Drop Your References Right in Nuke with This Handy Tool

Denis Rychkov's NukeRef lets you stay in one place.

Denis Rychkov

Tired of jumping between windows to check out your references and work on them in Nuke? There's no need for those hoops now: compositing artist Denis Rychkov released NukeRef, a free PureRef-like tool that allows you to stay focused in one space.

"Saw a nice lookdev frame, made a screenshot, or copied a texture from Photoshop? Just hover your mouse over the DAG and hit Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac). The image instantly pops up right under your cursor as a clean, interactive backdrop."

The workflow is very simple: just copy what you need from a browser, Photoshop, or your OS and hit paste – the backdrop automatically locks to the correct aspect ratio, saving you from distorted images. The solution is lightweight, as your images are collected in a folder next to your .nk file to make sure Nuke doesn't lag.

NukeRef works on macOS and Windows with Nuke 15, other versions have not been tested. Grab it here and don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter and join our 80 Level Talent platform, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

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