Boris FX Continuum 2026 continues the developer’s long-running effort to automate routine postproduction work through machine learning. The 2026 release strengthens AI masking, compositing, and keying features while speeding up overall processing across multiple effects.
Masking and isolation
The PixelChooser, Continuum’s core masking and isolation framework, has been overhauled with AI segmentation tools. The new Face ML model automatically detects and isolates facial regions such as eyes, lips, teeth, and surrounding skin. By defining specific facial areas, users can target effects precisely or exclude them entirely, reducing the need for manual rotoscoping.
Complementing this, Matte Refine ML analyses existing mattes to restore or enhance fine edge detail. Elements such as hair strands and semi-transparent surfaces are now easier to preserve in composites. The PixelChooser also gains six additional matte and mask modes—Pre, Post, Both, Stacked Composite, Alpha Masked, and Alpha Composite—offering flexible control over whether masks are applied before, after, or alongside effects. Both Face ML and Matte Refine ML are available inside Beauty Studio, within the PixelChooser itself, and as standalone filters in the Key & Blend category.
Smarter face detection
Face Detection via Mocha adds automatic recognition and tracking of multiple faces within a clip. The feature integrates Mocha’s planar tracking, allowing individual faces to be followed accurately across frames. Once detected, Continuum effects can be selectively applied to specific tracked regions, streamlining retouching or compositing tasks that previously required separate mask layers.
Updated Primatte Studio
The Primatte Studio keying module has been rebuilt for Continuum 2026. According to Boris FX, it now employs a new 3D keying algorithm combined with integrated AI Denoise for cleaner source plates. Expanded Light Wrap and Spill Suppression controls offer greater realism when blending foregrounds into new backgrounds. The new Colour Link function automatically adjusts the hue and luminance of the keyed subject to match the underlying background input, reducing manual colour correction work. The redesigned custom toolbar centralises keying parameters, creating a more efficient, single-pane workspace for editors and compositors.
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AI-powered transitions
Two new machine-learning transitions extend Continuum’s effects library. Jump Cut Fixer ML uses AI-based optical-flow analysis to generate seamless dissolves between two adjacent shots. By reconstructing motion between frames, the tool can mask timing gaps or abrupt cuts, preserving narrative flow without additional editing. Built-in colour adjustment parameters and interactive on-screen widgets enable further control over the dissolve timing and strength.
Depth Wipe ML, the second new transition, uses AI-generated depth maps to move beyond flat 2D wipes. Instead of a simple horizontal or vertical reveal, the effect creates a transition that passes dynamically through the 3D space of the image, wiping from foreground to background. The effect includes more than fifteen presets for rapid setup and provides controls for animation, blending, and dissolve shaping.
Enhanced legacy tools
Continuum 2026 revisits several of its longstanding effects. The Scanline effect recreates the appearance of vintage CRT displays, now adding adjustable parameters for glow, noise, and vignette intensity to deliver more authentic analogue texture. Lens Blur expands to support full HDR workflows and introduces a Depth Mask ML option that allows defocus or rack-focus effects to respond accurately to depth information.
The Colour Link filter, also available as a standalone effect, gains a Diffuse Colour Displacement texture option that improves colour blending and realism when integrating keyed subjects into complex backgrounds. Particle Illusion benefits from smoother animation interpolation, a reverse-animation toggle, and a newly curated emitter library designed for modern compositing environments. Meanwhile, Lens Flare has been optimised for performance and now renders up to four times faster than before. Title Studio improves type handling with expanded font-family support and more stable character rendering across different hosts.
Faster AI models
Continuum’s existing AI-based effects have been refactored for speed and quality. Retimer ML can now accommodate mixed frame-rate sources within After Effects, avoiding frame mismatch issues in complex sequences. UpRes ML incorporates NVIDIA Super Scale models, offering higher-quality image enlargements for up-conversion tasks. Depth Map ML produces cleaner, more consistent mattes suitable for grading or selective blurring operations. Motion Blur ML introduces adaptive sampling and synchronisation with Beat Reactor, enabling rhythm-driven motion-blur intensities. Frame Fixer ML receives refinements for handling trimmed or incomplete frames in Avid Media Composer projects, improving overall frame reconstruction reliability.
Continuum honoured with an Engineering Emmy
In October 2025, the Television Academy presented Boris FX Continuum with an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Award. Founder and CEO Boris Yamnitsky accepted the award together with long-time team members Peter McAuley, Jason Clement, and Mike Escola. The accolade recognises Continuum’s three-decade contribution to visual-effects and compositing workflows, marking it as one of the industry’s most influential non-linear-editing plug-in suites.
Yamnitsky described the award as both humbling and affirming, recalling the product’s beginnings as code written in his parents’ basement and its early adoption within emerging NLE systems such as Media 100 and Adobe Premiere. The Emmy recognition also highlights Boris FX’s commitment to broad platform support. Continuum has long maintained compatibility across Avid, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Vegas, Filmora, and Final Cut Pro, reflecting the company’s belief that every editor deserves access to the same toolset regardless of host application.
For the record
Boris FX presents the 2026 release as a continuation of this Emmy-recognised legacy, extending Continuum’s compositing foundation with new AI-driven technologies. As always, postproduction teams are advised to test AI-masking accuracy and stability within their own workflows before integrating the update into production pipelines.
