Kinematic 0.5.0 is out. Modeling and sculpting in the viewport, a timeline on every graph, photo and sound editing. What's new
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Kinematic / Coming from Nuke

Composite in Kinematic.

A node graph that reads the way yours does, in 32-bit float with OpenColorIO. Then the things a comp never had: the fire sim in the same file, a song riding the grade, and an output that goes to projectors, LED walls and NDI. Free to use, at any resolution.

Download for macOS 0.5.0Demos to open first
32-bit float and OpenColorIOLayered EXR in and outmacOS, Windows and LinuxFree at any resolution
On this page
the finished comp: a gold CG dragon in an empty room by a window the green screen plate the comp starts from: a gold CG dragon rendered over flat green
drag across: the plate and the finished comp
The graph behind the wipe
  1. InputImageFile
  2. ImageChromaKey
  3. ImageDespill
  4. ImageEdgeDecontaminate
  5. ImageLightWrap
  6. ImageMerge
  7. ImageColorCorrect
Keyed, despilled, edge-cleaned, light wrapped, merged over a room and graded. Every frame above is the app's own output. See the graph
You already know this

Nuke terms in Kinematic.

Reads, a viewer, properties, and wires that carry pictures, mattes and depth. The layout will feel like home, and most of the names are plain English.

Kinematic with the comp open: the picture in the viewport, an OCIO node selected with its CDL in Properties, and the comp graph on the canvas below
the comp from the top of the page, open in the app: viewport, Properties and the graph
Where things are
  • The ViewerThe viewportPick any node to see its picture. Space over the picture opens the image tools.
  • Viewer scopes and wipesThe Image inspectorPress I: each channel on its own, pixel values, histogram, waveform, vectorscope and a wipe against a pinned frame.
  • PropertiesPropertiesEvery value can take a driver: the frame, the time or another node.
  • Dope sheet and curvesKeyframes and the timelineA keyframe editor, and a timeline on every graph.
the comp graph: Plate, Key, Despill, Clean edges, Light wrap, Merge, Grade and Write in a row, with Room and Clock below Plate, Key, Despill and Clean edgesLight wrap, Merge, Grade and Write
The graph behind the wipe. A plate keyed, despilled, edge-cleaned, light wrapped, merged over a room, graded and written out. Each node shows its own picture, so you read the comp the way you read yours.
a violet to amber gradient blended in Multiply at 40 percent, before and after
a gradient in Multiply at 40 percent, before and after
In Nuke: Merge

Merge

Over, under, atop, inside, outside, xor and dozens more modes, on two inputs or sixteen. Premultiply and Unpremultiply are nodes of their own, and Shift+R swaps A and B.

ImageMergeImagePremultiplyImageUnpremultiply
the dragon on green at the left, keyed into the empty room at the right
the green screen plate and its key, set into the room
In Nuke: Keyers

Keys and edges

Key on a color, a hue range or the green or blue difference. Despill hands you its spill map, then clean the edge and let the plate's light wrap around it.

ImageChromaKeyImageDespillImageEdgeDecontaminateImageLightWrap
a tram street before and after, the overhead wire cloned out of the sky
the wire over the tram, before and after the clone strokes
In Nuke: Roto and RotoPaint

Shapes, paint and clone

Draw an outline, step to another frame and move the points to key it. A shape can ride a track. Paint, Clone and Heal take brush strokes right on the frame.

ImageSelectShapeImagePaintImageCloneImageHeal
a sunset print pinned to the angled wall of an empty room
a print pinned to the angled wall of an empty room
In Nuke: Tracker and CornerPin2D

Track and pin

Planar track a screen, a sign or a wall for its four corners on every frame, then stabilize with that track or pin a picture onto it.

ImagePlanarTrackImageStabilizeImageCornerPin
an old car before and after a warm .cube look
an old car before and after a warm .cube look
In Nuke: Grade, ColorCorrect and OCIO

Color

Grade by shadows, midtones and highlights, with curves and hue curves. One OpenColorIO node changes color space and applies looks, CDLs and display views.

