Beeble launches SwitchLight 3.0
Beeble has rolled out SwitchLight 3.0, its latest video-to-PBR AI model.
The model, which enables users to relight video, or to export PBR texture maps for use in other CG software, preserves more fine details and generates fewer artifacts than previous versions.
It is available inside both Beeble, the company’s web app, and Beeble Studio, its relaunched desktop software, which processes footage locally.
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.
It’s only three months since Beeble rolled out the previous version of its AI model, so check out our story on SwitchLight 2.0 for more details.
Now preserves more detail from source video, and generates fewer artifacts
SwitchLight 3.0 differs from its predecessor in that it is a true video model.
Unlike SwitchLight 2.0, which processed frames of video individually, then performed a separate deflicker step to improve temporal stability, it processes multiple frames simultaneously.
The data set on which the model is trained is also ten times larger.
According to Beeble, the new model preserves more fine detail, such as on facial wrinkles and hair, and results in less ghosting and fewer other visual artifacts.
No longer trained on user data from paid subscriptions
You can read Beeble’s statement on how its training data is collected in its FAQs.
It includes user content uploaded on free accounts, but since our previous story, content created by users with paid subscriptions is no longer used for AI training.
Available in Beeble’s desktop app as well as in its browser app
Another change since the release of SwitchLight 2.0 is that SwitchLight 3.0 is available for use offline as well as in the cloud, via Beeble’s desktop software.
As well as simply making it possible to process video locally, the desktop software makes it possible to do so on a much more professional scale than Beeble’s web app.
Unlike the web app, it can ingest video at up to 4K resolution, process up to an hour of video at a time, and all of the AOV passes generated are 16-bit EXRs.
It can also ingest image sequences as well as videos, and supports batch processing.
New product names for the two apps
Since our previous story, Beeble has also changed its product branding, so the desktop software is now officially known as Beeble Studio.
The web app – which, confusingly, used to be called Beeble Studio – is now known as Beeble Cloud, or simply Beeble.
Price and system requirements
Beeble Studio is compatible with Windows 10+. It requires a NVIDIA GPU.
The software is rental-only. Indie accounts, for artists and studios with revenue under $200,000/year, cost $504/year. Standard subscriptions cost $3,000/year.
Beeble is browser-based. You can find details of system requirements and pricing in this story.
Read more about the SwitchLight 3.0 video-to-PBR AI model on Beeble’s website
Try SwitchLight 3.0 inside the free Beeble web app
(Requires registration on Beeble’s website)
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