Real grain on film isn’t just overlaid on top of an image, but in fact the image itself entirely consists of grain. Dehancer literally reconstructs the shot, using the local color and brightness characteristics along with a complex physical modelling of a film emulsion.
1. Grain Profiles
We’ve created grain profiles for 8, 16, 35 and 65 mm, each in three versions: ISO 50, 250 and 500. In order to change the parameters of any profile, you must first select the most suitable one and then switch to Custom mode. All the usual effect settings will be available to you, and the parameter values will match the last selected profile.
2. Custom settings
The Custom settings allow you to configure Film Grain as you like. There are 2 film types and 2 processing modes available in Dehancer:
Film Type
- Negative grain is more pronounced in the highlights and the image has a slightly higher microcontrast, which is more typical for negative films.
- Positive grain uses the ‘classic’ algorithm that reproduces a softer grain, which is less pronounced in the highlights and is more typical for positive films.
Processing Mode
- Analogue is the original type of grain that requires more processing power but results in lifelike simulation.
- Noise is the high performance simplified ‘grain’ that may be useful for dithering tasks (for example, to eliminate the posterisation), for lowresolution projects and draft or dailies rendering.
Size
This parameter determines a size of silver halide granules. A higher Size value corresponds to a more photosensitive (and therefore more granular) emulsion.
Amount
Total amount of grain generated, corresponding to a ‘film’ optical density.
Shadows, Midtones, Highlights
This parameter affects grain distribution between different zones of a tonal range to match your scene texture and grading look by setting the grain amount individually for shadows, midtones and highlights.
Film Resolution
Usually the smallest image detail on film does not exceed the grain size. Dehancer Film Grain is considering this fact by design. Also it is possible to manually adjust this effect to mimic a specific emulsion resolution or to compensate for an excessive image softness.
Film Resolution parameter set to 100 keeps the initial sharpness of a source media. Lowering the Resolution results in gradual loss of detail, while an image becomes more blurred. Resolution set to 50 represents the detail balanced with a current grain size and amount.
Chroma
Grain chromaticity may vary on different films. This parameter determines the saturation of the dye granules in film emulsion.
3. Grain Tips
💡 On the real film, grain can be found in both the deepest shadows and the lightest highlights. But it cannot be visible on pitch black or pure white – technically there’s no detail in there. That is why Film Grain naturally affects black and white points, lowering visible contrast when enabled. Thus the Expand correction is recommended to regain the contrast.
💡 Sometimes, even at the minimum Size and Amount settings, grain appears too obvious for some applications. To get even subtler and softer grain lower the Shadows, Midtones and Highlights values and use the Film Resolution to make-up the excessive sharpness. Also you can try different grain types and processing modes.
Related Article: How does film grain work in Dehancer OFX plugin