FilmLight brings end-to-end colour tools and talks to IBC2016

FilmLight brings end-to-end colour tools and talks to IBC2016
September 6, 2016 Meriam Khan

Exclusive colour workshops supplement comprehensive demonstrations of newest platform, Baselight X, and upcoming software release, Baselight 5.0

[06 September 2016]

Underlining its position as the leader in colour science and creative collaborative finishing, FilmLight is presenting its full range of tools at IBC2016, not only as demonstrations on its booth (7.F31) but also in special sessions on productive colour workflows.

These in-depth sessions, led by FilmLight workflow specialist Daniele Siragusano on Saturday 10th, will show the creative and economic benefits of future-proof workflows for today’s storytellers, which start with establishing a look, capturing it on set and refining it all the way through to the final grade. Siragusano will also introduce the new opportunities and creative control unleashed with the arrival of Baselight 5.0, the radically updated version of software soon to be available across the range.

This release introduces a host of high-tech features and creative tools. It includes a fresh approach to HDR colour grading with over 50 new features designed to help colourists and other creative artists – such as the Base Grade, colour space families and gamut optimisation. Baselight 5.0 also adds new paint and compositing functions, making it the ideal hub for the complete finishing process, and support for high dynamic range/extended colour gamut grading for resolutions to 4K and beyond.

“We are seeing directors demanding new formats to realise their vision while producers are pushing for ever tighter timescales to get the content on screen,” said Wolfgang Lempp, founder and CEO of FilmLight. “The solution lies in massively powerful tools allied to seamless workflows. We are leading the way with Baselight 5.0.

“Our new colour space architecture, for example, allows colourists to grade in a natural, photographic way, then instantly switch to the different colour spaces to create different versions with ease,” he explained. “And with our BLG metadata-driven approach, grading can start on set, continue through editorial and build to the final deliverables with seamless, render-free collaboration.”

For the first time in Europe, FilmLight will feature its premier hardware platform Baselight X alongside Baselight ONE and TWO systems. Baselight X – already in use at a number of sites including Deluxe and Dolby in Los Angeles and Toei Labo Tech in Japan – is designed with exceptional performance to provide all the grading and finishing power colourists could ever need. Director Ang Lee, this year’s keynote speaker at IBC, chose another Baselight X at Simm Digital earlier this year to handle the technical challenges of 120fps 4K stereoscopic 3D on his ambitious new movie, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”.

Also typical of FilmLight’s collaborative approach is Prelight, a freely licensed Mac OS X application designed to help DoPs and other professional creatives to author and review looks in pre-production and on-set. Images can be imported from almost any camera, and graded references exported in almost any format.

Prelight – currently in beta testing – complements FLIP and Daylight, which already provide full on-set and near-set grading capabilities and will be combined in a real-world demonstration by leading French rental facility BE4POST on the FilmLight stand.

The philosophy continues to Baselight Editions, the plugins available for editing and effects software. With Baselight Editions the editor or compositor is always working with the latest grade and can refine it using the extensive Baselight toolset without leaving their own working environment. New improvements include the scratchpad, allowing users to compare versions, and cut and paste enhancements, which allow a user to copy and drop a single layer or a complete grade stack onto a different shot.

Additionally FilmLight and Sony will showcase optimised HDR viewing, mastering and grading using a range of Sony professional displays and a Baselight with Slate control surface on the Sony stand 13.A10.

Visitors can register for the FilmLight colour workshops at https://filmlightcolourworkshops.eventbrite.com.