jnJHUJkmZp4PvxL-mgSSVRDH0fAaJ_w77i_8T9-tw-R__EwXcfd91B9MaSpuuMXB7FjNI5IpEOjPF1X8hpYUl7qyI0tgv_A/s200/Wikipedia_logo.jpg" width="100" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">With my renewed interest in 3-D</span><span style="font-size: small;"> as a professional, I decided I should augment my practical knowledge with a little book-time I can as fast as I can. Myeb search took me straight to WIKIPEDIA; this has been a great source of general information. </span>I suggest if you have any interest in 3-D, and don't know words like <i><a class="zem_slink freebase/en/stereopsis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereopsis" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Stereopsis">stereopsis</a>, horopter, convergence, </i>you head over to wiki-land right away for a little R-n-R. (Reaserch and Reading)... Their article on <a class="zem_slink freebase/en/3-d_film" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-D_film" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="3-D film">3-D films</a><span style="font-size: small;"> provides a great primer on the history and development of 3-D....</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116409/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6f-ljLp8NI/AAAAAAAAAOI/onID50xctwI/s200/films.016.jpg" width="70" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKv-FYw_ebWAT9OWYMPKWLh_GBih1auUhM7ZWr9ZRgal-9uV83hSKMAWT54CgqCYihRvajp65OU425GLzAbnCKTzvuy4UsrE_C1mnI9n4ahT-mrc9TVV4VJ5CyK7dII8PP9oQQuKPboMi/s1600-h/Bwanadevil3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKv-FYw_ebWAT9OWYMPKWLh_GBih1auUhM7ZWr9ZRgal-9uV83hSKMAWT54CgqCYihRvajp65OU425GLzAbnCKTzvuy4UsrE_C1mnI9n4ahT-mrc9TVV4VJ5CyK7dII8PP9oQQuKPboMi/s200/Bwanadevil3.jpg" width="70" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span> <br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The first color 3-D feature </span></b>was <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bwana_Devil" title="Bwana
Devil">Bwana Devil</a></i>, the story of the man eating lions of Tsavo, East Africa. [This story was redone as a 2-D film starring Michael Douglas and Vil Kilmer and in 1996 as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116409/"><i>The Ghost and The Darkness</i></a>--I had the pleasure of working on this film as a senior compositor for Sony Pictures Imageworks. VFX Supervised by my friend <b>Stuart Robertson</b>]<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The talk is about stereo 3-D today, </b></span><span style="font-size: small;">a</span>s I said before. My trip to India was all about preparing artists in Mumbai use Nuke for stereographic 2-D to 3-D conversion (<i><a href="http://isaalsup-comps.blogspot.com/2010/03/isa-teaches-nuke-in-india.html">Isa Teaches NUKE in India</a>).</i> I've since talked to several companies about their conversion projects.<br />
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I saw <i>Clash of The Titans</i>, mainly to see the quality of the stereo conversion done for that film. I took along a large group of highly trained movie and vfx critics (my family and a few friends), and all of us were delighted with the action, visuals, effects and found the 3-D worked fine. The original film is one we enjoyed, so I expected no less with this remake. A few scenes with really fast motion were hard to follow the action, but I've seen the same problem in 2-D films, so I can't join the chorus of published critics who coed about these scenes. Because the film was shot well for 2-D, the standard depth cues in the shots were there, and they tended to be stronger than the 3-D most of the time. The film also employed standard DOF blurring, light fall-off and haze, so the visuals were pretty rich. Watching the film, I was reminded that good 3d space starts with staging, lighting and the use of traditional depth cues. 3-D is the icing on the cake. I intend to see <i>Alice in Wonderland </i>next to compare the 3-D conversion results.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">3-D films are here to stay; I'm convinced. </span></b> </span>I don't see 3-D supplanting 2-D films the way color drove black and white out of the standard toolkit into the realm of "art" or the way talkies obliterated the silent film. <i><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-04-06-mythmash06_CV_N.htm">USA Today</a> </i>says that box office is up 10% (despite the economy) and attributes this increase to 3-D films. As a compositor, this means that it's time to be 3D savvy. I'm glad I've done enough 3d 3-D to understand the concepts. NUKE, AfterEffects and other applications are there to help with the work-flow. Vendors are coming online with processes for conversion. New cameras are coming. It's a good time to be in Visual Effects.<br />
