Temporal Operations

This chapter explains the temporal or time-based operations in Nuke. Learn how to distort time (that is, slow down, speed up, or reverse clips), apply motion blur, and perform editorial operations like slips, cuts, splices, and freeze frames.

Quick Start

Here's a quick overview of the workflow:

1.   If you want to speed up or slow down your clip:

• You can use the Retime node (Time > Retime). If you want, you can also add a FrameBlend (Time > FrameBlend) node before your retime to create smoother retiming results. For more information, see Simple Retiming and Interpolation.

• For more advanced retiming operations and adding motion blur, you can use the OFlow node (Time > OFlow), or if you have a license for NukeX, the Kronos node (Time > Kronos). For more information, see OFlow Retiming and Kronos.

• Sometimes you’ll want to create speed-up and slow motion within a clip without altering its actual length. This is called warping and you can use the Retime node (Time > Retime) to do it. For more information, see Warping Clips.

After retiming your clip, you may need to adjust the script’s global frame range and playback speed (frames-per-second). For more information, see Global Frame Range and Speed .

2.   If necessary, you can use the TimeBlur node to apply motion blur to garbage masks that are tracked to a fast moving feature. For more information, see Applying a TimeBlur Filter.
3.   If you're looking to perform editorial operations:

• You can use the TimeOffset (Time > TimeOffset) and TimeClip (Time > TimeClip) nodes to slip clips. For more information, see Offsetting and Slipping Clips.

• The FrameRange (Time > FrameRange) node allows you to cut clips. For more information, see Cutting Clips.

• You can use the AppendClip (Time > AppendClip) node to splice your clips. For more information, see Splicing Clips.

• Using the FrameHold (Time > FrameHold) node allows you to set the output of a clip or scene to a particular frame or frame interval. For more information, see Freeze Framing Clips.

Note:  Most temporal operations in Nuke can only be applied to 2D compositions, but the FrameRange, TimeOffset, and FrameHold nodes are applicable to 3D nodes, such as geometry.