Nuke Multishot: Reuse scripts | TD Meetup 13

Will Multishot bring sequence compositing to Nuke?

As compositors we are used to compositing Nuke shots one at a time. This use of single shots often comes with the challenge of achieving consistency across multiple shots in a sequence. Artists often have to juggle multiple Nuke scripts, painstakingly recreating looks or manually copying setups from one script to another. Remember the projects where we had to open and adjust a grade node in ten different scripts just to get a consistent intensity across all the shots? A repetitive and mundane process.

Foundry's Nuke 16.0 - currently in open Beta - introduces native support for the Multishot compositing workflow, a feature that adds new Nuke variables to create a shot and sequence, paired with new Multishot nodes to integrate them into our node tree. This allows artists to reuse scripts across multiple shots and adapt them dynamically within a single Nuke script.

Watch the FULL live event with the Foundry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-KaRHH-0Z0

Manage multiple shots without losing it

Nuke is great for handling single shots and over the years has established itself as THE compositing software for visual effects. With the latest release, coming early 2025, new features allow Nuke users to create custom scene variables and use them as expressions within the normal and Multishot nodes. This allows the artist to add and switch between show or sequence information while building an entire sequence within a Nuke script. Multishot is particularly powerful for those of us who are familiar with programming and scripting languages like Python may find the concept a little easier to grasp.

"These are very similar shots. I don't need eight Nuke scripts to do this."

Let's look at an example: Suppose we're working on a sequence with several shots, each of which requires different adjustments to a grade node to increase the gain. Instead of manually adjusting the gain for each shot, Multishot allows us to use a single variable (e.g. shot_brightness) that changes for each shot. We set different values for each shot (e.g. shot_brightness = 1.2 for shot 01, shot_brightness = 0.8 for shot 02) and the gain node automatically adjusts based on the shot.

This has the power to simply our workflow by eliminating repeated nodes and keeps our script cleaner, making multiple adjustments across multiple shots much faster and more efficiently.

Watch Terry's explanation in the live event.

New features & nodes

The main feature of Multishot is the Graph Scope variables. We can create variables that only affect specific sections of our Nuke script. So if we make a change to one shot, it won't break everything else.

Variable panels is a hub which allows us to change the T-Rex eyes, particles, and other settings.

Accompanying this is the variables panel. Instead of navigating through the Nuke script trying to find what we need to adjust, we get a central place where we can see and edit only the variables that the artists need access to. This panel is customisable using Python, so additional features can be added to suit the needs of the project.

There are a couple of nodes that help us take advantage of these features: The Variable Switch node helps us to quickly switch between different sections of our Nuke script based on the value of a variable. It helps reduce the need to copy/paste from one script to another. For example, here we can tell Nuke to apply different colour corrections depending on the shot being read.

Multishot can also be used to show clients different looks

Next we have a Variable Group node, which helps us organise our variables into neat little groups. It helps us create isolated environments for different parts of our Nuke script. Variables defined on a VariableGroup automatically inherit from their parent group and allow us to set overrides. This means we don't have to sift through a bunch of unrelated variables to make a change. This helps keep things tidy and makes it easier to manage everything from a larger perspective.

Examples of the GSV Command Line Render

Finally, we have GSV Command Line Render. When it comes to rendering shots, Foundry plan to add support for specifying Graph Scope Variables to the command line interface so that scripts can be rendered with the correct shot context. Instead of rendering each shot individually, we can automate the process and have everything rendered in a batch. It's particularly useful for large projects where we need to quickly iterate or output multiple versions of a sequence.

Using the command line effectively can make our workflow even more efficient, allowing us to focus on the creative tasks while the technical side takes care of itself in the background.

Python x Multishot

Although Multishot is designed to be easy to use, getting the most out of it requires a level of Python and Technical Director knowledge. If you're already familiar with Python, this feature becomes even more powerful since allows you to create custom scripts that interact with Multishot's nodes and variables, enabling automation and customisation that would otherwise be time-consuming. Whether we want to write a script to adjust variables across multiple shots or automate the rendering process, Python gives us the flexibility to make Multishot work for us.

Resume

Nuke 16's Multishot feature is a contender for anyone working on complex projects with multiple shots, it can help us stay organised, reduce redundant work and streamline our process in a way that makes managing complicated sequences feel more manageable.

For anyone looking for a way to work smarter and more efficiently, Multishot is definitely worth investing some time in. Download and explore Multishot workflows in Nuke 16.0 open beta. Add to that the ability to automate processes using Python and we've got a workflow that runs smoothly, takes the complexity out of managing multiple shots, gives us more control and ultimately helps us get our projects done faster and with less hassle.

Thank you for reading,

Vish Patel & Alex

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