Technicolor invests in Baselight X to meet increasing demands for HDR finishing

The Ultra HD video output, available on all Baselight systems, provides a full 4K 4:4:4 display output at frame rates up to 60p, allowing the user to view 4K work at its native resolution.

Technicolor has extended its colour grading capabilities in Hollywood with Luz de filme’s Baselight X system. Baselight X is the latest and most powerful implementation of the Baselight colour grading and finishing system.

HDR colour grading services are available at Technicolor’s post-production facilities globally, but its Hollywood center obviously represents a major film and television production market. The expansion in Baselight grading in this location reflects the increasing demand from the local industry to deliver an uncompromised finish that still pushes creative boundaries. Baselight X provides exceptional power and performance for HDR projects, along with unrivalled colour space management.

HDR is not the only technology where Technicolor is very active. Over the past few years, the group has made a significant commitment to the growth of several next-generation entertainment formats, such as 120fps stereo 4K, 8K UHD and other custom display formats. The architecture of Baselight X ensures Technicolor can rise to the challenge to work at the maximum resolution through every stage in the process – from the original source material to the final deliverables.

Technicolor’s Senior Supervising Colourist, Maxine Gervais, has worked with Baselight for many years. “Of the many things that are important to better serve my clients, one is to work directly from raw camera files,” she explained. “The ability to debayer these files live not only saves time, but it preserves image detail that can be accessed and manipulated during the DI.”

The Ultra HD video output – available on all Baselight systems – provides a full 4K 4:4:4 display output at frame rates up to 60p, allowing the user to view 4K work at its native resolution. Additionally Baselight X also incorporates a large, ultra high-speed storage system that connects directly to the internal image processing components, addressing Dolby’s requirement to play 4K 4096×3112 16-bit film scans and cache the results to disk at the same time.

“As camera technologies evolve, it’s become common for shows to capture and deliver 6K raw files,” added Gervais. “And some shows are moving towards a 4K VFX workflow too. The additional processing power and storage capacity of Baselight X is essential in allowing me to work with today’s larger files, without sacrificing the real-time playback with complex colour grading and compositing that my clients have come to expect.”

Technicolor and FilmLight have a long history of collaboration, with Technicolor facilities in Montreal, New York, Los Angeles and London all offering Baselight as part of their DI pipeline. This gives Technicolor’s colourists and colour scientists ultimate real-time control over high-resolution, high-bit depth HDR grading and finishing.