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</div>Isa A. Alsuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03208639294629529707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724645281541256203.post-25406433284054102512010-03-17T02:38:00.000-07:002010-04-12T12:31:48.174-07:00Isa teaches NUKE in India<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sKNBZta3I/AAAAAAAAAQM/43ffiMl7bZc/s1600-h/IMG_0114-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sKNBZta3I/AAAAAAAAAQM/43ffiMl7bZc/s200/IMG_0114-1.JPG" width="194" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="gphoto-photocaption" id="lhid_caption"><div class="gphoto-photocaption"><span class="gphoto-photocaption-caption">Isa Alsup teaching Nuke. </span></div>Reliance Media Works, India</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Isa Alsup recently traveled to Navi Mumbai, India, to teach over 60 CG artists NUKE. Isa was one of four instructors assisting Steve Wright to teach 280 employees at Digital Media Imaging Ltd, a Reliance Media Works Company. The company will specialize in stereographic conversions.<br />
<br />
<br />
Isa, as an After Effects user of more than nine years, shepherded those artists making a transition from After Effects to NUKE. "Once you know one compositing software application, learning a new one is like learning a new language. Going from After Effects to NUKE," Isa told the class, "is mostly <br />
<a name='more'></a>learning the vocabulary of NUKE and translating from After Effects to NUKE language." Isa also stressed that in learning NUKE, the other challenges for After Effects artists are to learn what Wright calls "The Way of NUKE", meaning some of ways NUKE and After Effects workflows may differ when doing similar operations and using similar tools.<br />
<br />
"Teaching in India was a great experience with some unexpected challenges," Isa said. These challenges included the need to explain concepts like color spaces, basic color theory, and the differences between garbage, core, soft and hard mattes. Even so, Isa said "the students were bright and asked insightful questions. It was obvious they had compositing experience and were anxious to get the information they felt was essential to do a good job."<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sRlwocEAI/AAAAAAAAARU/IcGeLYSzXKc/s1600-h/IMG_0173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sRlwocEAI/AAAAAAAAARU/IcGeLYSzXKc/s320/IMG_0173.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left: Isa, Lawrence Littleton, <br />
Steve Wright, Scott Dickson<br />
and Ken Littleton 7 Mar 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The curriculum for the two week course was developed by Steve Wright, who has been teaching NUKE to students in the states, on the internet and in India since last summer. Other instructors with Isa Alsup were brothers Ken and Lawrence Littleton and Scott Dickson. The course of instruction, included the Nuke GUI, essentials of file operations, color, keying, channel operations,merging and rotopaint. In addition, students were taught the use of Nuke's stereographic workflow and given a basic primer in Nuke 3d. A few of the furnace plug-ins were also visited as they related to making clean plates and rotoscope.<br />
<br />
While the base curriculum was designed by Wright, each instructor was left to interpret and expand upon the material in their individual classrooms, embellishing with their own experience using NUKE and stories as professional compositors.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sQxVuH6OI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/b_Vh40Mc2X0/s1600-h/classMontage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sQxVuH6OI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/b_Vh40Mc2X0/s400/classMontage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isa (center) with Nuke students in India 6 Mar 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Isa told students that he had recently made the transition himself from After Effects to Nuke. "Over the years I've worked with about nine different compositing apps. I think -you can think -in terms of basic compositing concepts, so learning a new application is fairly easy," he reassured the students.<br />
<br />
<br />
"The core functions of NUKE are based on fundamental compositing principles, just as they are in After Effects," Isa told the class. He used an analogy of learning to drive a new car: "the first thing you do is you have to learn where all the controls are in the new car -how they differ. You already know how to drive." <br />
