The Composite | digital sketchbook

Week 1:Intro

During the first week of class, we explored Nuke’s user interface and introduced some fundamental concepts. While the interface may seem a bit overwhelming at first, you’ll find it becomes more intuitive with practice. Nuke is a widely used node-based digital compositing and visual effects tool, especially in post-production for both film and television. The Composite course is entirely dedicated to mastering Nuke for compositing.

In our initial session, we focused on navigating Nuke’s interface and learned a few essential shortcuts, such as the F and H keys for scaling and framing the composition. We also created a simple animation.

We started by setting the frame rate to 25 frames per second and the format to HD_1080 within the Project Settings (S key). After adding a Color Wheel, we incorporated nodes like Grade, Blur, and Transform, and experimented with keyframes.

To keep the script organized, we used the command key to add dots, or alternatively, pressed the “.” key to create dots that can be connected to the appropriate areas.

RGB and ALPHA Channels

There are 3 channels of RGB. Press the ‘r’, ‘g’, and ‘b’ keys to display each channel individually in the viewer.

Final renders:

Merge node(M)

Later we learn about the merge node. And what the merge is doing is just combining foreground and background images into one. ‘M’ is a shortcut key for the merger node.

The merge node has two pipes, A and B, and B is the main pipe, so it will go into the background image, and A will go into the foreground image Week 2: Organization and Roto

In the Visual Effects (VFX) industry, “roto” is short for rotoscoping, a technique used to create highly accurate and detailed animated sequences by meticulously tracing live-action footage frame by frame. Roto artists, who specialize in this process, play a critical role in the VFX workflow.

Tools to make masks:

Blur Node(B):

A blur node can be added to the roto object to add motion blur. The node is frequently linked to both the Roto and Copy nodes’ Pipe A. The blur panel’s properties tab allows you to adjust the blur’s strength.

Week 3: Advanced roto

In this class, we focused on more advanced roto techniques. Our objective was to establish the hero frame by first quickly reviewing the footage of the hand wave. We began by creating a small shape around the thumb. The key principle I learned this week is to break the hand into smaller segments and work on the roto piece by piece when tackling complex roto tasks.

WEEK 4: Complex keying

To use the Luma Key (Luminance Key):

Turn on the alpha channel to see what areas are affected.
Adjust the settings to key out parts of the footage based on brightness.

The second exercise was green screen removal, also known as chroma keying. The goal was to remove the woman from the green screen and replace the background with an office setting.

Choose Color Picker from Keylight, press Ctrl + Alt, and click on the green area.

To enhance the contrast by making black darker and white brighter, clone the base key and rename it as “Garbage Key.”

Then I use stencil merge and did roto around model.

The FilterErode Node expands the white edges, softening sharp boundaries around the model. This helps preserve fine details, such as hair, for a more natural look.

Week 5:Grading

In Nuke, color and grading are vital for achieving visual consistency and enhancing storytelling. Nuke’s advanced color grading tools allow precise control over the tone, mood, and overall aesthetic of a composition. Effective color grading ensures smooth integration by unifying different elements, guiding the audience’s emotional response, and supporting the narrative. It also plays a key role in harmonizing shots, balancing colors, and delivering a polished final output. Whether subtle or dramatic, color grading significantly enhances the visual impact of compositions in Nuke.

Exercise 1 – Color Grading

In this exercise, we will revisit a previous project where we added an office background. Now, we’ll focus on color grading the scene to improve its visual harmony, as the original colors did not blend well with the scenario.

First, we imported a Grade node and renamed it LUMA. Then, by pressing the Y key on the keyboard, we switched the view from RGB to Luminance. This allowed us to see the darker parts of the lady and the black areas in the background scene.

Week 6: Tracking

This week, we learned the basics of tracking using the Tracker node. After adding the node to the composition, click the “Add Track” button to create a tracker, which will then be visible in the viewer for further adjustments.

Our next task was to track a windscreen in a moving video. This involved more advanced tracking techniques using Corner Pin nodes. Unlike the simpler one- and two-point tracks we had worked on earlier, this process required planar tracking for better precision.

To start, I created a roto shape around the windscreen to define the area for tracking.

Week 7: Cleanup

Roto Paint Node

This week, we learned how to use the Roto Paint Node, a powerful tool for tasks like removing tracking markers. It provides flexibility and precision, making it an essential feature for refining and cleaning up compositions.

For this task, we were instructed to remove the old gentleman from the scene. Here’s how I approached it:

FrameHold: I applied a FrameHold node after identifying a “hero frame” (a key frame that represents the desired look) for the Roto Paint work.
Roto and Copy Nodes: I added both Roto and Copy nodes to isolate the area around the gentleman and prepare it for patching.
Patching and Grain Smoothing: Using the Roto Paint Node, I patched over the area where the gentleman was removed and adjusted the grain to ensure the patch blended seamlessly with the rest of the scene.

1 Assignment :

The assignment was to replicate the video exactly. I need to make five adjustments:

Change the background from green to blue
Replace the TV screen.
Remove the pink details from the background.
Make Tim pass in front of the screen.
Remove the logo from the luggage.

Background Removal: I used the Keylight tool to remove the background and replaced it with a constant blue color.
TV Screen Adjustment: I applied a color bar to modify the screen content, added a Transform node for scaling/positioning, and used CornerPin to ensure it fit the screen correctly.
Pink Details in the Background: I used RotoPaint to cover the pink details.
Tim Passing Through the Screen: I used a Roto node to isolate Tim as he passed through the screen. To finalize, I adjusted the Merge nodes to ensure his roto element transitioned seamlessly.
Logo on the Luggage: I created a black square using Roto to cover the logo, matching the luggage’s color. A Tracking node was used to follow the movement of the luggage. Finally, I applied a Grade node to fine-tune the color where the black square didn’t blend perfectly.