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Using Nuke Studio's Timeline Environment

This chapter is designed to help you learn how to use Nuke Studio's Timeline environment, including ingesting media and using the Timeline Viewer.

Achieving Real-time Playback

The following is a list of recommended hardware configurations for Windows and Linux that Foundry have certified for real-time playback in the Nuke Studio and Hiero timeline Viewer (see the note below). Nuke's compositing Viewer is not designed for real-time playback. Please note that playback may also work on other machine configurations, but those listed below have been tested.

Note:  For realtime playback, clips and sequences should be 16-bit RGBA DPX files, localized to fast storage. See Localizing Media for more information.

In the case of complex or multi-format timelines, files must be cached to the fast storage using the Timeline Disk Caching. See Caching Frames in the Disk Cache for more information.

Windows and Linux Certified Hardware

Nuke Studio is currently tested on the HP Z workstation series. The following are the tested components for an HP Z840.

Processor

2 x Intel Xeon E5-2687Wv3 CPU

RAM

128 GB DDR4-2133 (8x16 GB) 2 CPU Registered RAM

Internal system drives

1 x HP Z Turbo Drive G2 256 GB PCIe

GPU

NVIDIA Quadro M6000 12 GB

Video monitor output

AJA Kona 4K or BMD DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G

Real-time playback is currently tested with the following internal storage accessories:

Drives

8 x Samsung SM863 960 GB

Dock

2 x HP B8K60AA - 4 Bay SSD carrier

Raid card

LSI Megaraid ROC 9270-8i

Raid cable

2 x Avago 05-26113-00 0.6 Meter internal cable SFF8643 To X4 SATA HDD (MINI SAS HD)

Raid type

RAID 5, Always write-through, with a 256k Stripe size

The table below shows guidelines for the data rates required for real-time playback of single track, 16-bit RGBA DPX sequences, with no soft effects in Nuke Studio's timeline Viewer. The Data rate is the required disk speed needed to achieve real-time streaming playback, for a given format, at a given playback rate.

Note:  The sample rates are taken from the AJA System Test application, with the Settings > Disk Test set to File per frame, and should be used as guidelines only.

The AJA System Test application is available for download for Mac and Windows from https://www.aja.com/products/aja-system-test

Frames per second (fps)

Format

Data rate MB/s

25 fps

4K Film (4096x3112) 2431.25

4K UHD (3840x2160)

1582.03

2K Film (2048x1556)

607.81

HD 1080p (1920x1080)

395.51

30 fps

4K Film (4096x3112) 2917.50

4K UHD (3840x2160)

1898.44

2K Film (2048x1556)

729.38

HD 1080p (1920x1080)

474.61

60 fps

4K Film (4096x3112)

5835.00

4K UHD (3840x2160)

3796.88

2K Film (2048x1556)

1458.75

HD 1080p (1920x1080)

949.22