<br />
<br />
Isa also discounted the idea that moving from After Effects to Nuke was difficult because Nuke is node based whereas After Effects is layer based. "Multi-layer compositing is all node based if you understand the underlying code and concepts," Isa argues. He explains that while After Effects calls "nodes" "effects" and groups them within a structure of a layer, "under the hood they both take in footage, apply effects to the footage and write it out." The difference he says is mostly emphasiss of the presentation: "After Effects focuses attention on time and animation while nesting effect nodes within a layer structure. Nuke, on the other hand, brings the image data stream and effects to prominence and obscures time and animation."<br />
<br />
<br />
During class sessions, Isa made it a point to introduce Nuke concepts, tools and procedures by relating Nuke to After Effects terminology. In some cases workflows were similar and in others divergent, and Isa pointed these out as well. For example, in explaining the rotopaint node in Nuke, Isa pointed out that it integrated functionality that in After Effects is done using masks and several different effects.<br />
<br />
<br />
Wright, arrived a week ahead of the other instructors to teach an additional 60 advanced students the week prior to the course. These advanced students were distributed among the four classes to assist as mentors during student excercises. "The use of classroom mentors helped enormously," Isa said, "they were able to offer one on one assistance that teaching a group of 60 was too much for me to offer alone."<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/X1DXzxCc_uxMkAiseY6vrk3Q3sDAvFkLCr9fdJi2u7Q?feat=directlink" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eEsPbX7o-3w/S6sRHA_VDhI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ChXkeJGQYsE/s320/IMG_0024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isa at the Gateway of India. Mumbai 28 Feb 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Overall, Isa says he enjoyed the expereince in Mumbai, adding, "it's an exciting new company with a great vision, and the positive attitude and ey of the students was outstanding. Digital Media Imaging intends to convert several motion pictures a year to sterographic once operations are fully launched. "I hope to go there again," Isa ated, "the people were excellent to work with, both management and students; I enjoyed teaching Nuke, and the food was great."Isa A. Alsuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03208639294629529707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724645281541256203.post-61815576830942202102010-03-17T02:22:00.000-07:002010-03-17T02:42:02.325-07:00The After Effects to Nuke Migration: Speaking Nuke<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge19z2i6m5Ul0AAGaEZCCHNF51HJi7TEsuu90BBdV1BMheUm5PDcu7-JdKFm9rEK0V_vNhmjh6Rq9kRQoOGDuHNq8y1lnRi81AFqr1yyI-AqApTnFzK5JptduKmv_5YacDknf0DJ7zrdhi/s1600-h/AEtoNuke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge19z2i6m5Ul0AAGaEZCCHNF51HJi7TEsuu90BBdV1BMheUm5PDcu7-JdKFm9rEK0V_vNhmjh6Rq9kRQoOGDuHNq8y1lnRi81AFqr1yyI-AqApTnFzK5JptduKmv_5YacDknf0DJ7zrdhi/s200/AEtoNuke.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>As a compositing artist, it’s just as important to have a breadth of knowledge across several applications as it is to have a depth of knowledge in a particular vendor’s product. Recent changes in the marketplace have made Nuke, originally developed over 15 years ago at Digital Domain, the hot application of the day. For those migrating from After Effects, as I have done, our knowledge of compositing techniques and disciplines will help us grasp the key essentials quickly. This article will compare and contrast After Effects and Nuke to help you make the transition.<br />
<br />
<br />
The essential difference between Nuke and After Effects is not that one is node based and the other is <br />
<a name='more'></a>not; in fact both are node based, multi-layer (let’s say multi-stream from now on) one pass compositing applications. [See my article <i>Decomposing Node-based Software.</i>]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The differences can be classified as:<br />
<ol><li>Terminology differences<br />
</li>
<li>User interface differences<br />
</li>
<li>User work flows differences<br />
</li>
<li>Compositing toolkit differences<br />
</li>
<li>Differences within analogous tools<br />
</li>
</ol>This article will not attempt to explain all these differences, but rather, focus After Effects users on how to think and speak in Nuke with regard to terminology and interface.<br />
