Natron is an open-source compositing software that supports the OpenFX standard for visual effects plugins. It is being developed by a research team at INRIA to fill the need for an open-source graphics program that supports OpenFX. Natron aims to support over 500 OpenFX plugins in its first version through a multi-threaded rendering engine and animation support. The project hopes to increase the number of available open-source visual effects plugins. Natron is currently in beta and developers are encouraged to help with packaging, testing, and other non-coding contributions.

1. Alexandre Gauthier-Foichat
LGM 2014
Leipzig, April 4th
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2. Table of contents
1 Introduction
1 The project
2 Why we do it
3 License
2 Architecture
1 Feature for v1
2 Performances
3 Demand driven
4 OpenFX support
5 OpenFX current state
3 Conclusion
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3. The project
• Hosted in a research team at INRIA
• Open-source, cross-platform nodal compositing software
• Video editing and image processing
• Funded since October 2013 as a result of an open-source
project contest
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4. Compositing in short
Image before matting Road Signs
Final image
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5. Why we do it
• Support OpenFX: standard to design visual effects
plug-ins.
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6. Why we do it
• Support OpenFX: standard to design visual effects
plug-ins.
• No open-source graphical software supporting OpenFX
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7. Why we do it
• Support OpenFX: standard to design visual effects
plug-ins.
• No open-source graphical software supporting OpenFX
• But used by many proprietary applications: Nuke,Scratch,
Da Vinci resolve...
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8. Why we do it
• Support OpenFX: standard to design visual effects
plug-ins.
• No open-source graphical software supporting OpenFX
• But used by many proprietary applications: Nuke,Scratch,
Da Vinci resolve...
• Natron first targets education and research domains
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9. License
• Most OpenFX plug-ins are commercial or released under
BSD-style license.
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10. License
• Most OpenFX plug-ins are commercial or released under
BSD-style license.
• GPL programs cannot load non GPL plug-ins
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11. License
• Most OpenFX plug-ins are commercial or released under
BSD-style license.
• GPL programs cannot load non GPL plug-ins
• This is probably why we don’t see many open-source
softwares around OpenFX
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12. License
• Most OpenFX plug-ins are commercial or released under
BSD-style license.
• GPL programs cannot load non GPL plug-ins
• This is probably why we don’t see many open-source
softwares around OpenFX
• Natron is under Mozilla Public License (GPL compatible)
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13. Table of contents
1 Introduction
1 The project
2 Why we do it
3 License
2 Architecture
1 Feature for v1
2 Performances
3 Demand driven
4 OpenFX support
5 OpenFX current state
3 Conclusion
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14. Features for v1
• Implementation of a performant rendering engine
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15. Features for v1
• Implementation of a performant rendering engine
• Animation support
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16. Features for v1
• Implementation of a performant rendering engine
• Animation support
• Support for OpenFX v1.3: Over 500 plug-ins available
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17. Based on many open-source libraries
• Qt: Graphical user interface and core library
• Boost: Serialization of the project
• OpenImageIO: Image reading/writing
• OpenColorIO: Color management
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18. Performances
• Multi-threaded:
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19. Performances
• Multi-threaded:
−→ A main-thread handling user events and OpenGL
rendering
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20. Performances
• Multi-threaded:
−→ A main-thread handling user events and OpenGL
rendering
−→ N render threads gathered in a pool
• Thread pool controlled by Natron
• Asynchronous tasks asked by the plug-ins
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21. Demand driven
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22. OpenFX support
• Very stable API for writing visual effects.
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23. OpenFX support
• Very stable API for writing visual effects.
• Efficient: about 500 lines of code for a plug-in
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24. OpenFX support
• Very stable API for writing visual effects.
• Efficient: about 500 lines of code for a plug-in
• Plug-ins can be GPU accelerated using external libraries
like OpenCL or CUDA
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25. OpenFX current state
• Many plug-ins, but most of them are proprietary.
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26. OpenFX current state
• Many plug-ins, but most of them are proprietary.
• About 80 are open-source: TuttleOFX
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27. OpenFX current state
• Many plug-ins, but most of them are proprietary.
• About 80 are open-source: TuttleOFX
• We need more open-source visual effects plug-ins
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28. Conclusion
• Natron is in beta stage now and it’s a good time to join us.
• We need people making packages for all linux distributions
• Non developers are welcome: bug reporting,feedback,
demo reels, tutorials, translation...
• Download at https://natron.inria.fr
• Mailing list: natron@inria.fr
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29. Thank you
• Thanks for your time !
• Any questions ?
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