In VFX digital compositing, removing unwanted elements like tracking markers, blemishes, or wires while preserving surface details is a crucial task. Traditionally, artists rely on paint or clone techniques, but these methods can be time-consuming and may not always maintain texture accuracy.
Enter aeFiller—a powerful Foundry Nuke compositing gizmo designed to seamlessly fill in unwanted elements using advanced Blink Script-based inpainting. Whether working with skin details, set clean-ups, or general object removals, aeFiller provides a GPU-accelerated solution for effortless object removal and texture reconstruction.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
✅ How aeFiller works under the hood
✅ Key features for seamless inpainting & surface detail recovery
✅ Best practices for using aeFiller in a professional VFX pipeline
aeFiller is a time-saving node for removing unwanted elements while maintaining the integrity of surface textures. Unlike traditional clone stamping or manual painting, it leverages surrounding pixels and adaptive inpainting algorithms to generate a clean replacement for any marked area.
✅ Smart Inpainting – Uses nearby pixels to reconstruct missing details
✅ Stretch Controls – Allows directional bias for more natural fills
✅ Detail Transfer Mode – Clones high-frequency textures from other areas
✅ Path Mode (Photoshop-Like Cloning) – Select a region to manually place over the target area
✅ GPU Acceleration – Faster performance for high-resolution plates
Why is this useful? Whether you're working on film compositing software or VFX post-production tools, aeFiller offers a fast and accurate way to clean up plates without destroying the original texture details.
aeFiller is powered by Blink Script, Foundry Nuke’s GPU-accelerated computation framework. This allows real-time processing of inpainting tasks, ensuring fast and high-quality object removal.
Pro Tip: When working with complex lighting conditions, tweak the Feather & Edge Refinement settings to blend the inpainted area naturally.
| Mode | Function | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Stretch Mode | Extends textures in a defined direction | Skin, cloth, or large flat surfaces |
| Detail Mode | Copies high-frequency details from another area | Pores, patterns, fine textures |
| Path Mode | Selects an area manually and patches it over | Photoshop-style cloning for tricky removals |
Best Practice: Always use a high-quality mask for precise removals, and tweak Detail mode settings to ensure accurate texture blending.
✅ Use High-Resolution Plates – More pixel data ensures better texture recovery.
✅ Fine-Tune Edge Refinements – Prevents abrupt transitions in inpainted areas.
✅ Combine with Other Nodes – Use with Smart Vectors for motion-aware removals.
✅ Optimize GPU Performance – Ensure Blink Script acceleration is enabled for fast processing.
✅ QC with Different Lighting Conditions – Check multiple exposure levels to confirm seamless blending.
🚫 Overusing Stretch Mode – Can create stretched artifacts in the final result.
🚫 Ignoring Edge Feathering – Hard edges make the inpainting noticeable.
🚫 Using Low-Resolution Inputs – Causes texture blurring and loss of detail.
🚫 Not Checking Lighting Consistency – The inpainted area may not match the original shadow & light properties.
Use Detail Mode for accurate texture mapping and always match the light conditions of your plate.
aeFiller is an essential VFX compositing tool that removes tracking markers, blemishes, and unwanted objects while preserving surface details. Powered by Blink Script, it provides GPU-accelerated inpainting, making it faster and more accurate than traditional cloning or paint techniques.
By leveraging Stretch Mode, Detail Mode, and Path Mode, artists can clean plates efficiently while maintaining seamless texture accuracy. Whether working on feature films, commercials, or episodic TV, aeFiller is a must-have for professional clean-up workflows.
Want to try it out? Download the latest version on Nukepedia or GitHub!
Yes! aeFiller is designed for high-end VFX workflows, providing fast and accurate object removal for professional projects.
While Nuke’s Inpaint node offers basic inpainting, aeFiller provides:
Yes! While optimized for Nuke 12+, it can also run on earlier versions with Blink Script support.
Yes! Combine aeFiller with SmartVectors to track and inpaint moving objects with better accuracy.
You can find the latest version on Nukepedia or GitHub for easy access and updates.
“Pixels are the atoms of the digital world.”