Nuke Stage overview for Unreal users

Nuke Stage is a virtual production tool which combines virtual production and visual effects to enable creation, capture, and finaling of photographic quality content shot on LED stages.

Similarly to Unreal, Nuke Stage enables you to edit virtual production scenes live on set. There are similarities to how these programs work and the UI layouts, although there are key differences that will also be outlined in this guide.

Terminology glossary

Nuke Stage and Unreal have instances of equivalent or similar features that have different terminologies. Below is a table outlining the feature names in Unreal and their corresponding names in Nuke Stage.

Unreal Engine	Nuke Stage	Description of Feature
World Outliner	Scene Graph	A list of the objects in your scene.
Unreal Engine Editor	Nuke Stage Editor	The main application to create and edit your scene.
Level	Scene	The 3D world of your project.
Actor	Object	An element in your scene.
Details	Properties	The specific parameters and properties for the selected object or feature.
Sequencer	Sequencer	A panel that enables you to add sequences and animate your project in a timeline.
Content Browser	Gallery	The asset management interface.
Switchboard	LauncherGUI	The application that launches the Render and relay processes. In Nuke Stage it can also launch Nuke Stage Editor.
SwitchboardListener	Listener	The process that needs to run every time the RenderNode starts in order for the Render process to launch.
Output Log	Log Panel	Live information for the project.
Cluster Node	RenderNode	A Render process.
Blueprint	-	Nuke Stage does not have an equivalent to Unreal’s Blueprint. You can instead use the Node Graph and Overrides to make changes to your project.
-	Node Graph	The panel in Nuke Stage to build up scenes and manipulate images with effects. It is also used for realtime compositing, similar to Composure in Unreal.
Live Link	Camera Stream	The feature that enables you to configure camera tracking plugins/protocols for camera tracking from external devices
nDisplay config	Hardware setup: Outputs and Displays	The configuration of your VP setup, including displays (LED screens) and outputs.
Take Recorder	Vault	A data recording system.

Installing Nuke Stage for Unreal users

Install Nuke Stage at the downloads link sent to your email.

When you Install Nuke Stage, three applications are created.

• NukeStage Launcher: This application is where you run all of the Nuke Stage processes you need. This includes Nuke Stage Editor, the Relay processes and your RenderNodes. The Launcher is similar to Switchboard in Unreal Engine.

• Nuke Stage Listener: Listens out for relay processes. This is the equivalent to SwitchboardListener in Unreal Engine.

• NukeStage: This is the Nuke Stage Editor, equivalent to Unreal Engine Editor. Nuke Stage Editor is the main UI of Nuke Stage where you can create and edit your scenes. It is most similar to Unreal Engine Editor’s Film / Video and Live Events templates.

You need to install Nuke Stage on every machine (RenderNodes, Relay and control machine) in your setup, at the same file location on each machine.

UI tour

Nuke Stage Launcher

The Nuke Stage Launcher is a separate application when you install Nuke Stage. When you open up the Launcher, add the processes you want to run.

• Nuke Stage Editor: this is the equivalent of the Unreal Engine Editor, where you can create and edit your scenes. However, it is also where you set up your hardware and networking that you would do in nDisplay if you were using Unreal Engine.

• Relay: The relay handles the networking process and tracking data. This is similar to the role of the Primary node in Unreal.

• RenderNodes: The Nuke Stage RenderNodes are similar to Unreal’s secondary cluster nodes.

Nuke Stage Listener

Nuke Stage Listener automatically runs when you launch the Nuke Stage processes. This is the equivalent to running the SwitchboardListener from within nDisplay, however with Nuke Stage you do not need to actively complete this step.

Instead, check that the NukeStageListener.exe process is running in Window Services to ensure there are no network issues. See more at Launching Nuke Stage.

Unreal Level Editor / Nuke Stage Editor

The Nuke Stage Editor is Nuke Stage’s equivalent to Unreal Engine Editor. It’s the main application where you can load and edit your scene. It is also where you can configure your hardware and networking, similarly to how you would use nDisplay in Unreal.

Both Unreal Engine Editor and Nuke Stage Editor are fully customizable in their layout. For more information on how to customize Nuke Stage Editor, go to Workspace Tabs.

Whilst Unreal Engine Editor has many different project templates depending on your workflow, Nuke Stage Editor doesn’t come with starting templates. However, you can save stage configurations that enable you to open up specific setups, saving you time and enabling config sharing amongst teams. The Nuke Stage downloads page also has sample projects you can use and experiment with.

Workspaces

Scene

The Scene workspace is where you can view and edit a USD Scene in the Scene Graph.

In the Scene Graph panel, the Prim name, Type, and Kind of the USD files will be displayed in a hierarchical list view. This is similar to the Outliner in Unreal Engine. It is also where you can add meshes for texture overrides. You can also use the Scene Graph to toggle visibility of specific prims in your scene.

Comp

The Comp workspace is used to create and edit node graphs in the Node Graph panel.

The Node Graph uses nodes as building blocks to add effects to cameras, displays, images and USD primitives. You can build up a scene and do realtime compositing. In Unreal Engine these sorts of effects would be achieved using the Level Editor and Composure.

Note:  See more at Node Graph.

Sequence

The Sequencer panel to add new sequences to your project and animate your scene using keyframes, cues and clips. This is similar to the Unreal Engine Sequencer.

Note:  See more at Working With Sequences.

Setup

Use this workspace to set up your hardware, and debug RenderNodes. By default this tab contains the Network, Log and Python panels. It is similar to the Bottom toolbar in Unreal Engine in terms of adebugging tool.

Other Features

Project Graph

The Project Graph panel enables you to directly access the settings of your project. From here you can import and export stage configuration from the file, load an active project from relay, save or open a project. See the Hardware Setup section of the Nuke Stage workflows for Unreal users document to see how each part of the Project Graph relates to Unreal Engine.

Note:  More information on Nuke Stage's Project Graph at Managing Project Properties.

Properties Panel

When you click on an object in Nuke Stage, details about that object will appear in the Properties panel. This panel gives you information regarding your selected object, including properties you can edit (for example file paths or transforms). This is similar to Unreal Engine’s Details panel.

The Vault

The Vault is Nuke Stage's data recording system. It has Take Record and Snapshot functions. This is similar to Unreal's Take Recorder.

Note:  Read more at The Vault.

3D Viewport

The 3D viewport displays the currently-loaded 3D scene.

Note:  Read more at 3D Viewport.

Image Viewer

View images and effects made to the Override nodes in your Node Graph.

Note:  Read more at Image Viewer.

This comparison document is provided by Foundry for information purposes only. Unreal Engine is a trademark of Epic Games, Inc.