Quick Depth

Automatic depth maps from any footage, in one click.

After Effects Premiere Pro DaVinci Resolve Nuke Product page →

1. Description

Quick Depth turns any shot or photo into a depth map. A neural network estimates how far away every pixel is, with no setup: apply the effect and the depth map is there. Use it to add depth of field, or to create 3D camera moves from a single photo.

Output it as plain grayscale (near is white, far is black) or through one of five colormaps. Quality Boost processes the frame in tiles for extra detail, Time Consistency reduces flicker between frames, and Slicing Mode cuts your footage down to a chosen depth range.

Requirements

Mac: Apple Silicon (M1 or later), runs on the GPU. Intel Macs are not supported.
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit: uses an NVIDIA GPU (CUDA) when available, otherwise the CPU.
The Baskl installer is required: it downloads the AI model (about 360 MB) and, if not installed yet, the AI MACHINE render engine.

2. Installation

2a. Baskl installer (all host apps)

Every Baskl plugin installs through the Baskl installer. It sets up AI Machine, the local engine the plugins run on, and puts Quick Depth in the right place for After Effects, Premiere Pro and OFX hosts (DaVinci Resolve, Nuke). Close your host apps before running it.

macOS

Click Download on baskl.ai, unzip Baskl.Installer.zip and open Mac/Baskl Installer.app. You need an Apple Silicon Mac; the installer stops on Intel Macs.
If macOS asks, confirm you want to open an app downloaded from the internet, then enter your Mac password so the installer can write to the system plug-in folders.
Click Let's Get Started, select Quick Depth in the plugin list and click Install. The first install also downloads AI Machine, so give it a few minutes.
When you see Installation Complete, restart your host app. The effect is in the Baskl category.

Windows

Click Download on baskl.ai, unzip Baskl.Installer.zip and run Windows\Baskl Installer.exe.
Click Yes when Windows asks to allow the app to make changes. The installer needs administrator rights.
Click Let's Get Started, select Quick Depth in the plugin list and click Install. On NVIDIA cards the installer picks the matching CUDA build for you. The first install also downloads AI Machine, so give it a few minutes.
When you see Installation Complete, restart your host app. The effect is in the Baskl category.

The first render after opening your host loads the AI model, so it takes a little longer than the following frames.

Activating your license

After Effects / Premiere Pro: in After Effects, click Register at the top of the effect in Effect Controls (next to Reset), paste your license key and click Activate. In Premiere Pro, click the small icon button at the top right of the effect in Effect Controls to open the same dialog. The license is saved for the whole computer, so registering in one of the two apps covers the other.
Resolve / Nuke: click Register at the top of the effect's controls, paste your license key and confirm. Once activated, the button reads License Info.
Where to find your key: if you bought on baskl.ai, it is in your purchase email and under Account → My Licenses, with a Copy button. If you bought on aescripts + aeplugins, activate through the aescripts + aeplugins manager app, or paste the key from your aescripts account into the same Register dialog.
Without a license, Quick Depth runs as a trial: everything works, but renders carry a watermark until you register. Activation needs an internet connection, and each key works on a limited number of computers (shown under My Licenses).

3. Looks

The same frame with each Colormap.

4. Parameters

General

Help / Contact: Opens Baskl support. We're here if you need us.
Register: DaVinci Resolve and Nuke: activate the effect with your license key. Shows License Info once activated.

Depth

Quality: The size the AI analyses the frame at (longest side). Higher is more detailed and slower. Default 512px on Mac, 1024px on Windows.

256px fastest, rough preview.

512px fast (Mac default).

768px more detail.

1024px detailed (Windows default).

1280px more detail, slower.

1536px high detail, slower.

1920px very high detail, slow.

2048px most detail, slowest.
Preserve Ratio: Off: the frame is analysed as a square. On: it keeps its aspect ratio, with the longest side at the Quality size. Off by default.
Quality Boost: Splits the frame into tiles, runs the AI on each one for extra detail and blends them back into the depth map. Slower. Off by default.

Quality Boost (3 × 3 tiles) brings out finer depth detail.
Boost Amount: How many tiles across and down (2 to 8, default 2; 2 means 2 x 2 tiles). More tiles bring out finer detail and take longer. Grayed out unless Quality Boost is on.
Time Consistency: Matches the overall levels of each frame's depth map to the previously rendered frame, to reduce flicker. It follows render order, so it works best when frames render in sequence. Off by default.

Slicing

Slicing Mode: Outputs your original footage cut down to a depth range: everything outside it becomes transparent. Colormap is ignored while it is on. Off by default.

Slicing Mode keeps only the nearest 30% of the scene.
Near: Start of the kept range, from 0% (nearest) to 100% (farthest), default 0%. Shown when Slicing Mode is on.
Far: End of the kept range, 0% to 100%, default 100%. Shown when Slicing Mode is on.
Feather: Softens the edges of the range so the cut fades in and out (0% to 100%, default 0% for a hard cut). Shown when Slicing Mode is on.

Look

Colormap: How the depth map is colored.

Depth plain grayscale, near is white and far is black (default). Use this to drive other effects.

Turbo rainbow, from red (near) to blue (far).

Inferno black (far) through purple and orange to pale yellow (near).

Viridis purple (far) through teal to yellow (near).

Plasma blue-purple (far) through pink to yellow (near).

Cividis blue (far) to yellow (near), readable for color-blind viewers.