Browsing Tag
Compositing
127 posts
Neat Video 6.1 updates OFX and host support
Neat Video 6.1 adds Baselight 7 support, new default profile controls and OFX updates across Windows, macOS and Linux.
Hawaiki Keyer – for those who don’t trust all the magic of AI
Hawaiki Keyer 5 brings AI tracking and dual-key control to Resolve, handling messy greenscreen shots more reliably than Magic Mask. Or does it?
Live FX 9.9: New Unreal Engine workflows, in a 3-part tutorial
Assimilate has published a short three-part tutorial series for combining Live FX 9.9 with Unreal Engine in virtual production. The videos cover GPU Texture Share on a single system, an nDisplay workflow that outputs multiple render streams, and a Switchboard setup that enables live Unreal edits
Infinity Hotel: Endless Rooms, Endless Renders
HFF Munich’s VFX students built Infinity Hotel, a hybrid short film merging live action with CGI, LiDAR scans, and Dolby Atmos sound.
Photoshop gets less destructive and slightly less vague
Adobe updates Photoshop with new adjustment layers, higher-resolution generative output and a new Dynamic Text feature.
No More 2D Smoke and Mirrors: Volumetric Noise for Nuke
Compositing Academy releases Volumetric Noise for Nuke, a raymarched plugin generating true 3D volumetrics with lighting and occlusion.
Foundry locks in full subscription future for 2027
Foundry drops perpetual maintenance: from 2027, all Nuke, Mari, and Katana users will be on subscription only.
Sapphire gets the “Essentials” treatment
Boris FX adds a free 11-part Sapphire Builder Essentials course to its training library, covering professional multi-host workflows.
DIY Gravity: Make Your Own Black Hole (In After Effects)
Free After Effects plugin creates cinematic black holes using ray marching, volumetric fog and physically-based parameters.
ActionVFX Ignites: 30 Flamethrower Clips Free
Feeling the heat in global news? Now you can literally add it to your comps: ActionVFX drops 30 free flamethrower shots.
PFTrack 2025: Matchmoving gets its groove back
The Pixel Farm’s PFTrack 2025 delivers major lens, tracking, and mesh improvements plus new perpetual licence options.
3DEqualizer 8.1 Adds Piggyback Camera Solves
3DEqualizer 8.1 introduces piggyback rig solving, a rewritten Blender export script and new import and export options.
KeenTools 2025.3 Brings Blender 5, Character Creator 5 & AE Exports
KeenTools 2025.3 expands host support with Blender 5, Character Creator 5 export from FaceBuilder and Alembic output from GeoTracker for After Effects.
Mocha Pro 2026: Refined, re-solved, re-edged
AI-assisted mattes, cleaner camera solves, and the return of the curve editor: Mocha Pro 2026 refines your roto and tracking life without reinventing the wheel.
Rendering the Inferno at RiseFX: The Lost Bus
128 shots, 15 sequences, and GPUs on the brink: RISE FX’s Oliver Schulz explains how his team built the burning world of The Lost Bus.
Optics 2026 Adds AI-Driven Masks, Upscaling & Depth Tools
ptics 2026 integrates into Photoshop via a new panel and adds AI-based tools (DeNoise, UpRes, Depth Map, Face ML), plus updated Sapphire filters for stylised looks.
Resolve 20.3 brings 32K support, metadata tools and stability fixes
DaVinci Resolve 20.3 rolls out: 32K on M5 Macs, more flexible metadata and HDR10+ export, plus a slew of bug patches.
Sapphire 2026: Film Burns, Whip Cuts & Builder Love
Sapphire 2026 blends analogue charm and new-gen tools: FilmBurn, MochaWhip, Lens Flares and a more transparent Effect Builder.
Photoshop Joins Overlord 2.6
Overlord 2.6 links Photoshop to After Effects for the first time, with a new image scale selector and expanded 265 MB transfer limit.
Blender 5.0 hits release candidate!
Blender 5.0’s release candidate is live. Expect ACES 2.0, smarter Geometry Nodes, and a sleeker UI before the final launch later this month.
When Annabelle Grew Up: The Digital Domain Horror Pipeline
425 shots, one terrifying doll, and a CG mill town: Digital Domain’s Alex Millet explains how his team built the horror of The Conjuring: Last Rites and kept it real.
