Leading visual effects software
developer The Foundry is delighted to announce the next major release
of its powerful compositing application, Nuke. Nuke 5 features a
brand new user interface, the addition of Python for scripting,
support for stereoscopic workflow, and with the ability to read,
process and write over 1,000 channels per stream, it now features the
industry’s broadest support for EXR images.

Since taking on the development of Nuke The Foundry’s goal has been
to remain true to the original concept of developing a comprehensive
compositing solution that is ‘designed by artists for artists’. With
user requirements as the driver, The Foundry has concentrated on
enriching and refining the product, building on its already strong
foundations and focussing development efforts on areas that required
renovation. Nuke 5 is the first major step towards this goal.

“Nuke is a complete pipeline tool. We created a pipeline for a job
within days that would not have been possible with any other
software. Within three days of getting our license we generated over
85,000 frames of data that equalled 350 variations for the client.
Nuke 5’s support for OpenEXR is so effortless that our renders come
in and we just work.” Robert Nederhorst, VFX Supervisor at
SpeedShape’s Los Angeles studio.

Applying over a decade of software development experience and close
collaboration with the growing Nuke community, The Foundry has
reworked Nuke’s UI to improve the user experience and make it more
approachable for a broader range of artists. In addition to
augmenting the existing floating window layouts with a flexible panes
and panels system, Nuke 5 features per-node mask inputs, and expanded
LUT support for file I/O colourspace conversion.

Since its inception, Nuke’s extensive scripting capabilities have
been a key feature for many of its adopters, and The Foundry has
taken this to the next level by adding support for the Python
scripting language for the version 5 release.

The Foundry’s product development has long-benefited from close
working relationships with some of the industry’s leading post
production facilities. The latest challenge facing these cutting edge
artists is the dramatic increase in volumes of stereoscopic projects.
The Foundry has responded by laying the groundwork for efficient
multi-view compositing in Nuke 5.

“With the latest Nuke developments we are reinforcing our commitment
to deliver first-class products that assist creativity, workflow and
productivity, no matter how demanding the pipeline,” said Dr Bill
Collis, CEO, The Foundry. “Close relationships with our Nuke and plug-
in customers are fundamental to our work ‘ we listen to what they say
they need for their pipelines today and tomorrow and this drives our
R&D.”

Available on Linux, Windows, and Mac platforms Nuke delivers
unparalleled speed, an efficient multi-channel scanline rendering
engine, and powerful feature set unrivalled in the desktop market.

Availability and Pricing
Now shipping, Nuke 5 is priced at $3,500 / £1,750 with render nodes
priced at: $250 / £125, with the annual maintenance and support
contract prices at $1,000 / £500 per GUI license. Nuke 5 is available
for existing customers with valid maintenance at no extra cost,
customers can download now from The Foundry website www.thefoundry.co.uk