What's New in Nuke, Nuke Studio and Hiero 11.2

This page provides an overview of the updates included in Nuke, Nuke Studio, and Hiero 11.2.

Note:  See the navigation bar on the left for links to specific release notes by version.

Improved Tab Menu

The Node Graph's tab menu has been improved, including a new search algorithm, allowing you to search for and add nodes more easily using partial names. Commonly used nodes are weighted so that they appear higher up the list of choices and you can also favorite nodes, pinning them to the top of the list with the star icon. Weights and favorites can be enabled, disabled and cleared in Preferences > Behaviors > Nodes. The J Bookmarked nodes menu also supports the updated search functionality.

New Interface for User Knob Creation

Also known as Drag-and-drop knobs (DnD), this update significantly reduces the time spent exposing user knobs and adding custom knobs to node properties panels within Nuke. As a result, you can create and modify gizmos and Live Groups more easily, stream-lining collaborative workflows.

Instead of right-clicking and selecting Manage User Knobs, simply click the edit button at the top of the Properties panel to get started. You can drag-and-drop knobs between open node panels or add your own using the knob icons listed at the top of the panel. You can also order, hide, customize and delete knobs within the Properties panel. If you work with floating panels, you can float the User Knob Editor too. Click the edit button again to finish customization.

Nuke Studio Project Panel Improvements

These are a collection of enhancements to the way you can organize, manage and navigate through your projects in Nuke Studio. This new functionality also applies to the spreadsheet and the timeline.

• New Sorting - we have introduced a new way to arrange your project bin alphabetical or by custom order. This is accessible through the new buttons at the top of the Project panel and it has controls for the hierarchy view and on the bin view independently.

• Improved Searching - we have also improved the search functionality on the Project panel and on the spreadsheet with new options to search all metadata or not, and to use all or any of the input string.

• Poster Frame - a new poster frame functionality allows you to set the poster frame for your source clips and shots. You can set it for single or multiple source clips using absolute or relative frames, which is useful when you have shots with slates or black handles.

• Color Assignments - you can now assign colors to your source clips, shots, and spreadsheet events. You can also set colors based on file types.

Smart Vector Toolset Improvements

The Smart Vector Toolset in NukeX has several improvements that speed up the generation of the Smart Vectors and extend the use cases where the toolset can be used.

• GPU Acceleration - the SmartVector and VectorDistort nodes have been rewritten to make the best use of the GPU, dramatically reducing the time it takes to both create the smart motion vectors and use them to warp images.

• Mask Input to SmartVector - to help with handling occlusions and image boundaries, you can now supply a mask to the SmartVector node to specify regions containing unwanted objects or motion.

• Background Vector Rendering - you can now render SmartVectors in the background using the Export Write button.

File Localization API Extension

Building on the updates to the localization system in Nuke 11.1, the system has been further extended to provide greater control over customization through new callbacks. We have also added a new environment variable, NUKE_LOCALIZATION_NUMWATCHERS, to improve performance when checking the validity of localized files, especially when working with scripts with a high number of Read nodes or a high number of frames.

Additional python callbacks:

The following python callbacks have been added, giving further control over files and Read nodes as they are added to the queue to be localized and transition between being out of date and localized.

Callback functions executed on each file’s localization event:

• localization.FileEvent.ADDED

• localization.FileEvent.REMOVED

• localization.FileEvent.OUT_OF_DATE

• localization.FileEvent.CACHE_FULL

• localization.FileEvent.DISK_FULL

Callback functions executed on each Read nodes localization event:

• localization.ReadStatus.NOT_LOCALIZED

• localization.ReadStatus.LOCALIZING

• localization.ReadStatus.PARTIALLY_LOCALIZED

• localization.ReadStatus.LOCALIZED

• localization.ReadStatus.OUT_OF_DATE

• localization.ReadStatus.LOCALIZATION_DISABLED

Auto switch to from localized to network files:

A new preference, read source files when localized files are out of date, has been added. When enabled, Nuke checks the localized files against the source files and switches to their source files if the local files become out of date.

Control over the number of simultaneous file checks:

A new environment variable NUKE_LOCALIZATION_NUMWATCHERS controls the number of simultaneous file checks, improving performance when working with large scripts over a high capacity network. We have found that checking the status or force updating a large number of reads or large sequences could create a bottleneck as Nuke evaluated the files. To improve this we have added an option to increase the number of file checks that can occur at once to expedite this process with an appropriate network configuration.

ARRI SDK Update

ARRIRAW has been updated to version 5.4.3.5, adding the following features:

• Alexa LF formats and color tables

• Rec2100/PQ and Rec2100/HLG HDR colorspaces

• Extended white balance CC values from -16 to +16

The full ARRI SDK release notes are publicly available from: http://www.arri.com/support/downloads/searchable_downloads/

R3D SDK Update

R3D SDK has been updated to version 7.0.6, adding the following features:

• R3D Weapon Monstro 8K VV and Helium 8K S35 Sensors

• ImageColorDCIP3, ImageColorProPhotoRGB, ImageColorDCIP3D65 colorspaces

• ImageGammaHybridLogGamma, ImageGamma2_2, ImageGamma2_6 Gamma Curves

Note:  Support for IPP2 will be available in a future release.

The full R3D SDK release notes are publicly available in the SDK download from: https://www.red.com/developers/

New Deep Compositing API

Nuke has a new API for Deep Compositing which manages memory more efficiently, resulting in improved performance for some Nodes. Nuke’s native deep compositing nodes have been converted to this new API and in our tests, scripts are processed up to 1.6x faster compared to Nuke 11.1. Performance improvements vary by node and set up; for example, DeepRecolor and DeepTransform show the best gains, while DeepColorCorrect has little improvement.

To take advantage of these performance improvements, custom deep nodes need to be converted to the new API. Existing custom nodes will still work in Nuke 11.2, defaulting to the pre-existing API, but will not have any gains in performance.

Details on the API changes and converting custom nodes are available in the NDK Developer Guide.

Deep Compositing Improvements

In addition to the new API, Nuke 11.2v1 includes a number bug fixes and improvements to the deep compositing tools including the DeepExpression node having functional parity with Nuke’s standard Expression node.

Workflows using metadata have also been added to Nuke’s Deep nodes. Metadata nodes (ModifyMetadata, ViewMetadata, CopyMetadata, and so on) can now be used in a tree with Deep nodes.

The DeepMerge node has been updated to allow you to use metadata from either the A input, the B input, or both.

Note:  2D nodes should not be inserted in between Metadata nodes within a deep stream. The Viewer must be connected to a Deep node rather than a Metadata node in order to view the output of deep streams.