3 SKILLS EVERY FX ARTIST NEEDS! →

Andrew Paxson:

WHAT LANGUAGE SHOULD I LEARN FIRST?

Python. Houdini, Maya, Nuke, Modo, and Blender all implement python and allow you to do some amazing things! Python is super easy to use and the support online and in studios is very vast! Later I recommend, if you are an Houdini Artist, C++ and VEX. For Maya artists, MEL and C++.

I agree with all of this. I sometimes wonder why Python isn't a requirment for jobs that have to do with any of the above software. I know many senior artists that have no coding skills at all. That doesn't make them bad artists it just means at some point they will run out of options for problem solving.

Nuke 10 Beta

The Foundry released a Nuke 10 Open Beta, if you're an existing NUKE user with current maintenance. Have a go, find some bugs and report them.

Remember this beta should not be used in production.

Link to download page

You will need a username and password.

Learning

I had lunch with a friend and mentor of mine Jim O' Hagen. We got talking about what we wanted to get better at or maybe something we needed to learn. He mentioned Codecademy.com . Jim mentioned that Miles had posted a commandline tutorial from them and it was really good. Last week I posted about discussions on the Nuke mailing list about wanting to get better at math. I thought I'd pass this forward.

10 VFX Films advance to Bake-off →

Every year you hear people talk about how the work wasn't ground breaking or new. This year it's hard to make that staement. In some way all of these films are making something really hard look easy. I havn't seen some of these movies but the ones I have seen the work is top notch.

Math or Maths

There is a great conversation going on the nuke list about learning math for compositing.

Here are some links to what came up in the discussion:

Mathematics for Computer Graphics

The Art and Science of Digital Compositing

Mathematics for Visual Effects and Design

Fxphd also has a class called PHY101: Introduction to Physics the link is not coming up. I can recommend all of those books. I wrecked my car driving home from a talk and book signing Ron Brinkmann did at AFI. Compositing is all about math. Make no mistake.

Unionizing Efforts in the UK →

Jeff Heusser:

In London recently BECTU (Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union) formally requested recognition to represent the compositing department at MPC. fxguide spoke with Paul Evans from BECTU as well as Joe Pavlo, an artist who has been heavily involved in the effort.

Useful Nukepedia Tools #4 →

Nukepedia:

An object tracker node by KeenTools

Neat stuff. The test for tools like this is always "what would this made easier/possible a year ago?" Some situations come to mind.

GrainCheck for NukeStudio & Hiero →

Mads:

It was quite fun to see that 2 days after publishing the CubeKeyer post Nuke 10 was announced with a keyer for NukeStudio. And since Nuke 10 is so close, i don’t see a reason to release mine.

I totally disagree. I think Mads should release his version of the CubeKeyer. Mads thanks for a GrainChecker. Even the artist with the most keen eye cannot match grain to save there lives. Even with the Regrain node in NukeX, most artists don't even know it's wrong.

Nuke 10 →

The Foundry:

The NUKE tools you use every day are about to get a whole lot better. Coming in early 2016, NUKE 10 focuses on enhancing performance, increasing stability, blitzing bugs and delivering new functionality in the areas that matter most to artists: paint, rendering, playback, export and more. We’ve also got a whole sweep of updates to keep NUKE up to date with industry standards, plus new OpenColorIO integration to simplify your color management workflow.

Blitzing of bugs. I guess thats a good thing. I really think it's a great that The Foundry knew that a keyer in the timeline was needed for Nuke Studio. We don't have the keyer from Mads yet but it's kinda awesome that a indedentent can cook up a simular tool. The Smart Paint looks great. The demo (5 mins in) looks great.

CUBE Keyer for Nuke Studio & Hiero →

Mads:

Two weeks ago i finished a small feature film project, with 50% of the VFX work being greenscreen shots. And there I realised that it is a bit of a shame that Nuke Studio does not have a keyer. Sitting in the timeline environment trying to figure if the shot is going to work or not. This usually ends up in having to go from real-time land, into comp land, which can be a bit tricky when dealing with 8 minute plates. And just the convinience of being able to get a rough idea of how its going to look and aid clients who can’t abstract from greenscreen temps.

Anyone who says client services aren't important are not hooked up right. It's why producers are paid so much. Another awesome entry from Mads.