Ben's Comp Newsletter: Issue 043

 
Hey,

Hope you had a productive week -- enjoy this week's newsletter!

 

Screen-space mesh in Nuke.
 

Mark Joey Tang has figured out a neat way to create geometry using position, depth or deep data.

Watch the tool in action in this demo video.
 
Click here to download SSMesh from Nukepedia.
P.S. I interviewed MJ early-2019. You can read it here, if you haven't already!
 

Quick Tip: Refine SmartVectors with an STMap.
 

SmartVectors, and the associated VectorDistort node is one of the best new additions to Nuke in recent years. Being able to effortlessly track a texture to an organically-moving object is amazing when it works, but oftentimes SmartVectors only gets us part of the way there and needs refinement...

By changing the VectorDistort's Output knob to "st-map", we gain the ability to modify SmartVectors in a bunch of ways, before using an STMap node to apply the modified warp to the image (as you see in the setup pictured). For example:

If a track slips off in a section: Isolate the problem area with a rotoshape, and adjust the warp with an iTransform. Blurring the rotoshape will give you a nice, smooth transition between the VectorDistort & your extra warp!
If a track is slightly jittery: Add a blur to the problem area. Blurring the st-map averages the pixels, and therefore averages out the motion.
If you want to blend between two SmartVectors: You can simply Dissolve between the two st-maps!

Working with SmartVectors this way adds an exponential amount of extra power into an already powerful tool. How else could you utilize this technique?

 

Love VFX: Mocha Pro for Nuke Tutorial.


Lars Wemmje recently reached out to share a cool tutorial he made about the Mocha Pro OFX plugin for Nuke. This tutorial covers the basics of how to do cleanup work, roto, tracking/stabilizing & undistorting lens grids using Mocha.

Mocha is one of those tools every Compositor should have in their repertoire, as its a great companion when Compositing in Nuke. If you've never used it before, or haven't opened it in a while, this tutorial is for you!

 
Click here to watch the Mocha Pro for Nuke tutorial.

Raytracing in... Excel?


I love spreadsheets and use them in so many ways, from tracking different statistics, using them to plan travel, organizing certain projects, etc. Although, I never thought I'd see it used to render an image.

Check out this video, and prepare to have your mind blown!

 
Click here to check out Raytracing in Excel.

Did you find this newsletter informative?


Have you created, or do you know of any outstanding Gizmos, Python Scripts or Tutorials that you would like to share with the global Compositing community? Please reply to this email, and I will do my best to include it in a future issue of this newsletter.
Click here to view previous issues.

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