ImageColorCorrectImageHueVsCurvesImageOpenColorIO
a bear on a rocky slope, the far forest sunk further into mist while the bear stays crisp
the far forest sunk into mist, the bear kept crisp
In Nuke: ZDefocus and ZMerge

Depth

Merge two pictures by depth so the nearer pixel wins, blur by distance like a wide-open lens, or add depth fog. No depth pass? A local model works one out from the frame.

ImageZCompositeImageDepthOfFieldLocalAIImageToDepth
quick-add with shuffle typed, offering Shufflequick-add with cryptomatte typed, offering Cryptomatte
quick-add in the app, with shuffle and cryptomatte typed
In Nuke: Shuffle and layers

Layers and IDs

Layered EXRs come in with every layer. Pull one out by name, shuffle channels, pack layers back up, and pick objects from a Cryptomatte by name.

ImageLayerExtractImageLayerShuffleImageLayerPackImageCryptomatte
inside a component: a blur into a grade, between its input and output
inside a component: a blur into a grade
In Nuke: Groups and gizmos

Components

Wrap a chain as one node with its own public settings. Share it, or clone it so every copy follows the original.

Component
stained glass cells drawn by a custom shader, moving
In Nuke: Python and BlinkScript

Python and shaders

Python nodes, a console, and an API that builds a whole graph. For pixels, write WGSL or GLSL that runs on the GPU over up to eight inputs, with errors on your own lines.

PythonScriptNodeImageShader
More names you will look for

The nodes you reach for most in Nuke, and the node that does that job here. Type the plain word in quick-add and it is usually there.

Everything in Edit →
ReadInputImageSequence
WriteOutputImageFile
ShuffleImageLayerShuffle
PremultImagePremultiply
ColorCorrectImageColorCorrect
OCIOColorSpaceImageOpenColorIO
KeyerImageLumaKey
DifferenceImageDiffMatte
TransformImageTransform
ReformatImageReformat
CropImageCrop
DefocusImageBokehBlur
ZDefocusImageDepthOfField
ZMergeImageZComposite
STMapImageUVRemap
VectorBlurImageMotionBlur
GrainImageGrain
DissolveImageCrossfade
ConstantImageSolidColor
TimeWarpImageTimeWarp
CryptomatteImageCryptomatte
Camera3DGeoCameraCreate
ScanlineRender3DGeoSceneRenderToImage
CameraTrackerLocalAICameraSolve
Familiar work, done here

Fix the shot.

Roto a hat through a shot, build a clean plate from the frames themselves, steady a walk and take the flicker out of an old newsreel. Every fix stays a node you can open again tomorrow.

  • Pen shapes keyed over time, which can also follow a track
    ImageSelectShapeImageMaskRefine
  • A clean plate built from the shot itself, painted back where you need it
    ImageFrameStackImageMaskMix
  • Planar track a surface, then stabilize or corner pin from the same track
    ImagePlanarTrackImageStabilize
  • Deflicker that measures the shot once, and grain matched to the plate
    ImageDeflickerImageGrainMatch
  • Click once and a matte follows the object, or paint a passing bus out of a moving shot
    LocalAIImageToTrackedMaskLocalAIImageInfill
Video →Retouch →Selections and masks →
the plane on the left, gone on the right where the clean plate fills it
a keyed pen outline, lifted inside and darkened outside
the bouncing walk on the left, steadied on the right
Familiar work, done here

Color in 32-bit float with OpenColorIO.

Float pictures stay linear from the read to the write, and pictures carry a tag that says whether they hold linear light, display values or data. Bring your OCIO config, the colorist's CDLs and the show LUTs, and they behave the way they do at home.

