Hey all.

I've been watching a lot of tutorials and comparison videos lately, and I've been contemplating whether or not I should start using Nuke. Now, before anyone tells me Nuke is expensive and they don't condone piracy, there's a free version of it, with a few limitations I can live with.

I've never used a Node-based system before, but judging by the videos, I'll agree it looks far superior to layers, when it comes to a logical workflow. The way you connect nodes to several others, instead of linking layers between comps, and the fact that you can easily spot which nodes are connected to what, looks like a hell of a way of working.

However, I'm a Creative Cloud user. I'll jump from Photoshop to AE to Premiere and back again without any hassle whatsoever, which means I don't have to do much rendering in between, which saves both time and space. My main fear is having to go back to rendering shots over and over again, as this tends to take insane amounts of time, and, again, space.

I also do a fair amount of actual effects work, not just comping. Obviously, with any effect, there's the need to comp it onto the footage, but with the projects I'm working on, it's mostly visual effects, like my "The Traveler" videos, which use a lot of flashy lights, like blaster bolts, lens flares and energy bursts. All good fun, but from what I gather, these effects might lean more towards motion graphics, which, evidently, is much easier to handle in AE.

Also, before anyone posts "Use both", Creative Cloud costs $49 per month, and in the very long run, a copy of FCP and Nuke might save me money, as opposed to using both.

So, let's discuss. I'd love some opinions from people who have used either, or both. Let's find out the benefits of both, and if there's a king, let's give the bastard a throne. I for one am currently in love with nodes, but I'm not sure this is where I'd want to go.