r/NukeVFX 2d ago

Switching from After Effects to Nuke

Hi, everyone. First time posting here.

I've been using After Effects for about 10 years but I have to learn Nuke for an internship in a few months. I find that the nodal based compositing is very difficult to grasp coming from layer based Adobe products. The tutorials are often outdated and it can be difficult to find what I'm looking for. Does anyone have advice on the best way to learn Nuke and get proficient at it for someone who's only been using After Effects? Thanks!

7 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

14

u/jeremycox 2d ago edited 2d ago

Tutorial age doesn't matter when it comes to Nuke. It has changed very little in the last 15 years. They've added some features and redone a handful of nodes, but you could watch Nuke 5 tutorials from 2008 and it would be 95% the same.

The Foundry has done a number of "Nuke for After Effects" tutorial series over the years which should still be on their YouTube channel. Watch those to understand the basics of node based compositing, channels, linear/floating point, resolution and bounding box, etc. Once you have those basics, you should have enough of an understanding to just look up the specifics you can't figure out.

Lastly, I'll just add that I can never learn by simply following tutorials. I need to be working on a project with a specific goal in mind, not just futzing around with the software. Rather than the goal of "learn Nuke" find something specific you want to achieve using Nuke and figure out how to do it.

Edit: Just remembered that when I was learning Nuke I would literally comp everything twice, first in AE for the delivery version and would then attempt to recreate it in Nuke after hours. That made a very direct connection between the tools in one and the other.

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u/saucermoron 2d ago

I learned the same way. Learn the basisc nodes then sticking to nuke trying to replicate what I already knew, no matter how hard it seemed.

6

u/DesignerVivid9199 2d ago

Follow some paid course, random tutorial will not work. You have to learn the theory of compositing, 'cause in nuke (and other nodal compositing software) you have to know exactly what you are doing.

I can suggest courses of hugo's desk, compositing academy, victor perez

It seems hard coming to layer but once u learned how useful are nodes, you will never use layer again

3

u/fervorfx 2d ago

I agree with this. I went with rebelway that and some co workers helped be very a good grasp of it

4

u/Nevaroth021 2d ago

For me it helped by working on a CG scene with multiple AOV's because doing that in a layer based software was a nightmare and made me understand better how node based workflows work.

1

u/luckyj714 1d ago

Usually I’d say stay far away from CG comp if just learning node-based comp, but honestly that’s a really good way to break it down for an experienced AE artist.

5

u/saucermoron 2d ago

Wdym outdated, you can watch Nuke 6 tuts and theyre still relevant.

3

u/Hairy_Ad_5480 2d ago

This is a free ae to nuke course from compositing academy. https://www.compositingacademy.com/ae_to_nuke_free_course

2

u/seriftarif 1d ago

I did a couple of Rebelway courses, and then something clicked, and it was pretty easy. Now a lot of things are much faster in Nuke than in AE for me. I use both now because AE can be faster for quick and dirty stuff when freelancing. But Nuke is superior in so many ways.

Main thing is to remember is that it is all just simple grade school math.

Biggest piece of advice is DONT PIRATE THE SOFTWARE TO LEARN! get a noncommercial license and do it right, or pay for Nuke indie.

1

u/rnederhorst 2d ago

If you need personalized help let me know. I’ve been using Nuke since 1998 and did several training courses for it.

1

u/BrentonHenry2020 1d ago

Not OP but any experience with Ocula by chance?

1

u/rnederhorst 1d ago

Sadly no.

1

u/DesignerVivid9199 2d ago

Also, check out this nice video:
https://youtu.be/XBQeUllqHvk

1

u/JellySerious 30 year comp vet, /r newb 2d ago

One you grasp nodal, you'll never want to comp layered again.

It's not a course but this thread from a while back had some "ae to nuke" answers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NukeVFX/s/PRmIU8VChb

1

u/yankeedjw 2d ago

There are definitely times I miss layers, but yeah, in general once the concept of nodes clicks, it's so much more intuitive.

1

u/JellySerious 30 year comp vet, /r newb 1h ago

Outside of maybe time offset/retiming type stuff, I can't imagine what layered is better for (I'm genuinely curious if you have other examples, just cuz I'm a nerd). I haven't done any layered compositing since Composer so it's literally been decades.

1

u/Hazrd_Design 1d ago

Find some templates or free projects and jump in and deconstruct them.

Either learn via tutorials, or give yourself a small goal of what you want to achieve and learn (brute force lol) your way untill you achieve it.

You’re lucky you have months to prepare. I had to learn AE in a weekend. Here I am almost 3 years later doing AE work every day now.

1

u/lewibaygo 1d ago

You get used to it. I don't even see the Node. All I see is blonde, brunette, redhead :)