<h4 class="western">User Interface Differences</h4>When an artist cracks open Nuke for the first time, it can appear overwhelming. There is much more information on the screen than in After Effects and seemingly more controls and options. Further, the icons and placement of controls are unfamiliar. I had the same experience when I transitioned from Composer to After Effects. It’s new software shock, and the best treatment is to start learning where the controls are you often use and what are all those other thingies for? My best advice –go do the online Nuke tutorials. These will help you learn the controls, and the interface is divided into several areas so each tutorial video is only a few minutes long.<br />
<br />
But let’s look at this from your perspective as an After Effects artist, shall we?<br />
<br />
First, your life in After Effects begins with your project window. This is where you gather footage and manage compositions and other assets. Nuke has need for such things, so just say goodbye. It also has no interface similar to AE’s Timeline. Instead, all footage items, composition trees, and effect nodes coexist in happy arrangement or chaotic confusion (depending on the user) in an area called The Node Graph. (key frames and motion curves can be viewed and edited in the Curve Editor). Unlike After Effects’s Node Graph, which shows only one composition tree at a time, the Nuke Node Graph allows the artist to view all compositions at once. Well, this may be impractical, but the artist will zoom into a comp or branch of a tree to work on a particular area while leaving the rest of the node graph outside the desktop boundary. So Nuke’s Node Graph IS the Project Window and the Composition Window.<br />
After Effects users may miss the Project Window, which functions as a Project Bin for sorting and collecting footage. While not necessary, an artist can accumulate all the footage items in one corner, place them in an open container called a Backdrop, and then clone these footage items for use in comp node trees. <i>Clone?</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Yes, Nuke has the concept of cloning a footage item. Think of this as a way to make clear that the same footage with the same settings is being used again. If you change it once, you change it everywhere. Very After Effects like.</span><br />
<h4 class="western">User Interface and Terminology Correlation </h4><div style="font-style: normal;">By now you’ll notice that the language of Nuke is different. Here’s a simple table with a few common terms:</div><table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" height="3274" style="page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; width: 500px;"><col width="73*"></col> <col width="77*"></col> <col width="106*"></col> <thead>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjYq7wY20P5cJZ4O5p1j2N8oMWxelxGg4nW3nala85dHpwXxAzJHWMzEb-vUJOMqizdltUS1iWX5QaV2gDZ7BVY0Vx5y8haaLIe9YMjf9wvguqjlXIpyhC03gmTU9uMawZKN_-V04J88R/s1600-h/AEicon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjYq7wY20P5cJZ4O5p1j2N8oMWxelxGg4nW3nala85dHpwXxAzJHWMzEb-vUJOMqizdltUS1iWX5QaV2gDZ7BVY0Vx5y8haaLIe9YMjf9wvguqjlXIpyhC03gmTU9uMawZKN_-V04J88R/s1600/AEicon.jpeg" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></td><td width="30%"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYzjC36P_xTuX6pPmZleoW6gmBRWJvQd9QBUu1yGD-M7gBmj4XXtKlSfPARcbTC7IitKMBp58DbCFaa1KlK0MJXsWhkefkOwxJwE-oRtmfYUT4Ssedbz5WlDmQBw7ImEzRr9XZQm7ziS_/s1600-h/NUKEicon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYzjC36P_xTuX6pPmZleoW6gmBRWJvQd9QBUu1yGD-M7gBmj4XXtKlSfPARcbTC7IitKMBp58DbCFaa1KlK0MJXsWhkefkOwxJwE-oRtmfYUT4Ssedbz5WlDmQBw7ImEzRr9XZQm7ziS_/s1600/NUKEicon.jpeg" /></a></div></td> <td width="42%"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge19z2i6m5Ul0AAGaEZCCHNF51HJi7TEsuu90BBdV1BMheUm5PDcu7-JdKFm9rEK0V_vNhmjh6Rq9kRQoOGDuHNq8y1lnRi81AFqr1yyI-AqApTnFzK5JptduKmv_5YacDknf0DJ7zrdhi/s1600-h/AEtoNuke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge19z2i6m5Ul0AAGaEZCCHNF51HJi7TEsuu90BBdV1BMheUm5PDcu7-JdKFm9rEK0V_vNhmjh6Rq9kRQoOGDuHNq8y1lnRi81AFqr1yyI-AqApTnFzK5JptduKmv_5YacDknf0DJ7zrdhi/s1600/AEtoNuke.jpg" /></a></div></td> </tr>
</thead> <tbody>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Project Window</div></td> <td width="30%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Node Graph</div></td> <td width="42%"><div style="font-style: normal;">You can make a “Project” area in the Node Graph (see text)</div></td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Timeline</div></td> <td width="30%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Node Graph<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="font-style: normal;">Curve Editor</div></td> <td width="42%">Access “layers” and “effects” on these layers in the Node Graph.<br />
