FilmLight has announced the release of the latest version of its Baselight grading software, Baselight 6.0. Following an extensive and successful beta program, where the new software features were put through their paces by customers across the globe, Baselight 6.0 is now available to colorists worldwide.
Baselight 6.0 benefits from several years of ML development and game changing new features designed to bring major gains in productivity and creativity to today’s increasingly demanding and competitive post-production environment. Many of the beta testers are already relying on the new tools, which include an improved and modernized timeline, a new primary grading tool, X Grade, a unique new look development tool, Chromogen, plus a new and ground-breaking ML-based tool, Face Track.
“We’re extremely excited to introduce Baselight 6.0 to the global colorist community,” said Martin Tlaskal, head of development at FilmLight. “We believe this release moves our technology forward significantly and provides a platform that works in synchronicity with today’s colorist. Face Track, for example, has been proven to greatly reduce the considerable amount of time colorists spend in the grading suite on beauty work – typically the need to repeat processes and corrections for every appearance of each character. By harnessing cutting-edge advances in machine learning Face Track will revolutionize this – allowing colorists to track faces, make corrections or enhancements and apply them across multiple scenes.”
Using an underlying ML model, Face Track finds and tracks faces in a scene, adjusting smoothly as each face moves and turns. It attaches a polygon mesh to each face, which allows perspective-aware tools such as Paint and Shapes to distort with the mesh. The colorist’s productivity is further boosted by the ability to copy corrections and enhancements made in Face Track to the entire timeline – with a simple copy and paste, these previously repetitive corrections can be applied to the same face across an entire sequence or episode.
Norway-based freelance colorist, Cem Ozkilicci, who recently won the Spotlight award in the 2023 FilmLight Color Awards, was part of the Face Track beta program. "I've had the pleasure of using Face Track and it is an absolute game changer,” he said. “It is amazing and cuts down time spent on tedious keys and shapes – not just for brightening/darkening faces, but for lifting eyes, beauty and skin work. Paired with paint tools, Face Track becomes even more powerful. Colorists can spend more time grading and less time drawing shapes on faces and tracking."
Madrid-based freelance colorist, Raúl Lavado added, “One of the wonders of Baselight 6.0 is the Face Track tool, which has revealed itself as a shining beacon in the world of digital color. This innovation revolutionizes the way we can perfect skin tones, delivering unparalleled precision in facial tracking. The ability to dynamically adjust the color and texture of moving faces in a scene takes the quality and efficiency of color correction to new heights. Baselight 6.0 is not just a tool, it is an experience that redefines the art of color grading.”
FilmLight’s Face Track technology has been developed from scratch internally, but the company has also ensured Baselight 6.0 is fully ML-ready. By developing a framework, which it calls Flexi, FilmLight is now in a position to integrate future ML-based tools into Baselight quickly and easily – allowing FilmLight and its customers to access the best grading tools and stay on top of cutting-edge technologies now and in the future.
Seamus O’Kane, senior colorist at The Post Arm in London said, “The new tools in Baselight 6.0 offer a creative jump that is inspirational. It feels like suddenly discovering you can breathe underwater. You thought it would be interesting, but the reality of it is astounding.”
In Baselight 6.0, colorists will also find the RIFE ML-based re-timer, a reworked Curve Grade, integrated alpha for easy compositing, a new sophisticated Gallery for improved searching and sorting, plus a wealth of new and enhanced color tools such as Sharpen Luma, a built-in Lens Flare tool, Bokeh for out-of-focus camera effects, Loupe magnifying for fast and accurate adjustments, an upgraded Hue Angle, and much more.
Enge Gray, senior colorist at Racoon in London said, “Having spent some time on Baselight 6.0, I can honestly say I’m very excited about how the new tools like X Grade and Chromogen, along with the other upgrades and additions, will help us deliver and realize the vision. It really is next level.”
FilmLight Baselight 6.0 https://www.filmlight.ltd.uk/baselight6