Foundry has updated two of its products. Katana, its lighting and look-dev software, is now in Version 8.0 and contains significant USD workflow improvements. Mari, its 3D paint software, is now in Version 7.1 and among the upgrades is a new 2D painting mode. Additionally, Foundry’s Nuke 16.0 compositing tool, with multi-shot workflows, has entered open beta.
It’s not the holidays quite yet, but in the spirit of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” Foundry has presented artists with not two turtledoves, but rather new releases of its Katana lighting/look-dev software and Mari 3D paint software. As for that partridge in a pear tree, artists likely will enjoy Nuke 16.0 instead, which has moved into open beta.
Katana 8.0
What users will find inside Katana 8.0 is even more USD tools and workflows. Katana 8.0 now comes with what Foundry calls complete USD roundtripping (to and from USD) within the application thanks to the KatanaToUsd node. With the software’s new USD export feature, all USD changes made in Katana can be exported for re-use in other parts of the pipeline and other departments. This includes lights, materials, cameras, other geometry, and more. In fact, entire scenes can be converted to USD.
Some of the other new features in Katana 8.0 include:
- Tools for creating native USD lighting.
- UsdCollection node for USD collections.
- USD debugging tools.
- Ability to export entire stage as layers and examine USD layers.
- A Python Profiler section in the performance tab.
- USD in Hydra improvements.
- Updated VFX Reference Platform 2024.
According to Foundry, scenes now load up to 2.5´ faster when compared with Katana 7.0, thanks to Katana’s Node Graph traversal process being ported over from Python to C++. This speed increase extends to parameter changes, and frame changes, graph state variable changes.
Mari 7.1
Mari 7.1 enables new creative 2D painting workflows. Artists can quickly retouch an image, create decals and paint custom patterns from scratch, with the materials being fully editable.
The new 2D Painting Mode lets artists easily switch between 2D and 3D painting, or create images on a canvas in 2D and then have a live link between that and their node graph in 3D. Also, artists can easily curate their own modular Smart Mask library, with over 50 Smart Masks and utility nodes from industry professional Stuart Ansley, as well as Johnny Fehr’s grunge maps.
Mari 7.1 further offers a host of new node functions. The node graph has been improved and streamlined, and includes the addition of paint node creation presets, switch node, and save nodes to shelf items as bundled packages.
Nuke 16.0 beta
Until now, Nuke users were confined to single-shot workflows, as they had to re-create the same effect across multiple shots one by one. However, with new features in Nuke 16.0 beta, they will soon be able to work with multiple shots simultaneously from a single script.
Also new in the beta are:
- Overhauled compositing workflows.
- Enhanced review workflows.
- More seamless 3D workflows.
- Updates to BlinkScript that make it easier to read, write, and troubleshoot code.
Nuke 16.0 is currently in open beta. Foundry notes that for studios yet to update to VFX Reference Platform 2024, the Nuke 15.2 beta is also available, providing access to many of the new features without requiring a pipeline upgrade. The open beta information can be found here.