Display and edit curves</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Graph Editor</div></td> <td width="30%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Curve Editor</div></td> <td width="42%">Nuke has a Maya-like, superior Curve Editor</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%"><div style="font-style: normal;">Composition Window</div><div style="font-style: normal;">Footage Window</div><div style="font-style: normal;">Layer Window</div></td> <td width="30%">Viewer</td> <td width="42%">All images in Nuke are displayed in a Viewer. Each viewer can have up to 10 inputs (these are “live” unlike AE’s four static snapshots)</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Effects and Presets</td> <td width="30%">Toolbar</td> <td width="42%">No presets. Nuke uses macros called Gizmos, accessed from File menu.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Project Settings<br />
Composition Settings</td> <td width="30%">Project Settings</td> <td width="42%">Nuke image formats are determined either in Project Settings or in image generating nodes.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Renderview</td> <td width="30%">Write node / Progress Bar</td> <td width="42%">Render settings are specified using Write nodes. Progress is monitored using the Progress Bar. There is no visible list of all renders. Renders happen in parallel but user may prioritize this.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Import Footage</td> <td width="30%">Read node</td> <td width="42%"><br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Effect Controls </td> <td width="30%">Properties Bin</td> <td width="42%">Essentially the same. Can limit number of nodes (effects)</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Solid</td> <td width="30%">Constant node</td> <td width="42%"><br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Shape, Mask, Paint effect, Vector Paint effect, Stroke effect</td> <td width="30%">Rotopaint node</td> <td width="42%"><br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Layer</td> <td width="30%">No such concept</td> <td width="42%">The behavior of working with a layer can be matched by Grouping a Read node and its downstream effect nodes without a Merge node. Alternately a user could highlight a set of nodes using a Backdrop node. Grouping emulates the behaviors of AE layers and AE nested comps.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Effects</td> <td width="30%">Effect nodes</td> <td width="42%"><br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Modes</td> <td width="30%">Merge node operations</td> <td width="42%">Merges in AE are implicit. In Nuke they must be explicit using a Merge node. Merge node “operations” match AE “modes” with the same name.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Eye icon (display/use)</td> <td width="30%">Disable on/off</td> <td width="42%">A standard node control</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Render Quality icon</td> <td width="30%">Controlled in Viewer</td> <td width="42%">User may work in auto-proxy mode or full resolution mode, and may skip-out pixels.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Motion Blur controls</td> <td width="30%">Controlled in nodes that could generate motion or effect motion blur quality.</td> <td width="42%">On by default in Nuke.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Color Settings/ Working Space</td> <td width="30%">Handled in Read and Write nodes. Display is controlled in Project Settings.</td> <td width="42%">Nuke uses a linear floating point space for image processing. All footage is conformed on input and output as needed.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Layer Transforms</td> <td width="30%">Transform node</td> <td width="42%"><br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Layer Material</td> <td width="30%">Card node</td> <td width="42%">Nuke handles 3d very differently. Essentially imported footage (Read nodes) are made 3d using either a Card3D node or a Card node. Choice of node determines other nodes required to render a 3d scene.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Motion Tracking</td> <td width="30%">Tracker node<br />
