For those who don’t know the tool: Beeble is an AI VFX platform for cloud and desktop plate work. SDR to HDR sits in the cloud app beside SwitchX and Canvas, with output aimed at grading and compositing pipelines rather than quick social HDR fakery.
Cloud-only HDR reconstruction
SwitchHDR is now available inside SDR to HDR, a Beeble web app tool for converting 8-bit SDR stills or clips into 16-bit HDR output. The feature is limited to the cloud app and is not available in Beeble Studio. Video uploads can contain 1 to 240 frames, so longer material needs trimming before upload. The claim is SDR-to-HDR reconstruction, not simple tone expansion.
What comes out
Exports include an OpenEXR sequence in ACES ACES2065-1 AP0, stored as 16-bit half-float. Video jobs download as a numbered EXR sequence in a ZIP. The tool also exports a Rec.2020 HLG QuickTime for review and highlight and shadow mattes for comp or selective grading.
Control, not a miracle button
The user sets highlight and shadow thresholds; overlay and histogram show affected pixels. Optional text prompts can steer recovered highlights and shadows, and a fixed seed can reproduce a result. The source aspect ratio and frame rate are preserved. Output resolution is 720p or 1080p, with the short edge scaled to the selected resolution. This puts the tool closer to HDR video plate preparation than one-click finishing. Claims around recovered detail should still be checked shot by shot, because white pixels do not secretly contain a production designer.
Cost and workflow
Credit pricing is 3 credits per 30 frames at 720p and 10 credits per 30 frames at 1080p, with an image counted as one frame and billing rounded up by 30-frame blocks. For color grading and compositing, the EXRs can be loaded into DaVinci Resolve with ACES color management or converted through a Color Space Transform node. In Nuke, the EXR read should use an ACES2065-1 or equivalent OCIO colorspace. Test the output, color management and masks on non-critical shots before using it in production.
https://beeble.ai/research/switchhdr
https://app.beeble.ai/sdr2hdr
https://docs.beeble.ai/update/changelog
https://docs.beeble.ai/beeble/sdr-to-hdr