Foundry Opens Nuke 17 Beta: New 3D System, New Variables
Nuke 17 Beta modernises its 3D system, adds a Variable framework and revamped annotation tools: compositors can now test them all.
Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3): Welcome to Sensible Pen Tablets
Sometimes you just want a tablet that works without selling your workstation. That was the starting point for our test of Huion’s Kamvas 13 (Gen 3). In times where many artists keep an eye on their budgets, the idea of a small, solid, and affordable pen display is tempting. So we teamed up with Huion to see what this one could actually do.
Neat Video 6: Smarter Noise Reduction for Nuke and Beyond
Neat Video 6 automates what used to be manual: GPU tuning, CPU balancing, and memory management. The result: up to twice the render speed and half the RAM usage inside Nuke, Premiere, and Resolve. A quiet but meaningful upgrade for anyone tired of watching progress bars instead of pixels.
Continuum 2026: AI masks, fixes, and faces
Continuum 2026 upgrades AI masking, keying, and transitions. Face ML, Matte Refine ML, and smarter Pixel Chooser save time on tedious isolation work.
Photoshop 27.0: Now with Harmonise, Upscale & Firefly Video
Photoshop 27.0 is official. You get Harmonise, Generative Upscale, Firefly video export, and selectable AI models. Test before rollout.
Momo: Of Time, Turtles, and Technical Wizardry
VFX Supervisor Michael Wortmann on how RiseFX built the fantasy of Momo: almost entirely on location, with 280 shots and the best turtle in the business.
“Task Force Querlitz” Brings Adult Animation to ZDF
With Task Force Querlitz, screenwriter Simon Thummet, director Arne Hain and producer Sebastian Simon have achieved something rare:…
SLAPSHOT promises AI Camera Tracking “in minutes”
SLAPSHOT has released its AI Camera Tracking tool: what used to take a day or more can now take under ten minutes according to the developer.
Accurate Film Simulation for Blender: Analog Soul, Digital Body
Analog meets Geometry Nodes: Blender now has an add-on that simulates real photographic film stocks. Developer Edin Spiegel’s…
ZEISS CinCraft Virtual Lens Enters BETA: Real Glass, Virtual Magic
ZEISS opens BETA registration for CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology, a GPU-powered Nuke plugin that replicates real lens behaviour in compositing, simulating optical artefacts like bokeh, distortion, and chromatic aberration.
After Effects Gets Hands-On: Victoria Nece Shows Off Quick Offset & Co.
At IBC 2025, I talked with Adobe’s Victoria Nece about Quick Offset, Smooth Zoom, and 3D compositing in After Effects. It’s tactile, fast and oddly fun.
Blender 5.0 Could Ship with Node “Presets” for Geometry & Compositor
Word on the street: Blender 5.0 may bring templated “presets” to Geometry Nodes and compositing. Andrew Price just teased it, and PR 145645 looks like the code behind it.
Wacom MovinkPad Pro 14: OLED Power for Mobile Creativity
Wacom has announced the MovinkPad Pro 14, the newest member of its portable creative pad lineup. Building on…
Resolve Animation: Everything moves!
Resolve Animation? Well, everything is based on keyframes. Fusion adds power (and pain), 3D feels clunky. Still: motion graphics inside an editor? Works.
Matching Your Moves: Inside Vision Age VFX
Vision Age VFX specialises in high-end matchmove and rotoanim. Workflows, QC, case studies, and technical tips from Tunisia’s camera tracking experts.
iPhone for Tracking: Beeble Camera enables Free “Virtual Production”
Free iOS app turns an iPhone into a tracked camera for AI-powered VFX passes. Beeble Camera links directly to Beeble Web, Editor, and Blender.
Making it Soft – Diffusion in Post II
We looked at Halation and Diffusion before - but how about the new Tools from FilmConvert and Resolve 20?
After Effects 25.4 Lands in August: HDR Metadata, Text-Format Paste, and Layer Staggering
Adobe After Effects 25.4 introduces Quick Offset, Paste Text Formatting Only, and HDR CICP metadata support.
Fusion Studio 20.1: Immersive, Patchy, and Ready for 360°
Blackmagic Fusion Studio 20.1 adds immersive 360° viewer, Magic Mask v2, deep compositing improvements, and CSV import for MultiText boxes.