Camera Tracker node</td> <td width="42%">Nuke uses nodes to add tracking functionality. “Tracker” is similar in operation to AE. </td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Smoother, Wiggler</td> <td width="30%">Curve Editor function</td> <td width="42%">Curves can be smoothed using a filter function in the Curve editor. Noise is added with expressions.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Pick whip</td> <td width="30%">Animation drop work flow</td> <td width="42%">In AE a user selects the destination and then requests an animation link, which writes an expression. In Nuke the action is source to destination.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">Adjustment Layer</td> <td width="30%">No such concept</td> <td width="42%">In Nuke, you would use a node with an appropriate mask.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="TOP"> <td width="28%">No multi-layer footage</td> <td width="30%">1024 layers with 1-4 channels each</td> <td width="42%">Nuke “layers” exist within a image data stream. For example, a Read node could deliver one stream comprised of RGBA, Specular RGB, Reflection RGB, shadow mask, occlusion mask, etc.</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><br />
<br />
<br />
This list does not exhaust all the possibilities for comparing Nuke and After Effects, but does hit on the most important.<br />
<br />
Let’s take a look again at the difference between an After Effects “layer” and a Nuke “layer”. They are in no way the same, but e the same inspiration: Photoshop.<br />
<br />
In Photoshop, a <u>single</u> image (this is important) contains numerous layers. Each layer has channels, 1-4 usually, and each channel is comprised of an array of pixels.<br />
<br />
In After Effects, a Comp is analogous to a Photoshop file. If you ever import a Photoshop file into After Effects and keep layers, what you get is a comp. Consequently, in AE, comps have layers and layers have effects and are merged with lower layers using modes.<br />
<br />
In Nuke, the image data stream, which often begins with a Read node, is analogous to the Photoshop file. As a consequence, the data stream has layers. These can be merged with other layers in the stream using Merge or ChannelMerge nodes and similar nodes. In Photoshop or After Effects you can rearrange the precedence of layers, turn them on or off, and set merge modes. In Nuke, this work is done using nodes to explicitly merge or move the layers into the data stream and delivered to the Viewer node or Write node.<br />
<h4 class="western">Nuke Freedom</h4>Despite the terminology and user interface differences, After Effects artists should find the move to Nuke somewhat liberating. Although some things will take more steps to set-up using nodes, this time loss will vanish as artists experience the freedom of not being confto a layer. While some AE effects cut through the layer boundary, the AE layer functions like a closed room. In Nuke, you can close off portions of your composition node tree by enclosing them in a Group node, but this would be for your convenience only.<br />
<br />
Another freedom I like in Nuke is the ability to <i>clone</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> items. I mentioned before cloning Read nodes, which an artist could do to provide a Project Bin sort of functionality. In Nuke, ANY node can be cloned (I’m sure that nodes like Project Settings and View would probably be exceptions). For example, suppose you have 10 image clips and want to apply the same color correction and filters to them. After reading each with a unique Read node and giving each a unique Write node, you can set up your correction and filters on the stream, then clone selected nodes to all the others. A change on any will effect all the clones. Essentially, a clone has a unique input and output, but all other parameters are locked to the other clones.</span><br />
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<div style="font-style: normal;">Nuke’s widget making capabilities remind me of Wavefront Composer’s macros, only better. It is a simple matter to desing a workflow, assign variables, and save this as a macro called a widget. After Effects presets are similar, except you don’t get to define variables, and a preset merely attaches the effects to a layer, while a macro/widget lives outside your Nuke script.</div><div style="font-style: normal;">Nuke also gives you tons more information feedback than After Effects. In the Viewer, you get a display of pixel colors and coordnates (like AE’s Info) but you also get a list of all the layers in the stream image resolution and an overlay showing the bounding box. In the Node graph, most nodes will report channels are being modified and which are being passed unchanged. Other Node Graph indicators flag a node to indicate if it is animated, has expression links, is a clone, and other useful information.