  • Your OCIO config, the studio config or the built-in ACES one, with looks and display views
    ImageOpenColorIO
  • Camera log decoded as it loads: ARRI LogC3 and LogC4, S-Log3, RED Log3G10, Canon Log, V-Log, Apple Log and ACEScct
    InputImageSequenceInputVideoFile
  • CDLs from .cc, .ccc and .cdl files, .cube LUTs in, and your own .cube out
    InputImageLutFileOutputLutFile
  • Grades by tonal range, curves and hue curves, or matched to a reference frame
    ImageColorCorrectImageRGBCurvesImageHistogramMatch
  • Scopes on any wire: histogram, waveform, vectorscope, false color and clipping
Color →Edit tutorials →
one sunset field in four looks: as shot, warm film, teal and silver
one field in four looks: as shot, warm film, teal and silver
the OCIO node in Properties: a CDL with slope, offset and power values
a CDL on the OCIO node, in Properties
an old car before and after a warm .cube look
a warm .cube look, before and after
What you gain: the CG side

Simulate and render CG in the same project as your comp.

Simulate the fire, light it and render it beside the comp, so a change to the sim lands in the shot with no export in between. Depth from the render, or worked out from a photo, drives Z merges, fog and focus.

  • Fire and smoke, liquids, cloth and particles, simulated on the GPU
    3DGeoFluidSimpleSolver3DGeoFlipSimpleSolver
  • Renders with PBR materials, HDR light and shadows, and render passes with depth, in float
    3DGeoSceneRenderToImage3DGeoSceneRenderPassToImage
  • A camera solved from a moving shot, and a shadow catcher floor to lay 3D shadows onto it
    LocalAICameraSolveShadowCatcherMaterial
  • Depth and surface normals worked out from a single frame, for Z merges and relighting
    LocalAIImageToDepthLocalAIImageToNormalsImageRelighting
  • Fire and smoke bake out to OpenVDB frames for your renderer
    3DGeoFluidCacheWrite
Fire and smoke →Relight and depth →Rendering →
a ring catching fire, flames climbing into smoke
a print placed down a street, a tram nearer the camera passing in front of it
a print placed down the street, the tram in front of it
pillars sunk in fog, a light sweeping through
What you gain: live and loud

Take the comp live.

The graph keeps running, so the comp can sit on a live camera or an NDI feed and go straight out to projectors, an LED wall or the network. Sound lives in the same file: a song can ride the exposure and a MIDI fader can push the grade.

  • Key and grade a camera or an NDI source as it comes in
    VideoCaptureInterfaceStreamingNDIReceiveInterface
  • Mattes from local models: whole people, hair and clothes, or one tracked object
    LocalAIImageRemoveBackgroundLocalAIImageToHumanParsing
  • Out to projectors with corner pin, grid warp and edge blend, to LED walls over DMX, or over NDI
    ProjectionMapperImageEdgeBlendImageToDmxStreamingNDISendInterface
  • Loudness, hits and frequency bands from a song or a mic, ready to drive any value
    AudioFFTAudioOnsetDetect
  • MIDI learn on any setting with Alt+M, and F1 hands the screen to the show
Video and streams →Projection →Sound into pictures →
one click on the dancer, and the matte follows him as a spotlight
a warm grade, its exposure riding a song
projected on a wall, the window cut out
Moving over

Moving over from Nuke.

Your words, your files and your color pipeline all come along. Here is what to expect in the first hour.

01

Type the word you know.

Press Space over the canvas and type. Quick-add finds nodes by name and by plain words, so premult, ocio and despill land on the node you meant, under its own name.

Merge, Shuffle, Reformat, Transform, Crop, Cryptomatte and Grain go by the same names here.

Spacethen type
quick-add with premult typed, offering Premultiply and Unpremultiplyquick-add with ocio typed, offering OpenColorIOquick-add with despill typed, offering Despill
quick-add in the app, with three words typed
02

Keep Nuke in the loop.

