A Complete Guide to Baselight’s Base Grade Operator

Master Baselight’s Powerful Base Grade Operator

In this Insight, we take a deep dive into the Base Grade operator in Baselight, walking through everything you need to know if you’ve never used it. I cover every aspect of this tool:

• Changing the zone pivot and falloff
• Operating the pick-and-match function
• Understanding how the Base Grade contrast and saturation sliders differ from other operators.

If all of that goes over your head, don’t worry; by the end of this Insight, you’ll understand it all!

Plus, this Insight is packed with a ton of tips and tricks to improve your grading.

Important Note – The Base Grade operator is a color-space-aware tool. This means that it is essential that the Input Color Space of your footage and the Viewing Color Space in your scene are set up correctly – if not, the Base Grade Operator may not react the way that you expect.

Key takeaways from this Insight

By the end of this Insight, you should understand how to:

• Navigate the Base Grade operator UI
• Create custom UI presets
• Adjust exposure and white balance using the Balance tool
• Apply targeted zone adjustments using the Dim, Light, Dark, and Bright wheels
• Manipulate pivot and falloff to finesse zones
• Use the Histogram/Waveform display to monitor and change pivot points
• Evaluate the differences between Base Grade contrast and saturation controls versus other operators
• Use the Flare tool to fine-tune black levels
• Use the pick and match feature to automatically adjust the Balance tool for technical and creative matching

External Links

To start your own Baselight learning journey, download Baselight Look from Filmlight

• Download Baselight Look for free (Mac Only)

Related Mixing Light Insights

• Color Grading 101 – Primary Color Correction in Baselight Student – Part 9 of the series lays a solid foundation for creative grading in Baselight Look
• Learning Baselight Look / Student Series – 20+ Insights on learning Baselight Look, formerly known as the Student edition
• Learning Baselight Student – Series Overview, Introduction, and Installation – Jump straight into the first Insight in the series

Questions or Comments? Leave a comment!

Are you using the Base Grade Operator? Have you thought about which tools might be equivalent in DaVinci Resolve? Let me know! Including if you have something to add, or if you have more questions you need answered?

– Luke