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For those who don’t know the tool: Beeble develops AI-assisted VFX tools for cloud and local plate processing. Beeble SwitchX is its cloud video-to-video system for changing environments, lighting and selected image regions while keeping the source plate firmly involved in proceedings. It sits after plate preparation and before downstream compositing, grading and finishing; supervised mattes can be prepared in Foundry Nuke or Adobe After Effects and uploaded to SwitchX. Beeble Studio remains a separate local application, while SwitchX lives in Beeble Cloud, where GPU procurement is somebody else’s meeting.
Beeble has pushed SwitchX further away from short generative experiments and closer to material that might survive contact with an actual postproduction pipeline. SwitchX 2.0 raises the maximum shot length to 480 frames, adds output up to 2160p, introduces a 10-bit MOV download and adds explicit source-camera tracking.
The model still takes source footage, a mask and a reference image rather than asking a prompt to reconsider the entire universe one frame at a time. The source keeps performance, framing and timing in play; the mask specifies which parts should remain tied to the plate; and the reference image tells SwitchX what kind of alternate reality it is expected to construct.
Beeble’s official SwitchX 2.0 launch film puts the longer shots, higher resolution, camera motion and fast-action examples side by side. For comparison, the original SwitchX launch film shows where the cloud workflow began. The company’s SwitchX 2.0 technical launch page contains further source/result comparisons.
More frames before somebody says cut
The previous model stopped at 240 frames. SwitchX 2.0 raises the ceiling to 480 frames, which equals 20 seconds at 24 fps. The frame count is the real limit, so higher-frame-rate material reaches the end of the runway sooner. SwitchX preserves the source frame rate and aspect ratio.
The new resolution tier reaches 2160p. Beeble describes its 16:9 example as 3840×2160 and says the model reads the full-resolution source while rendering rather than enlarging a completed lower-resolution result. The separate Finish workflow follows the same principle: artists can experiment at 720p or 1080p, then ask SwitchX to return to the original source for the final higher-resolution generation. This is a sensible arrangement because creative certainty and finishing resolution rarely arrive at the same meeting. 2160p generation and 10-bit MOV download require Professional or Team access.
Source, matte, reference, repeat
SwitchX continues to revolve around three inputs: source footage, an alpha mask and a reference image. Beeble calls the underlying approach Source-Locked Rendering. The source supplies photographed performance, framing and timing. The mask tells the system which parts should remain source-driven and which areas may be regenerated. The reference image supplies the intended environment, lighting and appearance. Compared with pure prompting, it is a reassuringly production-like arrangement: one file says what happened, one says where the machine may interfere, and one says what the client meant by “more cinematic.”
The interface provides Auto, Select, Fill and Upload masking modes. Auto tracks a detected main subject. Select gives the artist object-level selections. Fill applies the transformation across the complete frame. Upload accepts a separately prepared alpha matte, which is the useful route when roto has already been supervised in a compositing application. That means an existing roto pipeline does not have to be ceremonially switched off because the final transformation is generative. Difficult hair, occlusion boundaries and show-specific matte decisions can remain somebody’s deliberate responsibility before SwitchX gets the plate. The machines may have arrived, but edge work remains edge work.
Camera tracking, minus the camera solve
SwitchX 2.0 introduces a Camera Tracking control with Follow Source and Ignore Source modes. Follow Source is the default and analyzes source-camera movement so the generated environment follows the shot. Ignore Source tells the generated environment not to follow that movement. Beeble demonstrates lateral tracking, pans, push-ins and parallax-heavy shots. This is not documented as an exportable matchmove system. Beeble does not describe a solved 3D camera, lens package or track-data export that can be handed to another DCC. The camera analysis controls the generated result inside SwitchX.
A facility needing an actual camera solve for CG therefore still needs the normal tracking stage. SwitchX can persuade a synthetic background to behave itself, but it does not hand layout a tidy camera package with focal length, distortion, survey data and the inevitable question about which axis is up. That keeps the feature in the right box. It can make a generated environment follow a plate without pretending to replace the camera data required by downstream 3D.
Cheap pixels first
The resolution workflow is also a credit workflow. Current Beeble Cloud pricing charges SwitchX at 6 credits per second for 720p, 20 credits per second for 1080p and 80 credits per second for 2160p. A 20-second 2160p generation therefore consumes 1,600 credits at the published rate.
That makes the Iterate then Finish route more than a UI convenience. Matte choices, reference images, prompts and camera behavior can be approved at a cheaper resolution before the final pass spends 2160p credits. 720p is where everybody may still have an opinion. 2160p is where one hopes the opinions have become notes in the past tense.
The current yearly individual plans show Creator at $16 per month, 16% off and billed annually, with 540 credits per month. Professional is shown at $60 per month, 20% off and billed annually, with 2,400 monthly credits. Subscription credits reset each month and do not roll over. One-time credits remain valid for up to 90 days. For a facility, this makes usage forecasting more relevant than simply counting seats. A quiet week followed by several long 2160p shots can turn an apparently generous credit pool into the office biscuit tin after dailies.