Nobody has to move a whole show at once. Pass plates and renders back and forth as EXR sequences, and keep one OCIO config, one set of LUTs and the colorist's CDLs for both.

.nk scripts do not open in Kinematic (these are proprietary). Comps are rebuilt rather than converted, and everything they point at opens as it is.

Opens
EXR, every layerImage sequences: EXR, PNG, TIFF, JPEG, HDRMOV, MP4, MKV, WebM, AVICamera log footageACEScg and ACES 2065-1.cube LUTs, 1D and 3DCDL: .cc, .ccc, .cdlOCIO configs: .ocio, .ociozFBX, USD, Alembic, glTFCOLMAP camera solvesWAV, FLAC, MP3, OGG
Saves
Layered EXR: zip, piz, DWAA, DWABEXR, PNG, TIFF, JPEG sequencesH.264, H.265, ProRes, VP9, AV1, FFV1.cube LUTsCMX 3600 EDLFBX, USD, Alembic, glTFOpenVDB fire and smoke
Live, in and out
NDISyphon on a MacArt-Net and sACNOSC and MIDI
Everything it works with →
03

Render without the window.

The app you comp in also renders from a terminal, over SSH or in a build job. Write a frame range as a numbered EXR sequence, or split a long shot into chunks across machines.

$ kinematic render shot.kin -o out.%04d.exr \
    --timeline-range 0..239
$ kinematic render shot.kin -o out.%04d.exr \
    --start-frame 120 --end-frame 239
  • --timeline-rangea range of frames, written at the project frame rate
  • --start-framewith --end-frame, one chunk of a longer shot
  • --eachthe same graph once per file, so a folder of plates goes through one comp
  • exit 0a clean finish. Exit 8 means the output did not finish
Render from the terminal →
04

Find your way around.

The keys you will use in the first hour. Ctrl on Windows and Linux is Cmd on a Mac.

Take the app tour →
SpaceAdd a node at the pointer. Type to filter.
Drag a wire outDrop it on empty canvas for the nodes that fit that wire.
ShiftRSwap the wires into a node, so A and B trade places.
MTurn the selected nodes off, or back on.
.Frame the selected nodes.
IThe Image inspector for the selected node: channels, pixels, scopes.
EThe node's own editor: layer compositor, corner pin, keyframes, video timeline, shader.
CtrlGWrap the selection in a labeled group.
Ctrl↓Step into a component. Ctrl and up arrow steps back out.
CtrlShiftDClone a component, so the copy follows the original.
CtrlShiftBSave a canvas bookmark. Ctrl and 1 to 9 jumps back to one.
CtrlRPlay. Ctrl and period stops.
05

Your first hour.

  1. Download itNo account, no key, no license server.
  2. Read a plateDrop a still on the canvas, or press Space and type sequence for a folder of numbered frames. Set its color space if the file does not say.
  3. Pull the keyAdd a chroma key, a despill and a light wrap, then merge it over your background.
  4. Check itPress I: look at the alpha on its own, read pixel values and compare against a frame you pin.
  5. Write it outAn image file output writes a numbered EXR sequence. Or send the comp to a second screen.
Fair is fair

Where Nuke is still ahead.

Nuke has earned its place at the center of film and TV compositing. Here is where it still leads, and what Kinematic does not do yet.

  • Deep compositingDeep renders merged without holdouts, a film pipeline standard.
  • CopyCatTrain a network on your own shots, in NukeX and up.
  • 3D tracking and projectionsNukeX camera tracking and a 3D system built for projection work.
  • Editorial and reviewNuke Studio conforms AAF, XML and EDL, with HieroPlayer for review.
  • Studio scaleFilm and TV pipelines, farm rendering, training and jobs built around it.
Not in Kinematic yet
  • .nk scripts do not open (these are proprietary). Comps are rebuilt, not converted
  • No deep images. Z composite merges two depth passes instead
  • No conform from AAF or XML. The video timeline writes a CMX 3600 EDL
  • No training a model on your own shots. The models come ready-made and run on your machine
  • Camera tracking is a live solve from a local model, or a COLMAP solve you bring in
  • Renders run on one machine. Split a long shot into frame chunks from the command line

Use both. Pass EXR sequences, LUTs and CDLs back and forth, and use Kinematic where the comp has to run live.

