For those of us who are familiar with basic 3D modeling, the "Model Builder" feature is a pretty cool new addition. It allows you to create basic geometry for camera projections that require a little more than just flat cards, without having to switch over to a 3D package. You can set up your basic geo and line it up easier, using the zoom window provided. Once you have basic geo in place, you can go in and carve away or extrude those surfaces in order to add detail where needed. Move points around and select faces, as you desire, in order to recreate your set.

Nuke 7's Model Builder tool is creating geometry that matches live action footage with a moving camera. It has a straight forward workflow that is easy to learn quickly.

Nuke 7 is being used to add extra lighting to a character. Though it looks like a 3D model in the UI is it really a point display of a 2D World Position pass. Using this and other common render passes the lighting changes can be applied in Nuke's 3D wor

Some of the other 3D improvements include a 3D scale manipulator, 3D alpha shadows and create-camera option. These are pretty handy additions to the 3D workflow. You can now scale 3D objects like you normally would in a 3D package. You can also create a camera from the current view, which comes in handy when you stumble upon the camera angle you like: You won't have to create a new camera from scratch. It's a nice, little timesaver.

In case you do need to import 3D geometry into Nuke, they have implemented the latest FBX2012 support. You can still use any previous version, as well, if need be.

These are some of the new features you can look forward to in this latest edition of Nuke. Along with all the new upgrades and a few other new features, Nuke 7 promises to be a well-rounded update. It has all the key ingredients for compositors who are just starting out with the program, as well as the senior artist who regularly uses the power of Nuke, but wants that little extra boost. This boost packs a punch! These powerful additions should prove to be helpful time-savers as well, which is a real, big help, since deadlines always seem to be getting shorter and shorter. 

Nuke 7 is generating a dense point cloud from footage that has a moving camera. This point cloud can be used in several ways inside of Nuke.

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Daniel Molina is a digital compositor at LOOK Effects in Los Angeles where he has worked on films such as Life of Pi, Underworld Awakening, Captain America, Fast Five, Limitless and Black Swan. His television credits include: “Lost,” “The Pacific” and “V.” Before LOOK, Daniel worked at Zoic Studios, MX Productions, Digital Dream vfx and Lieberman Productions. His credits there include: Old Dogs, Crazy On The Outside, Amusement, Nims' Island, The Mist, Rush Hour 3, Spiderman 3, Next, Wild Hogs and The Nativity Story. To see Daniel’s reel, go to http://www.danmolina.com/demoreel.html.