Resolve 20.1: Apple Vision Pro, Magic Mask V2, and a Few More Reasons to Backup
DaVinci Resolve 20.1 delivers Apple Vision Pro support, Magic Mask v2, and new editing, Fusion, and Fairlight tools. Backup before updating.
Beyond Normal: A Creative’s Guide to Different Minds and Managing Neurodivergent Talent (Part 1)
Creative brilliance doesn’t come in one flavor—and in today’s VFX-landscape, understanding how your team thinks isn’t just good leadership, it’s critical infrastructure.
Frank Rueter’s Quest to Stop Nuke Knowledge from Disappearing
Nukepedia’s origin: How Frank Rueter launched the community’s Nuke tool repository and why the relaunch matters in 2025 - and what is coming to nuBridge?
Substance 3D Designer 15 arrives
Substance 3D Designer 15 arrives with a new real-time/path-tracing renderer, in-viewport post FX, and direct scene-based material editing.
Draw the Line: Octane Edge Tools Brings Outlines to Blender – For Free
Octane Edge Tools is a free Blender add-on from Otoy for creating mesh-based outlines with OctaneRender Toon Material. Controls for edge thickness, object selection, and NPR styles.
Crossbow Confidential: PFX’s Digital Dashboard Keeps ‘Locked’ Rolling
PFX marshals 60 artists, a lidar-scanned SUV and its Crossbow app to steer 750 shots for Locked through four months of frantic VFX.
Maxon Acquires Autograph: A New Chapter in Compositing Tools
Maxon welcomes the Autograph team from Left Angle, aiming to integrate their compositing expertise into its suite of creative tools,
The (further) development of Fusion.
Fusion, the compositing tool in and out of Resolve, has got a big update - and we asked BMD's Simon Hall, what it all means and what the future holds..
Silhouette 2025 Features: Compound Nodes, Matte Refine, and More
Boris FX Silhouette 2025 adds 3D scene support, AI-driven fixes, PowerMesh morphs, and node grouping - for roto, paint, comp, and hair without headache.
Ucupaint 2.3: Baking Bad Gets Better
Ucupaint 2.3 adds real-time Ambient Occlusion, rebake-all layers, and bakeable edge detect—because who needs sleep when you can have features?
Continuum 2025.5
Continuum 2025.5 expands its AI arsenal with automated masking, 2D depth mapping, frame repair, and UV warping—plus 8K titling and smoother FX editing.
LuxCoreRender 2.10: Back on Track with Cross-Platform Support and Python Integration
LuxCoreRender 2.10 reintroduces support for Linux, Windows, MacOS Intel, and now MacOS ARM, with updated dependencies and Python bindings for seamless integration.
Fusion 20: a deep look at the core
With its latest release, Blackmagic Fusion is positioning itself more aggressively than ever as a powerful and cost-effective complete package for node-based compositing and motion graphics. We check whether Fusion 20 lives up to the high expectations.
Free Plugin Connects Blender to Nuke – Without Alembic Detours
Free plugin bridges Blender and Nuke via FBX and OBJ – no Alembic or USD needed. Geometry and camera data flow directly into your comp.
UDIM Planet: Free Globe Toolset Orbits Blender, Max, Maya, Houdini, Unreal and C4D
Free add-on "Figments UDIM Globe" maps UDIM textures to globe objects—UVs are auto-generated, PBR-ready.
Achoo-Free Effects: “3D Dust & Pollen Free” for After Effects
New free preset "3D Dust & Pollen Free" for After Effects simulates pollen, dust, spores, dander and other floating irritants – without triggering allergies.
TD Meetup 17: Contract Negotiation
Negotiating a new contract can be a confusing and nerve-racking experience. The thought of meeting a group of strangers, in-person or online, who hold the power to decide your future can be overwhelming.
Sapphire 2025: Now with More Zap, Less Crap
Sapphire 2025 introduces VHS Damage, new lens flares, and enhanced Mocha AI-Matte-tracking, refining your VFX workflow with precision and style.
Nukepedia 2.0: From Geekfest to Gigabytes
Nukepedia is getting rebuilt after 15 years of DIY infrastructure. Relaunch planned for Siggraph—survey and donations now open to support the effort.
Flame 2026: OCIO, Files and Timeline Magic
Discover the seven key innovations in Flame Family 2026—from OpenColorIO to AI-enhanced video quality.
Dirty Shader Hands? Use MatCaps!