Ten bits enter finishing
SwitchX 2.0 adds a 10-bit MOV download alongside the 8-bit MP4. Beeble positions the higher bit depth for color work where gradients and later exposure or contrast changes benefit from additional precision. The 10-bit option is part of the Professional feature set on the current pricing page. The documentation identifies the container and bit depth, but it does not currently identify the MOV codec, chroma subsampling or a documented scene-referred color-management handoff.
MOV, as ever, is a container, not a finishing specification. Ten bits are useful. Ten bits plus the words “MOV file” do not magically answer every question a colorist is about to ask. Beeble’s source guidance recommends preserving source resolution and frame rate and, for H.264 transcodes at 1080p, using 40 to 60 Mbps or CRF 16. The documentation asks users to export Rec.709 and to apply a display LUT before uploading Log footage.
Color-managed facilities should decide deliberately where that display conversion belongs before generated material returns to grading or finishing. Otherwise the pipeline may develop a new look department without informing the look department.
ProRes, terms and conditions apply
SwitchX accepts ProRes 422 Proxy, LT, 422 and HQ MOV files directly, with a documented upload limit of 4.5 GB. ProRes 4444 files carrying embedded alpha and variable-frame-rate exports are rejected. ProRes jobs also lose in-app trimming and playback, so the source should be cut to the intended range before upload. Continue in Canvas is unavailable for those ProRes jobs.
Direct ProRes ingest can remove an unnecessary transcode, which is good news for any pipeline already supporting several generations of files named FINAL, FINAL2 and FINAL_USE_THIS_ONE. It does not, however, turn SwitchX into a general interchange system. Facilities still need to decide how handles, alpha, editorial metadata and downstream delivery formats travel around the cloud step.
The render farm is now somebody else’s
SwitchX runs in Beeble Cloud and is not part of the local Beeble Studio product. Beeble Studio processes VFX passes locally on supported NVIDIA GPUs, but Beeble states that the desktop and cloud applications operate separately and do not synchronize project files or assets. The Studio product page explicitly says SwitchX and Background Remover are available only in Beeble Cloud. That shifts deployment questions away from workstation GPU sizing and toward upload preparation, service access, credit allocation and data policy.
There is no SwitchX workstation configuration to negotiate, no driver matrix to bless and no render node to discover has been unplugged for reasons nobody can explain. IT may enjoy this phase of the conversation. The next phase contains bandwidth, cloud security and procurement. Beeble says content uploaded by paid users remains private and owned by the customer, and that its own models are not trained on paid-customer data. Its current pricing page also states that SOC 2 Type II certification is still in progress.
Studios handling contractually restricted footage should still evaluate those terms against the requirements of the actual production. A vendor’s general cloud policy is not the same thing as a show’s security approval, even when both contain the word secure.
The API has its own paperwork
Beeble also exposes SwitchX through a REST API. The current public API documentation lists 720p and 1080p processing, not the interactive cloud application’s 2160p output. Self-service Build pricing is $0.10 per 30 frames at 720p and $0.30 per 30 frames at 1080p. The Build tier uses prepaid USD credit, allows five concurrent jobs and ten requests per minute, and carries a $5,000 monthly spending cap. The minimum credit purchase is $50. Beeble also requires visible “Powered by SwitchX” or “Powered by Beeble” attribution in public-facing applications unless that requirement is waived under a Scale or Enterprise agreement.
Pipeline TDs therefore have an automation path, but the API should not be treated as a secret service entrance to every SwitchX 2.0 cloud feature. At present, Beeble documents the API and the interactive high-resolution finishing path with different resolution, billing and deployment constraints. Five concurrent jobs is enough to automate useful work. It is not an invitation to point the entire shot database at the endpoint at 17:57 on Friday.
https://beeble.ai/research/switchx-2-0
| Product | SwitchX |
| Developer | Beeble |
| Deployment | Beeble Cloud; SwitchX is not included in local Beeble Studio |
| Maximum output | Up to 2160p; 3840×2160 for the documented 16:9 example |
| Maximum shot | 480 frames; 20 seconds at 24 fps |
| Output | 8-bit MP4; 10-bit MOV on Professional/Team access |
| Source ingest | ProRes 422 Proxy/LT/422/HQ MOV up to 4.5 GB; ProRes 4444 with embedded alpha and variable-frame-rate exports are rejected |
| Iteration workflow | 720p/1080p drafts; Finish re-renders from the original source for higher-resolution output |
| SwitchX credits | 720p: 6 credits/sec; 1080p: 20 credits/sec; 2160p: 80 credits/sec |
| Individual cloud pricing | Creator: $16/month, 16% off billed annually, 540 credits/month. Professional: $60/month, 20% off billed annually, 2,400 credits/month |
| Licence | Full commercial license on Creator and Professional cloud plans |
| API | Public REST API; 720p and 1080p documented; prepaid USD Build tier |
| API pricing | 720p: $0.10 per 30 frames; 1080p: $0.30 per 30 frames |
| Documentation | SwitchX documentation |
| Pricing | Beeble Cloud pricing |
