A visual AOV browser for Nuke. Instantly view and select EXR layers via thumbnails. Features a search filter and F4 hotkey support.
Visual Layer Inspector
First submitted: 22 February 2026
Updated: 15 March 2026
Author: Marty Blumen
Website: https://www.martyblumen.com/
Compatible Nuke versions: 13.0 or later
Compatibility: Windows, Source
Visual Layer Inspector v1.9.0
A native C++ thumbnail browser for multi-layer EXR files in Nuke. Connect any node with multiple AOVs, click Launch Inspector, and browse every layer as a visual grid. Click a thumbnail to switch the Viewer instantly.
What's new in v1.9.0:
Now a compiled C++ NDK plugin (previously Python-only). Significantly faster thumbnail generation, full properties panel with persistent settings, and a modeless window that keeps Nuke fully interactive.
New features include Shuffle Export (shift+click to pin layers, then batch-create Shuffle2 nodes), auto-rescan when the input changes, viewer channel auto-restore on close, and progressive thumbnail rendering so you can start browsing before all layers have finished generating.
Features:
Thumbnail grid of every layer/AOV on the connected node
Click any thumbnail to switch the active Viewer to that layer
Type AOV sort auto-categorises layers into Lighting, Utility, Data, Cryptomatte and Custom
Sort by category, alphabetical, channel count or original order
Text filter to search layers by name
Category checkboxes to show/hide layer types
Proxy modes (Full Quality, 2x, 4x, 8x) for fast browsing of heavy EXRs
Resizable thumbnails via slider
Shuffle Export — pin layers with shift+click, then create Shuffle2 nodes for all selected
Pink highlight shows which layer you're viewing, blue highlight shows pinned layers
Viewer automatically returns to the original channel on close
Grid rebuilds automatically when you reconnect to a different input
All settings available as knobs in the properties panel
F4 keyboard shortcut
Compatibility:
Nuke 14.1+ (Qt5 build)
Nuke 16.0+ (Qt6 build)
Windows only
Installation:
Download and double-click install.bat, or manually copy the DLLs to .nuke/VisualLayerInspector/nuke14/ and nuke16/. The included init.py auto-detects your Nuke version. See INSTALL.md in the download for full instructions.
Author: Marten Blumen
OpenSource:
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2026 Marten Blumen
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
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