FilmLight recently introduced Baselight Transfer (BLT), a low-cost near-set and postproduction solution for rapidly viewing, grading and transferring REDCODE RAW camera content to editable dailies or online conforms.

Consisting of a 5U 12TB RAID 5 chassis, the BLT is a standalone system that incorporates Baselight’s conform and primary grading toolsets, 16 CPU cores, GPU acceleration, three CompactFlash (CF) card readers and Truelight color management.

BLT can be used near-set to instantly view REDCODE RAW camera rushes to confirm "shot" or "take" integrity. It can also be used in a postproduction environment to enable rapid conversion of REDCODE RAW content into either graded dailies or a conformed online.

BLT key features include:

• Real-time 2K ("half-res") decode and review from CF cards, FireWire drives or file-system-based disk packs
• Plays R3D natively on the timeline, in real time, with simultaneous real-time GPU grading
• Plays 2K DPX in real time with Truelight profile
• Highly configurable "multi-insert" capability for rapidly populating a timeline with hundreds of shots
• Ability to edit all RED decode parameters (including reading RSX files) on a per-shot basis, allowing "group grading" of multiple shots simultaneously
• Configurable alarms for visualizing top end/bottom end clipping
• Creates DNxHD MXF, QuickTime, 1:1 MXF, TIFF, etc. content direct from R3D—no intermediate processes required
• Outputs DNxHD MXF content on a portable drive that can be directly copied into an Avid—no ALE required
• Both types of RED timecode fully available during conform, metadata display, rendering and VTR layoff
• Supports CMX, AAF and XML using Baselight’s statistical file-based conform engine

Mike Grieve, sales director at FilmLight, says, “BLT was designed to address the four most common requirements that our customers requested from a RED workflow; immediate real-time playback, near-real-time DNxHD MXF disc deliverables, metadata maintained regardless of output, and fast, problem-free conforms. We added a fifth: a low price tag.”

Baselight Transfer is completing beta testing at selected FilmLight customers and is scheduled to ship in mid-March 2009. Prices start at €29,995 (about $41,000) for the base BLT system which includes 5U chassis, 16 CPU cores, GPU, 12TB RAID 5, 3x CF card readers and Baselight 4.1 software with Truelight color management.