Boris FX releases Silhouette 2026
Boris FX has released Silhouette 2026, the latest version of its roto and paint software.
It’s a sizeable release, adding new AI-based 3D head tracking, object tracking and point tracking systems, plus updates to the AI matte generation tools, and the paint system.
For pipeline integration, the software gets new RPC and MPC servers, and a native Python package manager.
A VFX-industry standard tool for rotoscoping and roto paint work
First released 20 years ago, and acquired by Boris FX in 2019, Silhouette is a rotoscoping and paint tool, widely used for movie and broadcast visual effects.
As well as the original standalone edition, Silhouette is available as a plugin, making the toolset available inside Adobe software and OFX-compatible apps like Nuke and DaVinci Resolve
Head Track ML automatically creates and tracks 3D head meshes for beauty work
Major new features in Silhouette 2026 include Head Track ML, the new AI-based head tracker available in the 3D Scene node.
It automatically generates a 3D head mesh matching an actor in source footage, then tracks it throughout the shot, preserving facial motion and expressions.
The new tool provides an intuitive workflow for beauty work and digital makeup effects: you can see how it works in the video above.
Other new AI tracking tools
Silhouette 2026 also introduces two other new AI-based tracking tools.
The Object Tracker, shown in the video above, uses machine learning to detect and track all “instances of a particular class” in a shot – currently, all faces or all car license plates.
The tracker generates separate layers for each instance, making it possible to modify them individually.
The new Point Track ML mode in the Point Tracker does the same job as the legacy Classic mode, but is less affected by the points being tracked going out of frame or being occluded by other objects, requiring less manual cleanup.
Updates to other AI tools
Several of the other AI tools introduced in recent releases have been updated, particularly those for automatically generating masks for significant objects in a shot.
Both the Mask ML node, which generates the masks, and Matte Assist ML, which propagates them through a shot, have been updated, and can now export per-object Cryptomatte data.
The Face ML node, introduced in Silhouette 2025.5 for masking parts of the face, can now generate mattes for the nose and neck, and full-face mattes.
Depth map generator Depth Map ML gets a new AI model that improves detail and temporal consistency, and shot retiming system Retime ML can now import and export retime curves, making it possible to adjust the results in video editing or compositing software, including Nuke.
Updates to the paint system
The paint system gets Resize Paint, a neat new resolution-independent workflow.
Users can work rapidly on a sequence using low-res media, then have Silhouette automatically rebuild the strokes for the high-res versions.
The release also adds a new Healing Brush for quick touch-up work, and extends the existing clone tools: you can find more details via the link at the foot of the page.
New pipeline integration features
Other changes are intended to make it easier for VFX studios to integrate Silhouette into production pipelines, including a new JSON-RPC server for controlling the software remotely.
A new MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposes Silhouette’s scripting API to external AI tools like Claude and Cursor, making it possible for them to control common tasks.
There is also a new native Python package manager for handling third-party Python packages.
Price and system requirements
Silhouette 2026.0 is available as a standalone tool for Windows 10+, Linux and macOS 12.0+, and as a plugin for Adobe software and OFX-compatible tools like Nuke.
Perpetual licences of the standalone cost $2,195; the plugin costs $1,195. Rental costs $165/month or $875/year for the standalone; $103/month or $545/year for the plugin.
Read a list of new features in Silhouette 2026 on Boris FX’s blog
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.