👋 Hey , it's been a minute...

As we're entering 2022, I wanted to reach out to say hi, let you know what I've been up to, and share some insights from the global Nuke community.

But before we get into these things, you're receiving this email as you previously signed up to Ben's Comp Newsletter, or purchased a course of mine. If you don't want to hear from me again, simply click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email -- no hard feelings!

Speaking of, you might be wondering if Ben's Comp Newsletter coming back? I get this question a lot, and unfortunately, the short answer is no, as it simply took too much time away from other areas of life. However, I've still got the itch to create Nuke-based content for your learning pleasure!

I quietly released a couple of Nuke tutorials on my YouTube channel recently -- the goals being:

• Try and solve a specific problem
• Only share the necessary information, explained clearly & efficiently (no long-winded fluff, like many tutorials have these days!)
• Keep the run-time as short as possible (nobody has 20 mins spare these days!)

I'd be keen to hear what you think, so please leave a comment or reply to this email when you check them out:

• Ben, how do I use $gui when rendering locally
• Ben, how do I expression-link Pulldown Knobs

There will be more short tutorials coming soon, and I'll shoot you an email whenever a new one is released so you don't miss it! In the meantime, if you have any specific Nuke questions, or have topics you'd like me to explore in future tutorials, I'd love to hear them 🙂

What's going on in the Nuke Community?

You've gone without an issue of Ben's Comp Newsletter for over 12 months now, so I thought you might appreciate some tips on some of my favourite Nuke tools & learning resources from 2021!

CREATORS AND WEBSITES I'M ENJOYING.

I've been delighted to see an increase in the number of Compositors sharing their knowledge with the community since the pandemic began. The following five creators are my favourites (in no particular order):

Comp Lair (Pedro Andrade)

Check out his tutorials on YouTube. Pedro's "The Next Level" training for aspiring Comp Supes is unlike anything else out there, and is currently 20% off for January! Now is the best time to sign up if you've been thinking about learning new skills to help progress your career into leadership roles.

Compositing Academy (Alex Hanneman)

Alex recently released his latest course, NK606 -- Advanced CG Compositing & Look Development, which is an incredibly in-depth resource for learning to Comp a big shot from start to finish. I'm a big fan of Alex's work, and how he teaches fundamental concepts as well as how to execute them in Nuke.

He has been consistently pumping out great content on the Compositing Academy YouTube channel as well.

Split the Diff (Sebastian Schütt)

Check it out on YouTube. I love how technical Seb gets -- sharing in-depth information you would have trouble finding anywhere else on the web!

Compositing Mentor (Tony Lyons)

Check out Tony's Website. His latest series on YouTube is beginning to do a deep dive into CG Compositing.

Conrad Olson

Check out his content on YouTube. I appreciate how Conrad strips everything back to teach the core fundamentals of a node, or an idea.

TOP NUKE TOOLS I'M USING EVERY DAY.

Denoising plates -- Neat Video / Reduce Noise

Adding Grain -- DasGrain (what else!)

Despill -- apDespill

EdgeExtend (when absolutely necessary) -- Edge, apEdgePush is great too.

Creating mattes from CG -- apMatte

Defocus -- OpticalZDefocus. pgBokeh when I need the Deep input. Magic Defocus is best for CatsEye/Barndoor effects. All used with a photographed bokeh kernel (from a plate, or external image).

Chromatic Abberation -- apChroma + apChromaMerge

Lens Flares -- OpticalFlares, but I'm hanging out for a newer version of SpotFlare to be released!

Exponential Glow -- bm_OpticalGlow

Lightwrap -- bm_OpticalLightwrap

I'm also really digging Stamps, and fxt_PrecompController for speeding up my workflow.

What I'm thinking about for 2022.

• Testing PyTorch models in CopyCat to find the limits of new tech.
• The future of Unreal & VR (+metaverse), and its implications on the VFX industry.
• Sharing knowledge via a new course / ebook / etc. without it turning into a full-time job!
• How to stay connected in a more personal way with the community, presuming Work From Home continues to be the norm into the future.
• How to better prepare newly graduated students for their first job in a remote workplace.

If any of this resonates with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Phew, that was a long email. I'll leave it there for now -- I look forward hearing your thoughts, and what you're up to!

Happy Comping, and Happy New Year! 🎉

- Ben