</div><div style="font-style: normal;">Another powerful Nuke feature you will enjoy are the Viewer display override controls. Ever look at something on a video monitor and reach out to tweak the knobs? In Nuke, you can tweak your display settings without touching the data. This allows you to look at details in blacks, whites, mids, etc. You can even view the data (and usually do) in a colorspace different from the one Nuke does its work in.</div><div style="font-style: normal;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-style: normal;">That’s a nutshell of some of the similarities, differences and advantages of Nuke. It’s not a tough process to migrate, you just need to give it a little effort and time. Do the online tutorials and watch the online videos. Best of success.</div>Isa A. Alsuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03208639294629529707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724645281541256203.post-18219869265098217112010-03-17T02:13:00.000-07:002010-03-17T03:47:16.597-07:00Decomposing node-based software<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge19z2i6m5Ul0AAGaEZCCHNF51HJi7TEsuu90BBdV1BMheUm5PDcu7-JdKFm9rEK0V_vNhmjh6Rq9kRQoOGDuHNq8y1lnRi81AFqr1yyI-AqApTnFzK5JptduKmv_5YacDknf0DJ7zrdhi/s1600-h/AEtoNuke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge19z2i6m5Ul0AAGaEZCCHNF51HJi7TEsuu90BBdV1BMheUm5PDcu7-JdKFm9rEK0V_vNhmjh6Rq9kRQoOGDuHNq8y1lnRi81AFqr1yyI-AqApTnFzK5JptduKmv_5YacDknf0DJ7zrdhi/s200/AEtoNuke.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>There is an idea prevalent among compositors, supervisors, and job recruiters that there is a huge difference between so called "node-based" compositing software, such as Nuke and Shake and so called "layer-based" software such as After Effects. One sees this division in job ads requiring “node based compositing experience” and hears it when artists or supervisors decry the challenge of moving from one application to another. The reality is that the differences between “node-based” and “layer-based” are largely cosmetic. The difference lies more in how the software helps the artist visualize the compositing task and has little to do with work flows. In fact, the difference is mostly intellectual and not at all based on how the application operates: After Effects is as much node based as Nuke.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzvzzYQNABgu8yt_TJNMIifVkqxWutoT6szxFk4WzBdWEYIxRMugUvL6zhORQCBsI8Y9gKwQ17Iuga_anv_jko-4l-7GAySjNAuuuJ1exmFgMa6QxRQEDQ6-N-t0g_KzsmThOyrl7poLn/s1600-h/NUKEnodes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzvzzYQNABgu8yt_TJNMIifVkqxWutoT6szxFk4WzBdWEYIxRMugUvL6zhORQCBsI8Y9gKwQ17Iuga_anv_jko-4l-7GAySjNAuuuJ1exmFgMa6QxRQEDQ6-N-t0g_KzsmThOyrl7poLn/s200/NUKEnodes.png" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nuke's node diagram</td></tr>
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While there are two categories of compositing software, the categorical difference has nothing to do with nodes. These two types of applications are the “dual layer/multi-pass” type and the “multi-layer/single pass” type, sometimes referred to as “horizontal compositing” and “vertical compositing”. Most popular compositing software in use today relies on the multi-layer/single pass model; all such systems are node based whether the user interface displays this or not.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>To clarify the categorical difference, which will bring us back to node-based compositing , let’s look at the evolution of these two compositing application types.<br />
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Early digital image compositing software with a user interface more complex than a text editor tended to work at video resolution and tended to allow operations on a single layer or image clip. These systems relied on dedicated hardware and disks formatted for a single image resolution. Two clips could be combined using either the foreground layer’s alpha or an external key (third clip). To build a comp, the artist would modify clips one by one and then merge them one by one, rendering a new version at each step. This tedious process made changes in design a major rework. Early software based on this multi-pass approach included the Harry, Henry, Matador and Flame.<br />
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In the late 1980’s script based multi-layer/one-pass compositing got a GUI and the door was opened to expand digital film compositing.<br />
