Beeble launches SwitchLight 2.0
Originally posted on 5 July 2025, and updated with pricing for Beeble Studio.
Beeble has rolled out SwitchLight 2.0, its next-gen video-to-PBR AI model.
The new model is available in Beeble Studio, the company’s web app, which enables users to relight video footage, or to export PBR texture maps for use in other CG software.
Whereas the original AI model could only generate PBR maps for an isolated foreground object, usually an actor, the new model generates maps for the entire scene.
Beeble Studio is now out of early access, and is available via free non-commercial and paid commercial subscription plans.
A promising AI relighting technology for VFX and motion graphics
Beeble’s AI technology enables film-makers to relight live video as if it were a 3D scene.
In order to do so, it simulates PBR texture passes that match the environment shown in the footage, and the objects within it.
The data can then be exported to external DCC applications or compositing software, or used within Beeble’s own tools.
Currently available free inside the Beeble Studio web app
At the minute, the main one of those tools is Beeble Studio, the company’s web app.
It enables users to upload source footage, automatically isolate an actor from the background, and relight that actor using point lights or HDRIs.
As well as the relit footage, it is possible to export the PBR texture passes used to render it, for use in compositing applications like After Effects and Nuke.
Beeble also provides Blender and Unreal Engine plugins, which automatically assemble the texture passes into relightable 3D objects within the software.
Now generates PBR textures for entire scenes, not just isolated actors
According to Beeble, SwitchLight 2.0, the new AI model that just has been rolled out in Beeble Studio, is 10x larger than its predecessor, and has been trained using 13x more source data.
As a result, one improvement is simply that it captures more detail in the maps it generates: you can see before-and-after comparisons on Beeble’s website.
However, another key change is that it generates maps for the entire scene, not just isolated humans.
Whereas the original model only generated maps for a foreground actor, and required an alpha mask to identify that actor, the new AI model needs no alpha input.
That means that the data it generates can be used to relight any part of the scene: potential use cases include shots of cars filmed on set, to relight both the car and the actors inside.
Technical limitations of the Beeble Studio web app
Beeble Studio has now been launched officially, after a period in early access, although there are still some technical limitations.
Even with paid accounts, uploads are restricted to 60 seconds of 30fps videos. Both video footage and image sequences are limited to 2K resolution (2,048 x 1,080px).
Texture passes are exported as 8-bit PNGs, with the exception of depth and flow maps, which are 16-bit EXRs.
New AI model also now coming to the SwitchLight Studio desktop app
If you read our original story on Beeble last year, you may remember that its technology is also available via a desktop app, SwitchLight Studio.
Unlike the new web app, it can ingest 4K video and 32-bit EXR sequences, and processes footage locally, not in the cloud.
It is still available free in open beta, but does not currently use the SwitchLight 2.0 AI model.
Beeble tells us that now the new AI model has been rolled out, a new version of the desktop app is in development, and that it aims to give more details at SIGGRAPH next month.
Price and system requirements
Beeble Studio is browser-based. The integration plugins are compatible with Blender 4.2+ and Unreal Engine 5.3+, the latter on Windows only.
Processing is credit-based, with three credits equating to one image, or one second of video.
You can use the app for free for non-commercial work. Free accounts get 90 credits per month: enough to process 30 images or 30 seconds of video.
Paid accounts can be used for commercial projects, and support batch uploads.
Creator subscriptions cost $19/month or $192/year and get 540 credits per month; Professional subscriptions cost $75/month or $720/year, and get 2,400 credits per month.
The company’s terms of use permit uploaded content to be used to develop its AI models.
Read more about the SwitchLight 2.0 video-to-PBR AI model on Beeble’s website
Try SwitchLight 2.0 inside the free Beeble Studio web app
(Requires registration on Beeble’s website)
Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.