Ben's
Comp Newsletter: Issue
001
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Hey,
Welcome to the very first issue of
Ben's Compositing Newsletter! To
kick things off, I've recently been
reflecting on the tools I use
multiple times every single day,
which over the course of a day save
a lot of button-clicks, and
therefore a lot of time.
The first three items are python scripts
to add to your menu.py, which will add
some custom functionality to Nuke! If
you're not sure what a menu.py is, or
what it does, Click
Here to read more
about it.
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VIEWER
EXPOSURE / GAMMA
TOGGLE
This python script sets a hotkey, alt+e in
this example, to toggle the current Viewer's
exposure and gamma sliders between the last
adjustment and the default values. I find
this particularly useful when I'm QCing my
comps, to check what the shot looks like at
normal, and boosted exposure on each frame.
Additionally, it's useful to quickly toggle
back and forth to see extra details in the
blacks/whites when doing paint or roto.
Click here to
get the code to add to your
menu.py!
To customize the keyboard shortcut, you can
change "alt+e" in the last line of
the code to whatever you like! A nice
alternative might be "shift+home",
to make it the same as RV.
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QUICK
KEYS
A good chunk of the time we need to add
keyframes as a compositor, it's to toggle a
node from on to off, or vice versa. To speed
up this process, I wrote a simple python
script that operates on the mix knob of any
selected node.
-
Meta+, will
set an "on
keyframe". In
nuke-terms, this will add keyframes
to set the mix knob to 1 on the
current frame, and 0 on the previous
frame.
-
Meta+. will
set an "off
keyframe". This will
add keyframes to set the mix knob to
1 on the current frame, and 0 on the
next frame.
-
Meta+/ will open a
dialog box (the image
above) so you can set
a specific frame range for your mix
knob to be set to 1, and every frame
outside that range will be set to 0.
There is also a "fade"
parameter, if you want to fade
in & out over a certain
duration.
Click here to
get the code to add to your
menu.py!
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STOP
USING IN &
OUT!
I've worked with a lot of compositors over
the years who prefer to use in & out, as
opposed to mask & stencil. I got talking
to Conrad
Olson about this, who is
equally as puzzled by why people work this
way. He made a video about why Mask &
Stencil are the superior operations. Click here to
watch!
I also wrote a python script that will
switch all in & out operations to mask
& stencil (and flips the A and B pipes,
of course), should you inherit a script from
an artist who still does things the "legacy"
way.
Click here to
get the python
script.
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WORKFLOWY
Hands-down the best productivity tool I've
ever come across. I use it for both work and
home to create to-do lists, and lists of
things to remember.
What's cool about Workflowy is it's
compatible on all browsers, and has an app
for iPhone & Android. This means you can
take notes in dailies on your phone, and
they will be automagically synced to
Workflowy that's already open on back at
your Workstation!
Click here to
get started.
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HDR
PHOTOGRAPHY IN
EXCEL
I found this hilarious, and thought it was
worth sharing for a laugh.
The video glosses over the technical side of
creating HDR imagery, but also demonstrates
how crazy Excel can get!
Click here to
watch!
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