The Foundry Nuke Studio
Version 17.0v4 · The Foundry · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #162 in the library
The node based compositor that feature finishing is built on, bundled here with the extended toolset and the timeline environment so shot review, conform and the actual compositing all happen in one application.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
Nuke composites with a node graph rather than a layer stack, and at the scale of film work that is not a stylistic preference. A shot with three hundred operations, several render passes, a clean plate, a roto layer set and a dozen colour corrections is comprehensible as a graph and unmanageable as a stack. Any node output can be viewed at any point, branches merge and split freely, and the same graph copies onto the next shot in the sequence with the reads swapped.
The package covers all three variants. Nuke is the core compositor with the full 2D toolset, keyers, colour operations, filters, transforms, roto and paint, and deep image support. NukeX adds the higher end tooling: the camera tracker, the lens distortion solver, planar tracking, depth generation, particles, the model builder and the smart vector toolset for pushing a paint fix through a moving shot. Nuke Studio adds a full timeline environment on top of that, so an editorial conform, shot management, versioning and review all live in the same session as the compositing.
The 3D system is a genuine part of the compositor rather than a bolt on. Cameras, geometry, lights, projections and a scanline or ray traced renderer sit in the same graph as the 2D operations, which is how a set extension, a projection based clean-up or a card based environment gets built without leaving the application. Colour management runs through OCIO with the standard configurations, deep compositing handles holdouts correctly on renders that ship deep data, and the whole thing is scriptable in Python with a gizmo system for packaging a tool up and handing it to the rest of the facility.
What it does
Feature breakdown
Node based compositing graph
Any output viewable at any point, branches that merge and split freely, and a graph that transfers to the next shot by swapping the read nodes.
Full keying and roto toolset
Multiple keyers for green and blue screen work, bezier and B-spline roto with motion blur and per-point tracking, and a paint system with clone and reveal.
Camera tracking and lens solving
Solve a moving camera from the plate, generate a point cloud, and calculate and reverse lens distortion so added elements sit correctly in frame.
Integrated 3D system
Cameras, geometry, lights, projections and a renderer inside the same graph, for set extensions, projection clean-ups and card based environments.
Timeline conform and review
Import an editorial cut, conform it against the source media, manage shot versions and review sequences without leaving the application.
OCIO colour management and Python
Standard colour configurations throughout the pipeline, plus a full Python API and a gizmo system for packaging custom tools.
Changed in this build
Version 17.0v4
- Faster viewer response on graphs with long chains of colour and filter operations.
- Camera solver improved on plates with heavy motion blur and few stable features.
- Timeline conform handles a wider set of edit list formats with fewer manual relinks.
- Deep image operations use less memory on large frame sizes.
- Updated Python version with the previous API surface kept intact for existing facility scripts.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Update the graphics driver first, the accelerated nodes are sensitive to driver version.
- Go offline before starting.
- Extract the archive to a local drive with plenty of headroom.
- Disable real time protection for the whole process.
- Run the installer as administrator, then apply the included licensing configuration before first launch.
- Start the application, confirm the variant selector offers all three modes, then re-enable protection.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- Set the disk cache to a fast dedicated drive before starting real work. The default location fills a system drive quickly.
- Do not let it reach a licence server. Block it in the firewall and leave the update check off.
- Scripts and gizmos from a previous release need their paths pointing at this install. The plugin directory is version specific.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Operating system | Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Processor | Multicore Intel or AMD, eight cores or more strongly recommended |
| Memory | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB recommended, 64 GB for deep compositing at large frame sizes |
| Graphics | GPU with 4 GB VRAM minimum for accelerated nodes, 8 GB or more preferred |
| Storage | 20 GB for installation plus fast dedicated storage for plates and caches |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- What is the difference between the three variants?
- Nuke is the core compositor, NukeX adds tracking, distortion, particles and the higher end toolset, and Studio adds the timeline and conform environment on top.
- Does it read EXR with multiple layers?
- Yes, multi-part and multi-channel EXR including deep data, with a shuffle system for routing individual channels through the graph.
- Can it run a render on more than one machine?
- The frame server distributes rendering across cores locally. A full render farm needs a scheduler this package does not include.
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