What is Nuke used for?

Nuke is Foundry's node-based compositing software for film and television visual effects, offered in a family that also covers VFX editorial, conform and review. It is a good fit for VFX studios compositing film shots and independent artists using the Indie edition.

Yes. Nuke has a free plan, and paid plans start at $462 per seat per year. A free trial is also available.

No. Nuke is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Video Editing category, open-source options include OpenCut, OBS Studio and HandBrake.

What are some alternatives to Nuke?

Nuke competes with Adobe After Effects, DaVinci Resolve and Autodesk Flame.

Nuke: features, pricing and alternatives

About Nuke

Nuke is a node-based compositing application from Foundry used to combine footage, CG and effects elements into final shots for film and television. Compositors build a graph of connected nodes rather than stacking layers on a timeline.

The Nuke family includes NukeX, Nuke Studio, Hiero and HieroPlayer, Nuke Indie and a non-commercial edition, covering compositing, editorial, conform and review. Related tools include SmartRoto and Nuke Stage, while a Cattery library of machine learning models and a plug-in ecosystem with developer resources extend it. The vendor also points users to Nukepedia for community resources.

Nuke is commercial software licensed by Foundry, with trial and purchase options, and it is common in many visual effects pipelines. It suits VFX artists, compositors and studios.

Key features

Node-based compositing
Multiple editions including NukeX and Nuke Indie
Hiero for VFX editorial and conform
SmartRoto for rotoscoping
Plug-ins and developer tools
Cattery library of machine learning models

Good fit for

→VFX studios compositing film shots
→Independent artists using the Indie edition

Tags: compositing; vfx; node-based; film; television; foundry; post-production

Nuke: questions and answers

What is Nuke used for?: Nuke is Foundry's node-based compositing software for film and television visual effects, offered in a family that also covers VFX editorial, conform and review. It is a good fit for VFX studios compositing film shots and independent artists using the Indie edition.
Is Nuke free?: Yes. Nuke has a free plan, and paid plans start at $462 per seat per year. A free trial is also available.
Is Nuke open source?: No. Nuke is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Video Editing category, open-source options include OpenCut, OBS Studio and HandBrake.
What are some alternatives to Nuke?: Nuke competes with Adobe After Effects, DaVinci Resolve and Autodesk Flame.