Keiran’s Quick Tips for Baselight Episode 1: Custom Layers
Welcome to the first installment of "Keiran’s Quick Tips for Baselight," where I’ll be sharing a series of concise, actionable tips and tricks to elevate your Baselight grading sessions.
The Power of Preparation and Speed
In the world of color grading, speed is crucial. Efficient preparation and planning before a session can save significant time, keep your clients happy, and allow you to focus on the fun, creative aspects of your work rather than repetitive button-clicking. One of the most effective ways to streamline your workflow is by customizing your layers in Baselight. This technique enables you to build a stack with well-labeled, custom layers, giving your grades clear purpose and direction.
What Are Custom Layers?
Baselight operates on a layer-based system. Each time you add a new layer to a shot, it comes with default operators. Customizing these layers means tailoring them to include only the operators you need for a specific task—whether it’s a balance grade, secondaries, or specialized tasks like lens effects and blurs. This customization not only makes your workflow more efficient but also allows you to color-code, name, and number the layers in a way that makes the grade’s intention immediately visible in the timeline. It simplifies navigation through large, complex stacks.
Staying on Track with Custom Layers
Using custom layers helps maintain focus and structure during grading, especially on projects involving heavy VFX and mattes. Early in my career, when I first started grading animation, I often found myself overwhelmed by the myriad possibilities, which could lead to chaos. My initial instinct was to address client concerns immediately, diving straight into my matte toolkit to fix problems. However, this approach often led me down a rabbit hole, pushing different parts of the shot away from each other and disrupting its linearity. This misalignment made it challenging to match surrounding shots, forcing me to backtrack and unpick adjustments.
Now, I plan my grade blueprint ahead of time, and by using customized layers, build a stack with the layers that will have the most significant impact up top (like balance, primary, and secondary grades) to keep me in check. This approach ensures a more coherent and manageable workflow, preventing the creation of inconsistencies and facilitating a smoother grading process.
Empowering Assistants with Custom Layers
A really positive trade off of working this way has been enabling my assistants to contribute meaningfully to the project. Whether they’re performing balance grades, shot matching, or detailed character and eye passes, these tailored layers allow them to work efficiently on specific tasks with clear direction on what operators I’d like them to use. This setup also makes it easy for me to review their work and provide constructive feedback. And when you have a team of seven or so assistants, this becomes a real lifesaver!
Watch and Learn
To learn how to create custom layers, check out the video above. I hope to see these techniques appearing in your grades soon! If you have any questions or need further clarification, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
