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Create Comp Special
Admittedly, the work flow described above works quite well, but it is not necessarily possible to integrate it into any existing file structure. In the following case example, we want to export all this not into a shotbased, but a taskbased file structure. That means: There is a dedicated place for our plates – but we already did that in the transcoding -, there is a place for our scripts and another one for our renderings. We also want to fix a few flaws of the original setup: Renderings shall be put in separate version folders, but the annotations in a subfolder of the Nuke Scripts. And in this example we want to leave the soft effects on the timeline and not put them into the comp. Let‘s go!
Before we dive into the creation of our pre-set, we need to take care of one simple prep step on the timeline: All tracks that should not be part of the nuke script of the respective shots, we switch to invisible. For example, the track with the original plates, but also the burn-in. After that we can begin: We mark all shots on the „Transcodes“ track that we want to export. Only on the Transcodes track? What about the references, possible inserts or second passes? That‘s why we just controlled the visibility of the timeline and set all unwanted tracks to invisible. Since we are now starting a batch processing, we need another way than the selection on the timeline to tell Nuke Studio to combine multiple shots. If we already have several tracks selected Nuke Studio will not clearly recognize which tracks the corresponding Nuke Script should refer to. Instead of selecting „Export“, we select „Create Comp – Create Comp Special“ in the right-click menu, but end up back at our old buddy, the Export Manager.
We have already practiced several times how to create such a structure, so only the important changes will be highlighted in the following: In our existing file structure, the two folders „04_ Application_Data“ and „03_Nuke“ already exist. Nuke Studio will recognize this during export and will not create new folders with this name, unless they do not exist yet. In this example, a tasktask-based folder structure, we only want the setup files to go here, so we create a folder for each shot in our timeline, in which we then create a Nuke script with the token pattern {shot)comp{version}.{ext}. The version token here will be the space that will be versioned up when we execute „Save New Comp Version“ in the Node Graph. We leave the content parameters of the Nuke Project File aside for a moment, first we define all the other elements we need.
Within our Shot Folder we also create an „Annotations“ folder – for simplicity‘s sake we also include the path for the annotation renderings here, but these could also be in a separate location if desired. Now to our „Render“ path. The beginning is very similar to our path for the Nuke Project File. First two fixed folders, then one with a dynamic token for the shot name. But then we add – as planned – a new folder with {version} token, which will now make sure that every rendering of a new version will be done in a separate folder. This makes housekeeping a lot easier.
Now we finally turn to our Nuke Project File, click the entry in the „Path“ window and check the following settings: At the top right we find a pulldown which is set to „Write Nodes“ by default. Here we can select the Write Node we just defined in the Render Folder as well as the one with the DPX files for the annotation. We choose the first one, because only this one should be put back into the timeline of Nuke Studio. If you at this moment have the idea to automate everything even more and to include the transcoding step in this setup, you should be warned: This will not be possible without further ado and will lead to unexpected error messages. There should be no check marks here, whereas under „Annotations“ the check mark should be placed on the actual „Annotations“ file and not on the corresponding DPX sequence. As mentioned above, we want to leave the soft effects on the timeline and not include them in the Nuke script, which is why we do not check „Include Effects“.
We comp on the actual plate resolution like all the cool kids do and now come to the most important part: „Collate & Collect“. So this is about putting things together for the comp. We are talking explicitly about everything vertical in the timeline. We have made all the things we don‘t want to take into the comp invisible on the timeline. If we select „Collate Shot Timings“, Nuke Studio will search for clips on all other visible tracks, starting from the track we have selected, and include them in the comp. In our case the Quicktime reference. That‘s why the option „Connect Tracks“ doesn‘t make sense for us, because we don‘t want to connect the reference to the main stream in our node graph. However, if we had inserts or CG passes here, that would be a very practical option.
We can also utilize „Collate Shot Name“,after all, we copied cuts to our reference at the beginning and gave the respective clips the same name as the plats and the transcodes. Last but not least we have the Possibility to add additional nodes to each script we create now. Here we also have the possibility to define if they are already connected in the node graph or if they should be parked at the side of the graph without connection. The operation is not quite intuitive, but with a little practice it is very useful. With one final press on „Create Comp“ you are ready to go. Almost. We had to decide whether we wanted to merge all shots into one comp or create a separate script for each shot. And now it becomes clear why we had to mute tracks and use „Collate“. If we were to combine all shots, we would have a huge comp over the length of the entire timeline. But since we are not megalomaniacs, we choose „Seperate Comp for each selected Shot“. From here on, Nuke Studio diligently creates folders and scripts in our File Structure and then links the outputs to our Timeline, just as before. Now that we have gone through both workflows, perhaps a few words of clarification: Both workflows are not strictly separated from each other, but can be combined very well with each other. For example, you can use „Create Comp Special“ to create a wonderful preset for the current project and then use it as the basis for your project. Create a initial publish and then use the same export preset with „Create Comp“ to publish additional shots if necessary during the course of the project. . . You know your customers.
And even though Nuke Studio does a lot of pipelining and house keeping for the artist, you should know exactly what it‘s doing „under the hood“. But it offers interesting possibilities: For example, you can build an export preset, which not only the folders relevant for Nuke, but for the whole pipeline. Especially for people who work without a dedicated asset management system like FTrack or Shotgrid this is something to think about.