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What the programmers did was a clever thing. Instead of forcing the artist to work one layer at a time on an entire clip, the software allowed the artist to see all layers one frame at a time, or render to view the entire finished comp. This vertical work flow allowed the artist to see an entire stack of operations, an entire comp or any portion of it and make changes at any level. The impact of this change in paradigm was decreased design costs and increased productivity; the consequence was the expanded use of digital compositing in feature film production.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHG2r_dbKZn7OgnUCe1_ymajBRh4jO9Il5-Ld-yphVEiZ-AGbPmvGXpEZz3FUmPsNhq8W65Rbp3fO3smzMVZGY_651xh1Jq6XNUjx-IdUwANl4XisX7WFZeSLRX-UGAC5MyvhYXolrOxW/s1600-h/AEflowchart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHG2r_dbKZn7OgnUCe1_ymajBRh4jO9Il5-Ld-yphVEiZ-AGbPmvGXpEZz3FUmPsNhq8W65Rbp3fO3smzMVZGY_651xh1Jq6XNUjx-IdUwANl4XisX7WFZeSLRX-UGAC5MyvhYXolrOxW/s320/AEflowchart.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After Effects Flowchart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The programmers achieved this by moving all the separate operations that an artist could perform on a layer or combining layers into programming modules within C or C++. These modules, which came to be called nodes by some applications, were then sequenced according to the artist’s instructions automatically, passing the image data stream from module to module through a data pipeline. Because all this was internal and because improvements in computing speed, memory and storage supported this model, the horizontal way of working, multi-pass compositing, was replaced with vertical or single-pass compositing.<br />
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Pioneers of this technology included Wavefront’s Composer, Houdini’s Prisms and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Autodesk Softimage">Softimage</a>’s Ice. Although the three differed in user interface design cosmetics, all of these operated internally on essentially the same principles of programming and compositing.<br />
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So this leads us to the question, what is a node? Some people believe a node is the user interface to an operation. Yes, this is how a node’s parameters and controls can be displayed. However, in my mind a node is the underlying programming unit that accepts an image data stream and user parameters and returns some result. In my mind the node is not the user interface, but rather the software function that the user interface allows communication with. The node is the software expression of a compositing concept that provides both a user interface and executes user commands.<br />
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The term node comes from UNIX data pipelines, which are programs that take data, apply user instructions, and output data. In compositing, the nodes are strung together in a script; this script contains all the instructions needed by the render engine. Whether the user sees these nodes in the user interface as a node tree or as layers with effects is irrelevant; the script directs the flow of image data streams through processing nodes to achieve a final result.<br />
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Most popular compositing software today use the multi-layer one-pass approach, which as we see uses a node based processing pipeline internally. While at this fundamental level compositing software is the same, applications do differ in how these nodes are processed internally and how the user interacts with these nodes. Some software, for example, has been optimized to concatenate color and matrix operations when possible to achieve better quality and improve efficiency. Vendors differentiate their products also with innovative user interfaces and innovative tools. <br />
Some software communicates with the user by displaying the internal node structure and data flow as a node tree diagram. Among the applications that have done this are Composer, Eddie, Prisms, Ice, Fusion, Shake and Nuke. After Effects, which uses a user interface paradigm similar to Photoshop, also allows users to work in a node diagram.<br />
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As we have seen the distinction between so called node-based and layer-based software is intellectual –under the hood both execute a script of commands, these commands describe a data pipeline of operations, and the individual operations are nodes. Understanding the essential paradigm of multi-layer one-pass compositing will help artists migrate gracefully between applications take advantage of real differences in features and operation and to find more job opportunities.<br />
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