The numbers

What it costs.

Kinematic costs nothing, even for commercial use: no subscription, no license server, no seat count. The Nuke side comes from Foundry's own pages.

KinematicNuke
Paid work
$0any use, any revenue
About $3,800 a yearNuke. NukeX about $5,200, Nuke Studio about $6,400123
Solo artists
$0no revenue cap
$499 a yearNuke Indie: under $100K revenue, up to 4K4
Free version
The whole appat any resolution
Up to HDNon-commercial edition, no third-party plug-ins5
Students
$0same app as everyone
$99 a yearfree at schools that teach it6
Platforms
macOS, Windows, LinuxApple silicon on Mac
macOS, Windows, LinuxIntel Macs end at 17.17
LED walls and stages
Built inprojectors, LED walls, DMX, NDI
A separate appNuke Stage8
  1. Foundry, Nuke and prices.
  2. Foundry, NukeX.
  3. Foundry, Nuke Studio.
  4. Foundry, Nuke Indie.
  5. Foundry, Non-commercial.
  6. Foundry, Students.
  7. Foundry, Tech specs.
  8. Foundry, Nuke Stage.

All checked October 2026. Prices in US dollars.

Open these first

Demos to open first.

They all come with the app. Open one, take it apart, and keep what you need.

Webcam, GPURigged person infillStep out of the webcam picture and a scanned man stands in your place, with the room painted back behind him.In the Demos browserWebcamHidden face effectThe graph remembers the empty background and paints it back over your face as you move. A clean plate, live.In the Demos browserWebcamHuman parsing recolorMattes for hair and clothes from a local model, with the clean matte in a window of its own.In the Demos browserWebcamLive depth terrainDepth from a plain webcam, beside the lit 3D surface built from it.In the Demos browserBurningA burning object throws up a pillar of fire into dark smoke, simulated and rendered in one graph.In the Demos browserGPUSix ways to tone map one pictureOne HDR source through six tone maps side by side, Reinhard, Hable, ACES and more.In the Demos browserFilm look chainA film grade as a chain: teal shadows, warm highlights, halation, lens fringes, grain and a vignette.In the Demos browserGPUOil slick in GLSLA thin-film oil slick written in GLSL. Open the shader and change it while it runs.In the Demos browser
Browse every demo →
Questions

Questions from Nuke users.

Something else on your mind? Reach out.

Can I open my Nuke scripts?

No (these are proprietary). Comps are rebuilt in Kinematic rather than converted. Your EXR sequences, LUTs, CDLs and OCIO configs open as they are.

Is it color managed?

Yes. OpenColorIO with your own config, the studio config or the built-in ACES one, camera log decoded as it loads, and 32-bit float from file to file.

Does it read layered EXRs?

Yes. Every layer comes in. Pull one out by name, shuffle channels, and write layered EXRs back out with zip, piz or DWA compression.

Does it do deep compositing?

No. Z composite merges two pictures by their depth passes, so the nearer pixel wins, but there are no deep images.

Do the AI tools send my footage anywhere?

No. Each model downloads once, then runs on your machine.

Is it really free?

Yes, even for commercial use, at any resolution, with no account and no license key.

Coming from somewhere else
Mayamodel, rig, animate →Cinema 4Dmotion design →Houdininodes and sims →TouchDesignerlive shows →Reaktorinstruments →
Your next shot

Download Kinematic.

Free. No account, no license key, no license server. macOS, Windows, Linux and Raspberry Pi. Bring the plate you are working on.

Download for macOS 0.5.0Browse the demos
a short cut on the timeline: a title, crossfades and three clips