A free tool for Blender lets you paint PBR materials directly in 3D Viewport—without UVs, nodes or shaders.
Lightcraft Jetset Update: Virtual Production Goes Pocket-Sized
Lightcraft Jetset expands virtual production on iPhone with live compositing, Gaussian Splats, Aximmetry integration, and new camera support.
Nuke Stage: Foundry Introduces a Virtual Production Tool
Foundry introduces Nuke Stage, a virtual production tool designed for real-time playback, live compositing, and integration with industry-standard formats.
Adobe Photoshop 26.5: New Tool
Adobe’s Photoshop 26.5 introduces new tools for VFX artists, from better 3D painting to enhanced compositing functions. These features promise smoother workflows for digital artists.
Feather 1.1: Sketchsoft’s Plugin Now Adds the Missing Softness
Feather 1.1 adds Photoshop feathering based on masks, per-layer settings, and real-time previews, now supporting older Photoshop versions.
ACES 2.0, Deinterlacing and Topaz: Mistika’s Triple Threat Update
ACES 2.0, AI deinterlacing, Topaz Labs and SDK support: Mistika Boutique and Ultima update integrates new tech for color, footage, and pipeline flexibility.
Using 3D Objects in After Effects
Since 2024, it has been possible to integrate 3D objects into After Effects Beta. The updated version of the Adobe compositing solution now also has this functionality.
Autograph Starter: Free Motion Graphics Tool with a Twist
Autograph Starter offers a free, feature-rich motion graphics and VFX compositing tool with seamless DaVinci Resolve integration, enabling professionals to create high-quality projects without some limitations.
Nuke 16: Compositing Without the Copy-Paste Circus
Foundry releases Nuke 16.0, introducing multi-shot compositing, faster review workflows, and improved BlinkScript functionality for streamlined post-production.
Syntheyes 2025: ML-powered masks, batch processing and more…
Boris FX has just releases the latest version of its 3D Tracking and Matchmoving software, Syntheyes. Boris FX traditionally tries to utilize technology from its other software solutions in its various products, and Syntheyes is no exception, including Mask ML in the 2025 release.
HitFilm & Imerge: Artlist pulls the plug
Artlist discontinues HitFilm and Imerge, ending support for the FXhome apps. No new licenses, no updates—users must migrate or stick with the final versions.
Blender Gets Lit: Free Tools to Manage Your Render Passes
VFX artist Robert Rioux releases Render Manager and Light Editor add-ons to streamline complex scene management in Blender.
Blender 4.4 Beta Makes a Splash
Blender 4.4 enters beta, introducing Slotted Actions for animation, an overhauled Glare node in the Compositor, and updates to Grease Pencil and Geometry Nodes.
The Rise and Fall of Cyborg
When we think of compositing systems of the late nineties and early two thousands, Discreet and Quantel come to mind. But for a brief time, there was a real contender to those two powerhouses: 5D Cyborg!
Bright Idea: Free Rim Light Tool for Nuke Artists
CompAcademy's free 2D Rim Light Tool for Nuke simplifies rim lighting in 2D workflows, offering flexibility and control at no cost.
Autograph 2025: Sign Here for New Features
Left Angle's Autograph 5.1v0 introduces a revamped UI, 3D text extrusion, and enhanced interoperability with DaVinci Resolve and After Effects.
ComfyUI + NVIDIA Cosmos: AI for Artists, Not Teenagers
ComfyUI now supports NVIDIA Cosmos, transforming AI video generation into a serious tool for VFX pros. Text-to-video meets production pipelines—but test first!
Digital Domain Lets Agatha Fly
The prettiest Marvel show this year was "Agatha All Along" Time to ask Digital Domain how they did that!
Free for All: Post Manager Adds Render Compositing to Photoshop
Post Manager, a Photoshop add-on for render compositing, is now free. Manage multi-pass workflows directly in Photoshop—simple, stable, and cost-effective.
Let’s Fix it in Pod 04 Industry Societies and Associations
In this episode, Bela and Christoph discuss means of staying connected - from informal groups and meetups to the Societies and Associations that define our industry.
Nuke Gets Splatted: Gaussian Splatting Plugin Debuts
Introducing Gaussian Splatting for Nuke: real-time 3D point cloud rendering with GPU acceleration, enhancing VFX compositing workflows.
