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For those who don’t know the tool: Beeble SwitchHDR 2.0 reconstructs extended dynamic range from SDR footage and delivers 16-bit OpenEXR sequences with controlled highlight and shadow restoration.
The tidal wave of half-baked AI tools continues to wash over postproduction. Every week brings another miracle promising to replace entire departments, reinvent cinematography or turn a poorly exposed cat video into an Oscar contender. Most still struggle with the revolutionary concept of keeping the same object in consecutive frames. So it is refreshing when something arrives that might actually be useful.
Beeble’s SwitchHDR 2.0 concentrates on just one problem: reconstructing HDR information from existing SDR footage while preserving the original shot. Version 2.0 adds native 4K processing, doubles the maximum frame count, introduces additional EXR color spaces and promises better temporal consistency.
In General: Beeble develops AI-assisted tools for VFX, relighting, compositing and image reconstruction. Its cloud-based SDR to HDR application uses the company’s SwitchHDR model to generate scene-linear HDR information from ordinary 8-bit SDR images and video. We covered the original release in July, including its highlight and shadow controls, compositing mattes and ACES-based workflow.
SwitchHDR does not merely stretch the existing SDR signal across a wider brightness range. It uses a trained model to estimate image information that was lost during SDR capture or encoding.
Importantly, this is reconstruction, not retrieval. Once highlights have clipped, their original radiance values are gone. The model generates plausible replacements. No amount of machine learning can send a camera back in time to collect missing photons.
A new model, with some familiar foundations
SwitchHDR 2.0 uses a new architecture derived from techniques developed for SwitchX 2.0, Beeble’s source-guided video transformation model. We covered that September release, which introduced 2160p output, 480-frame jobs, 10-bit MOV delivery and source-camera tracking for its video-to-video workflow. The underlying philosophy is similar: keep the photographed source in charge wherever possible, instead of generating an entirely new interpretation of the scene.
Beeble also claims better RGB color-balance preservation and reduced ghosting during rapid movement. Its demonstrations include a spinning fire dancer, surfing footage with moving water and handheld camera movement, and fine details photographed against strong backlighting.
4K, frame limits and resolution handling
SwitchHDR 1.0 supported 720p or 1080p output and clips of up to 240 frames. Version 2.0 adds the 2160p tier and extends processing to 480 frames per job, equivalent to 20 seconds at 24 fps.
Beeble specifies native 3840 × 2160 processing for 16:9 material. The model reads the full-resolution source during reconstruction instead of relying on a separate upscale of a lower-resolution HDR result.
There is an important qualification in the documentation: the selected resolution tier acts as a cap. Depending on the source dimensions, SwitchHDR 2.0 can downscale larger footage, preserve intermediate source resolutions or upscale smaller material. Selecting 2160p therefore does not guarantee that every input contains genuine 4K detail.
The original aspect ratio and frame rate are preserved. The 480-frame ceiling applies regardless of frame rate, so higher-frame-rate material has a correspondingly shorter maximum duration. Longer clips must be trimmed before uploading. The 500 MB threshold for videos also applies. So, no longer catvideos get HDR-ed (which is a Verb now)
Controls that let artists do their jobs
The SDR to HDR interface retains the controls introduced with SwitchHDR 1.0. Highlight and Shadow thresholds define which parts of the image are reconstructed. A histogram and overlay identify the affected pixels, while the Change Frame control lets artists inspect the mask at different points in a video.
Optional text prompts can guide the reconstruction of highlights and shadows. The Suggest function can generate those descriptions, and a fixed random seed is available under Advanced settings for reproducible generations. Once processing finishes, an EV slider allows the result to be inspected at different exposure levels before downloading.
This matters because HDR reconstruction is rarely a universal one-button operation. A clipped practical light, a bright window and a reflective surface can require different treatment. Having the option to restrict the model’s enthusiasm is rather useful. Sometimes the best AI feature is knowing when to leave well enough alone.
Three EXR color spaces, plus review and matte exports
SwitchHDR 2.0 outputs 16-bit half-float OpenEXR files. Video renders download as numbered EXR sequences packaged in a ZIP archive. The ACES2065-1 (AP0) option is the default for mastering, delivery and interchange. ACEScg (AP1) targets compositing and scene-linear CG work, while Linear Rec.709 is available for pipelines outside ACES. The choice matters at import, because an EXR file name cannot correct an incorrectly assigned colour space by itself.
This is a significant improvement over SwitchHDR 1.0, which offered only ACES2065-1. Every video render also includes a Rec.2020/HLG QuickTime MOV for HDR playback and review.
Separate reconstruction mattes remain available for highlights and shadows. These are supplied as PNG files for still images and MP4 files for video, allowing selective grading or compositing adjustments downstream.
Resolve, Nuke and color management
Beeble documents workflows for both DaVinci Resolve and Foundry Nuke. In Resolve, the EXR sequence should be interpreted in its actual exported color space. The documented ACES route uses ACEScct with ACES 1.3 and an appropriate display transform. Alternatively, artists can use a Color Space Transform node to convert the linear EXR into the working timeline color space.
Those are alternative approaches, not two consecutive operations. Applying both can introduce an unwanted double transform. For Nuke, the Read node should use the corresponding ACES2065-1, ACEScg or linear Rec.709 interpretation in the project’s OCIO configuration. The Viewer then handles the appropriate display transformation.
For video sequences, Resolve’s timeline frame rate should also match the source footage. None of this is particularly glamorous, but correct color-space handling is considerably more useful than discovering that the supposedly recovered highlights have turned radioactive orange somewhere between applications.
Availability and credits
As per Beeble’s release announcement, SwitchHDR 2.0 is available in Beeble Cloud through the standalone SDR to HDR page and as a node inside the Canvas compositor. New Canvas SDR to HDR nodes default to version 2.0, while SwitchHDR 1.0 remains selectable. The standalone SDR to HDR application is cloud-only and is not included in the local Beeble Studio application.
The current documentation confirms that at 720p and 1080p both models cost the same. The documented rates are 3 credits per 30 frames at 720p, 10 credits per 30 frames at 1080p and 80 credits per 30 frames at 2160p. The 2160p option requires a Professional or Team plan.
| Developer | Beeble AI Inc. |
| Tool | SwitchHDR 2.0, SDR to HDR |
| Access | Beeble Cloud (standalone app and Canvas SDR to HDR node); not local Beeble Studio |
| Input | 8-bit SDR stills and video |
| Resolution | 720p, 1080p or 2160p; 2160p requires Professional/Team plan |
| Video limit | 1–480 frames per job (2.0), compared with 240 in 1.0 |
| EXR output | 16-bit half-float; ACES2065-1 (AP0), ACEScg (AP1), Linear Rec.709 |
| Review output | Rec.2020 / HLG QuickTime MOV |
| Mattes | Highlight and shadow, PNG stills / MP4 video |
| Controls | Highlight/shadow thresholds, mask overlay, histogram, prompts and fixed seed |
| Pricing | 3 credits / 30 frames at 720p; 10 at 1080p; 80 at 2160p |
| Preservation | Source aspect ratio and frame rate |
| Documentation | Technical specifications |
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Article details
- Published
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- Bela Beier
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- About 6 min
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- 1,094