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Free Lessons

Learn at Your Own Pace

Bite-sized lessons covering VFX fundamentals, compositing techniques, and industry workflows. All free.

specular
vfx

Render AOVs

A position pass describes the actual position of the geometry represented by each pixel. ie, the origin if represented by geometry in the image, and is visible will have an RGB value of (0,0,0)

rendering
tech-check
vfx

Tech Check

Before you submit a shot, run a tech check. This is the non-negotiable pass that catches pipeline and integration failures before a supervisor or client does.

vfx
compositing
tech check
colour-science
vfx

Color Science

Color is not a file format, a LUT, or a “look.” It is light, filtered by human vision, measured into numbers, carried through cameras and software that each speak a different dialect, and finally forced onto a display that can only show a triangle of colors inside a larger world of what people can see.

vision
presets
vfx

Nuke Defaults

Out of the box Nuke's default configuration isn't very optimized for day to day work. Use these sensible Nuke default settings

vfx
nuke
structure
vfx

Node Graph Structure

A Nuke script is a directed acyclic graph (DAG): nodes (vertices) connected by pipes (edges) that always flow forward — never in a cycle. That is not just computer science trivia. It is why your script can be evaluated in a clear order, cached, and handed to another artist without turning into a knot.

vfx
nuke
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vfx

Lensing

As light passes through a camera lens, it does not stay perfect. The glass stack, aperture, coatings, and matte box all imprint artifacts on the image: soft focus falloff, dark corners, geometric warps, color fringes, flares, haze, and grain (or noise).

vfx
photography
IMG 3333 2
vfx

Motion Blur for VFX

Motion blur is the streaking that appears when something moves while the shutter is open. On a real camera it is an optical fact of exposure time. In VFX it is something you must match, not invent: wrong blur is one of the fastest ways to make CG, plates, and composites look fake.

vfx
position
python

How to Install OpenImageIO on Windows and Linux

OpenImageIO is an essential library for handling image file input and output, often used in computer graphics and visual effects applications. Here's a step-by-step guide to installing OpenImageIO on both Windows and Linux systems.

OpenImageIO
Screenshot 2026 08 07 at 2.21.02 AM
vfx

Playback Tools for VFX

You need a player that can scrub image sequences (EXR, DPX) and movie proxies at speed, with color management you trust. Nuke’s viewer is fine while you work. For dailies, version flips, and “does this actually play,” people reach for dedicated playback.

rv
openrv
vlc