Planning new Nuke DVD(s)

throb · 10:23 AM

Hey all,
I am planning my next DVD for Nuke.

Instead of doing a boring "this is where the buttons are" I am planning to deal more with things that you'll really experience in the real world.

Such as :
- compositing full cgi scenes. trying to make things as real as possible.
- compositing live action elements (smoke, etc) into cgi for additional realism
- cgi vehicle work in nuke

I will do some work on what the nodes are but I feel that people are not as interested in that these days. I can structure the dvd to have instruction as I go if you guys think that's a good idea.

Additionally, would people be interested in a full dvd or just several videos showing a specific technique?

rob

tommy138 · November 21st, 2009, 10:15 AM

Would definitely be into the things you just mentioned.
Just showing things that you would come across a real production.
Now I know it would be boring to show how one would tackle a difficult key, as it would take a long time to show.
But some useful tips and tricks to get you in the right direction would be cool though.

Aruna · November 21st, 2009, 12:05 PM

Rob... If you need someone to do some keying tutorials, and you've got existing plates, PM me. I've found that the quality of keying has diminished. Maybe we can work out something.

sepu · November 21st, 2009, 12:08 PM

maybe some camera projections techniques as well, everything you said sounds pretty good to me.

throb · November 21st, 2009, 12:32 PM

@Aruna : thanks for the offer. if i find something that can use your skills, i will definitely get back to you.
@sepu : good idea. should do a matte painting projection one and maybe something on clean plate making.

throb · November 21st, 2009, 12:34 PM

I'm going to throw some 3D in there and deal with Linear Workflow again. Hopefully this will help 3d artists get images to compositing that are more accurate, more easily.

jasonhuang1115 · November 21st, 2009, 04:14 PM

Great to hear that you are planning for next Nuke DVD.I am a fan of the first DVDs (watching the x35 and jungle integration over and over again...)

All ideas you and Aruna have mentioned sound awesome. I would add my 2 cents from more of a lighter's angle:

- camera projection with spherical HDRI onto reconstructed geometries to build a physically-plausible environment for lighting.
- more involved with nuke's 3D system.
- 2.5D relighting
- if you end up doing 2 DVDs as last time, instead of button function explanation, I would love to see the first DVD as a theory one. There are many trainings using Shake for explaining compositing. It will be great to see one with Nuke.

- Jason

joshem · 05:29 PM

I am fan too.. of your DVDs Rob..

I would love to see in the new DVDs.

>More CG integration , specially knowing the power of 3d on Nuke now, with 3d projections, 3d integrations)

> Exactly It will be really cool to see Smoke, Fire , Dust , Water integration ( when you need 3d element and when you can "cheat it")

>Special topics about lighting a scene , if you like to teach theory and practice.The topic that i want to learn the most is.... lighting .(specially things that you need to know if you are building a scene by yourself ( if you are the lighter in 3d and do composting as well )

>Matching 3d render with live action Plates.(bytheway your reel looks really good , specially matching CG with live action).

throb · November 21st, 2009, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonhuang1115

- camera projection with spherical HDRI onto reconstructed geometries to build a physically-plausible environment for lighting.

I am not sure what you mean. Do you want to then take the enviro out of nuke and back into a 3d app?

Quote:

- if you end up doing 2 DVDs as last time, instead of button function explanation, I would love to see the first DVD as a theory one. There are many trainings using Shake for explaining compositing. It will be great to see one with Nuke.

- Jason

Thanks for the kudos and I would like to have more of a theory one as well. I mean, I want that but I want to have it where you do comps and real work as you learn the nerd bullshit

I feel that will be more effective. What do you think?

rob

jasonhuang1115 · 10:46 PM

You actually got exactly what I mean.

Plus, I haven't seen this type of camera projection workflow being covered anywhere else, so I thought it will be great to see this technique unveiled. I guess this type of task may not be one of the everyday jobs for a compositor. However, I feel the potential of nuke being utilized in pre-viz or even step in ahead of lighters in the pipeline to set up the lighting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by throb

I am not sure what you mean. Do you want to
then take the enviro out of nuke and back into a 3d app?

That's even better. It is great to at the same time hear your insight of deciding a quality key pulled, matched black in each channel, and etc. while working on a production shot as example. BTW, the ideas brought up in this thread by you and others are really really great ideas.....any approx. date of release?

Quote:

Originally Posted by throb

Thanks for the kudos and I would like to have more of a theory one as well. I mean, I want that but I want to have it where you do comps and real work as you learn the nerd bullshit

I feel that will be more effective. What do you think?

rob

mhafeez_13666 · November 22nd, 2009, 01:04 AM

Hi Rob, will UV mapping etc be part of the DVD? I am learning Nuke so I may not know the exact technical term but if you see the making of "Is this love" in the foundry website they show some UV/Camera projection etc for the accident scene which I have no clue of

. When they show the 3d view of Nuke the geometry etc looks so messed up but in scanline render it looks right. Sorry, I have no idea as to what it is. Maybe your DVD will help

sv0 · November 22nd, 2009, 03:44 AM

This is great news rob; I'm a huge fan of your previous two DVD's and have watched them over and over again...

Just my 2 cents would be to include using imported 3d geometry and doing projections onto it or manipulating UV's or something, and why you would do this.

However I also really liked in your previous DVD's when you are building up full production shots and you show lots of clever tips and tricks and short cuts and hotkey's etc - all this info really helps for people to learn how to do things faster, quicker and more efficiently, and it's not really the kind of thing you can learn from a manual.

More of a crit of the DVD structure/Director clips on the previous disks, but could you add a pause button and a slider? Sometimes you just want to re-watch something you've missed or perhaps misunderstood, and you don't want to have to reload the chapter and sit through 10minutes of video just to skip back a bit. Although I appreciate this might be out of your hands!

Look forward to it!

sv0 · November 22nd, 2009, 05:05 AM

oh and also; I think what Aruna's suggesting about Keying would also be great - in your last DVD's the work you showed on using Primatte to do tricky keys was exceptional. Of course that was a Nuke4.x system, so it would be interesting to see if you have any different approaches with Nuke5.x - do you use the IBK for example...? I liked the way you used the luminance based keyer and the HueKeyer in the previous DVD's to quickly generate decent mattes....

Your work on the Saab Blackbird was incredible, so some full CGI car/vehicle based workflows would be superb to watch.

Good stuff Rob.

tommy138 · November 22nd, 2009, 05:21 AM

I for one, would definitely be into seeing those Aruna keying tips.
Also the stuff on lighting and 3D projection sounds great.
I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

I know it takes a long time to plan/make these things, but when do you think these babies are going to come out?

nikita · November 22nd, 2009, 08:08 AM

CG vehicle work in Nuke would be very interesting to see and also more tips and tricks how to make CG appear "more real" in general. That would include some basic aspects of (re-)lighting, as this seems to be more and more required from a compositor.

I'd definitely go for a full DVD rather than a few videos.

I'd also be very interested in Aruna's proposal as well, as keying is such an important part of our work. I've worked on a few features so far but getting tips and tricks from a seasoned veteran would still be very valuable to me.

So why not a DVD from Rob about CG integration, vehicles, lighting etc. and one from Aruna about keying? There must be quiet a market for both of them!