Making Primary-Like Secondary Corrections? X-Grade, In-Depth.

Baselight’s innovative primary operator achieves targeted results without masks

What if you could shift specific hues and adjust exposure in targeted areas of your frame—all while staying in a primary correction that works seamlessly in a LUT? The X-Grade operator in Baselight makes this possible, offering an intuitive approach to color manipulation that bridges the gap between traditional primaries and secondaries.

The X-Grade “Potato,” Direct Manipulation, and Why It Works

In this Insight, we explore how X-Grade uses Baselight’s EAB color space and direct GUI manipulation to achieve natural, depth-enhancing corrections. You’ll see how the tool’s unique “potato” visualization maps your image’s color information, allowing you to select control points directly from your viewer and adjust both hue and exposure with remarkable precision. Patrick joins me partway through to discuss how X-Grade compares to traditional curve-based approaches, and why the results feel more organic.

“The X-grade maneuver here with the brightening of the blues and the darkening of the reds…feels very natural. It feels like a couple of shapes. It doesn’t feel like there’s any weird edges anywhere…it just feels like we’ve added depth to the picture in sort of two brush strokes.”

Patrick Inhofer, Colorist

Key Takeaways

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

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Mentioned Resources