RGB Matte Merging: The Technique You’re Not Using (Yet!)

Today, we’re diving into RGB mattes (Chroma Merging) in NUKE — a powerful compositing technique that lets you handle multiple alpha mattes per color channel. We’ll break down how the Merge Over operation actually works under the hood, why a single alpha channel can create problems when manipulating individual color channels, and how to properly merge RGB mattes to maintain accurate image characteristics. 🔹 What You’ll Learn in This Video: ✅ How the Merge Over operation really works mathematically ✅ Why a single alpha channel isn’t always enough ✅ How to create and apply RGB mattes per channel ✅ Weighted RGB matte merging for better color consistency ✅ Extracting elements while preserving chromatic aberration This is a super valuable technique for artists who need precise control over their composites—whether for creative effects, realistic aberration matching, or seamless merges. 💡 Love compositing math but find it intimidating? My online course "Math for Artists" is on a Valentine’s Day flash sale! 🧠❤️ If you want to understand techniques like this (and many more), check it out here: https://learn.splitthediff.com/p/math-for-artists-1 📌 Timestamps for Easy Navigation: 0:00 Intro 0:44 How Merge Over Actually Works 2:25 The Problem: Per-Channel Distortion 4:18 Chroma Merging – The Solution 6:33 Weighted RGB Matte Merge 8:15 Alternative Setup Without Expression Links 9:31 Extracting Elements While Preserving Color Variations 11:02 Outro 🔔 Subscribe for more deep-dive compositing tutorials! 👍 If you found this helpful, drop a like and let me know in the comments!