Keying

Have you ever looked at a Nuke script of an artist who really knows how to key. Have you ever looked at the script and said "Where's the matte". An artist who comes to mind is Brian Begun. He is an amazing compositor and really knows about keying.

I think most keying is taught by the wrong method. I believe most artists think that Primatte is a way of keying. Granted Primatte does have it's own math which makes it different to say Keylight, and vis versa. Primate is a companies take on a certain kind of keying. In this case color difference keying. What's lost in the this is people think that's how you key. When I mean key I mean a way to place A or B. When a greenscreen comes across your desk your thinking IBK, or Keylight. Maybe some tricks thrown in for edge work. But when presented with a shot that has no screen. That's we're the real matte creation begins.

One of thing things Mr. Begun taught me is; place A over B with a merge and play with the settings. You might get something. Only pay attention to the edges. The core matte can be made in anyway you can.

Making a key isn't a node or effect. It's math. Sorry.

Nuke Wave Expressions

cameroncarson.com:

Nuke’s flexibility and seamless integration of Python and TCL is perhaps the main reason I love working in it so much. Wave expressions are amazingly useful for controlling simple animations that would take quite a bit of keying without. The following expressions amazingly useful in generating these different types of waves and I wanted to make sure I shared what has become part of my toolbox.

 

Source: http://cameroncarson.com/nuke-wave-express...

RotoPaint7

There has been lots of back in forth at my work about Nuke 7. I am also seeing that people are searching for problems with the Nuke 7 rotoPaint.

Our setup now is Nuke6.3v9[which has its own set of horrible problems]. Nuke6.3v9 is our main install that is also on the render farm. We also have Nuke7v2 on our boxes for use of the tracker and other nodes that are hand over fist better.

Here's the problem. As good as Nuke 7 is if you live in RotoPaint then you need it to work. As broken as it is in Nuke6.3v9, at least we know the gotchas, and how to get around them. You can't worry that you are going to crash and lose everything. Yes, that has happened to all of us. The Foundry says it was a crupted script. They would be right but this never happened before so often. We are also getting roto after a crash that is placed at 0,0 in the viewer. Also not awesome.

I love the new tracker in Nuke 7. I love the modeler. I love the RAM playback. None of this means anything if I can't consistently roto and also paint. Consistently I mean, I don't want to have to worry about losing a huge amount of work because of problems in the latest build.

As visual effects artists we need our basic tools and if those tools are broken it doesn't matter how cool and easy to use the modeler is. I might not have to use the modeler but I most definitely have to make a matte and create a clean plate.

90% doesn't count in visual effects. Only 100% will do.

I have always got a sense from The Foundry that being the best and having the best tools is there number one goal. Furnace has always been awesome. They have always listened. I hope they are now.

RFX, Inc. →

rfx.com:
Highlights of the latest release include upgrades to 3D compositing, Alembic geometry support, and image based modeling, which enables building simple geometry from a 2D clip. See demonstrations of the rewritten PointCloudGenerator node, the brand new ZDefocus node, the new shadow casting features, and more.

 

Prolost - Blog - 4K in the Home →

Prolost.com:

I never doubted that last year’s push of 3D televisions would fall on its face, but I do worry about consumers being tricked into thinking 4K matters, because they were with 1080p. Many friends ignored my advice to go for the crisp plasma blacks of the 720p Kuro and instead opted for a 1080p set, due to the same inability to shake the sense of more-is-always-more that drives consumers to buy increasingly high-megapixel point-and-shoot cameras.

 

The reason why doesn't matter. Will people buy them. And yes they will. America only wants bigger and sharper. Even if they have no idea what it means.

Not seeing it

What a huge week. I cannot express how important it is to find a group of really smart people To work with. People who love what they do.

When you can't see it, one of them will. This also works for when you just need to talk it out. One of the best way to working out a problem is telling someone how your going to do it. They might have advice, they might have a question that indirectly solves a problem, or just gets the mind moving in the right direction.

This also works in reverse. Be prepared to help others. If you have done this before speak up. Lend a hand. If tou have free hands and can lighten the load, do so.

Have a good weekend everyone.

fxguidetv #165: Scott Metzger on MARI and HDR →

fxguide.com:

This week we feature a presentation from visual effects artist Scott Metzger, who demonstrates how he used a special build of The Foundry’s MARI tool to project HDR set-captured environment data onto geometry. The work was done for director Richard LaGravenese’s Beautiful Creatures, coming out in 2013.

 

Cool stuff.

125 Years of National Geographic →

Paula Nelson:

I've been a fan of the photography and the stories featured in National Geographic Magazine since I was a child. I explored the world by simply turning the pages. It featured some of the most amazing and groundbreaking photography then and it's never stopped finding new ways to surprise. On January 13, 2013, the National Geographic Society will celebrate its 125th anniversary and its evolution from a small scientific body to one of the world's largest educational and scientific organizations committed to inspiring people to care about the planet. The Society has shared some images that represent those moments of discovery and will continue in its 126th year, to provide a front-row seat to what's happening at the extremes of exploration - bringing everyone along for the ride through its storytelling and photography. You can even "hangout" with some of it's more prominent explorers Jane Goodall, James Cameron and Robert Ballard, on the anniversary date, 1 p.m. EST