Adobe Substance 3D Stager 3.1 Beta
Adobe Substance 3D Stager 3.1 introduces key updates, enhancing material editing, asset management, and real-time rendering workflows.
Mocha Pro 2025: Planar Tracking, USD, and Roto
Boris FX rolls out Mocha Pro 2025 with USD support, improved planar tracking, and updated rotoscoping workflows for VFX professionals.
Let’s Fix it in Pod 03 Open Industry Standards with Jonas Kluger and Arne Palluck
In this episode, Bela and Christoph discuss the benefits of Open Industry Standards, but also the hurdles and processes in establishing these.
Let’s Fix it in Pod 02 Jobs and A.I. with Benjamin Wild
In this episode, Bela and Christoph tackle the possibilities and challenges that Machine Learning and A.I. are offering to the vfx industry.
Flow Warp Plugin for Nuke Bends Images with Precision
The free Nuke plugin, Flow Warp, lets artists bend images along custom paths with ease—ideal for particles and tricky compositing shots.
Let’s Fix it in Pod 01 Control Surfaces with Mazze Aderhold
In their very first episode, Bela Beier and Christoph Zapletal talk about control surfaces for an artist's workstation.
TD Meetup 10: ComfyUI in Nuke
What if we could create AI images directly in Nuke using ComfyUI?
Magic Nodes 2: New functions
The "Magic Nodes" extension for "Adobe After Effects" has
has been around for a while. This enables compositing in a Nodes network
with the Adobe programme. A look at the changes
and improvements in version 2.
From the left..
Nomen est omen. When reading the company name "Left Angle", anyone with any mathematical knowledge will think: "There's no such thing!" And it's a bit like that with your product, Autograph: a new compositing and motion design application that stands up to comparison with Nuke and After Effects. That doesn't even exist. Or is there?
TD Meetup 07: CopyCat – Machine Learning in Nuke
CopyCat is a Nuke node that “copies sequence-specific effects, such as garbage matting, beauty repairs, or deblurring, from a small number of frames in a sequence and then trains a network to replicate the effect on the entire sequence.
The discovery of slowness
Artificial slow motion, i.e. the calculation of additional intermediate images, has been around for a long time. The best methods to date have been called "optical flow", although this actually refers to the visual perception of movement in general. Now A.I. or neural networks are also establishing themselves here. We compare Twixtor 8, DaVinci Resolve 18.6 and Topaz Video AI 4.
The new kid on the block!
The market for VFX and motion design software seems pretty saturated. Nuke for VFX, After Effects for Motion Design, sprinkle in a little bit of Flame and Fusion and that’s about it. Or is it?
Nuke UtilitiesVolume 6 – Keying
Admittedly, if you look at the keyers that are included with Nuke out of the box, it's a who's who of clipping tools: Primatte, Ultimatte, Keylight & IBK, plus Luma, Difference & Co. However, as everyday working life throws all kinds of challenges at us, there are also some clever little helpers that we want to take a look at here.
Our Universe of… Houdini?
Who would have thought that one of our favourite documentaries seen this year would come from Bristol?
Zeiss takes over NCam
Ncam joins Zeiss - the lens manufacturer takes over the camera tracker!
Photoshop und Express Beta – Refill my Picture?
As soon as the Adobe Firefly beta is officially available to every Adobe Cloud subscriber, the features are also being introduced in the Photoshop beta and then immediately in the Adobe Express beta.
Timeline Tools von The Foundry 2
Color, Comp und Conform! Nuke and Nuke X are the de facto-standard in node-based compositing. But even seasoned Nuke artists have often had little or no contact with the closely related reviewing and finishing products.
The Puppet Groove
The animated film "The Puppet Groove", which looks like a music video, shows a rocking puppet band on stage. In the background, the singer narrates their success story in an animated film sequence. But whether the musicians really have everything under control is only revealed at the end.
Trash, Dance & Robots
In winter 2021, we decided to make a film as a group of three under the guidance of our professor Jürgen Schopper about a robot whose purpose in life is to pick up rubbish. A lot has happened in the meantime: the robot is now controlled by an old lady and can - surprise! - dance very well. We have spent many enjoyable, stressful and also funny days at the HFF with our robot and the old lady. The original idea resulted in a four-minute animated film. We - three visual effects students (Valentin Dittlmann, Hannes Werner, Felix Zachau) at the University of Television and Film in Munich - developed, realised and completed this film in the course of our first year of study.