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Introduction to Python Scripting in NUKE

by Chris Glick

Python is a widely used scripting language that is integrated into NUKE to let us artists control the user interface, quickly modify many nodes, and integrate with external applications. Software required: NUKE 6.3v6.

What you'll learn

Python is a widely used scripting language that is integrated into NUKE to let us artists control the user interface, quickly modify many nodes, and integrate with external applications. By learning some Python commands and workflows we can extend NUKE and write scripts that let us focus on creating art. We will start this NUKE tutorial by echoing the Python commands that NUKE uses internally and begin writing our own code. From there we will learn how to correctly create nodes, set properties at node creation and have our scripts automatically run whenever NUKE starts up. From there, we can begin working on some projects, like a script that selects all nodes of a specific class based on user input and a script to automatically break a multi-channel EXR into individual auto-cropped shuffle nodes so we can begin compositing faster. Software required: NUKE 6.3v6.

About the author

Along with creating and recording training, he also used to manage the support team and work closely with the production development team at Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. He began his career working freelance and quickly realized that he wanted to find a company where he could use his talents to help people succeed in the CG industry. Chris has likely watched more Pluralsight creative training than anyone on the planet, and its evidenced by his Einstein-sized brain and encyclopedic... more

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