{"id":378,"date":"2016-10-27T15:08:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T03:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/?p=378"},"modified":"2016-10-27T15:08:44","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T03:08:44","slug":"creating-a-real-film-look-with-filmconvert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/creating-a-real-film-look-with-filmconvert\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a real film look with FilmConvert &#8211; Jonny Elwyn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jonny Elwyn discusses <a href=\"http:\/\/jonnyelwyn.co.uk\/film-and-video-editing\/creating-a-real-film-look-with-filmconverts-premiere-plugin\/\">how to create a real film look<\/a> in the FilmConvert plugin for Adobe Premiere for his blog.<\/p>\n<p>Jonny Elwyn is a freelance film editor and writer, living and working in London, UK. As a freelance film editor he works for a diverse range of clients handling everything from on-set rushes and offline editorial through to the final sound mix and colour grade.<\/p>\n<p>As a freelance writer he regularly contributes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/author\/jonnyelwyn\/\" target=\"_blank\">PremiumBeat.com<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.redsharknews.com\/post\/itemlist\/user\/13522-jonny-elwyn\" target=\"_blank\">RedsharkNews<\/a>, among others. He is also the author of <a href=\"http:\/\/jonnyelwyn.co.uk\/how-to-be-a-successful-freelance-creative\/\" target=\"_blank\">How To Be A Freelance Creative<\/a>, a practical guide to building a successful freelance career.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of his thoughts on the features of FilmConvert:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The first thing I have to say about FilmConvert\u2019s Premiere Pro plugin is just how easy it is to instantly achieve great looking results. This can\u2019t be overstated. This is what you\u2019re paying for the plugin to do and it does it, and does it very well&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>At $149 dollars the Adobe Premiere Pro plugin from FilmConvert is a reasonably priced and extremely effective film emulation plugin. It does what you need it to do, which is to create great looking results with very little effort.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the second half of his review, he takes you through step-by-step in the FilmConvert settings to show how to create a perfect film look, starting with ungraded footage straight from the camera.<\/p>\n<p>He also shares some of his own tips and tricks for efficient editing and workflow, both in FilmConvert and the Premiere interface.<\/p>\n<p>Check out his full review below:<\/p>\n<h2>Creating a real film look with the Premiere Pro plugin &#8211; Jonny Elwyn<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-391\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-Premiere-Plugin-801x1024.jpg\" alt=\"filmconvert-premiere-plugin\" width=\"747\" height=\"955\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-Premiere-Plugin-801x1024.jpg 801w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-Premiere-Plugin-117x150.jpg 117w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-Premiere-Plugin-235x300.jpg 235w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-Premiere-Plugin.jpg 810w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn how to create a real film look with FilmConvert<\/li>\n<li>Understand how Film Emulation works<\/li>\n<li>FilmConvert\u2019s Premiere Pro Plugin Reviewed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a busy film editor who is looking to add a little bit of extra polish to their projects, without necessarily having the time or the expertise to roundtrip the project into a fully-fledged grading application like DaVinci Resolve or Baselight, a film emulation plugin like FilmConvert could be a handy tool to have at your disposal.<\/p>\n<p>In essence it provides 19 different looks to apply to your footage in just a few clicks, based on the attributes of real film stocks from Kodak, FujiFilm, Illford and Polaroid.<\/p>\n<p>In this post I\u2019ll give you my thoughts on the plugin, talk a little bit about how film emulation works and round this up with a step-by-step guide to using the FilmConvert plugin in Adobe Premiere Pro.<\/p>\n<h3>What it is and how it works<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FilmConvert - Film Settings Tab\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/47975770?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The FilmConvert plugin is available for Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, Final Cut Pro 7 and X, Avid Media Composer and DaVinci Resolve (via the OFX architecture).<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve also created a standalone application for processing your footage without the need for an NLE, so whatever platform you prefer to use, they\u2019ve got you covered.<\/p>\n<p>In the video tutorial above, here\u00a0using the standalone app but the method is the same for all the NLEs, the process of creating a decent looking final result is based on:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>selecting the correct camera profile to match your source footage<\/li>\n<li>balancing the exposure and colour temperature of the shot<\/li>\n<li>selecting your preferred film stock<\/li>\n<li>adjusting the look intensity and grain amount and size to taste.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure id=\"attachment_392\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-392\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-392 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-filmconvert-film-emulation-works.jpg\" alt=\"how-filmconvert-film-emulation-works\" width=\"810\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-filmconvert-film-emulation-works.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-filmconvert-film-emulation-works-150x40.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/How-filmconvert-film-emulation-works-300x79.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Levels graphs, showing luminosity distribution for 6 squares from a MacBeth chart.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/features\/film-stocks\">The 19 different film stocks that Film Convert ships with<\/a> have been carefully mapped to a multitude of digital camera profiles to realistically recreate their grain structure and colour response, along with an sRGB transfer, emulating final film projection.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Each picture style is modeled to accurately match the colors provided by the camera and is coupled with a proprietary sRGB viewing transfer to mimic an ideal film projection on your sRGB display.<br \/>\nThere are four motion colour negative stocks, three photographic colour reversal stocks, six photographic black and white stocks, four photographic colour negative stocks and one Polaroid emulation stock to choose from. The grain is sourced from real film stocks scanned at 6K and available in a variety of different frame sizes from Super 8 to full frame 35mm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The central benefit of a customisable system like this, over say, a single slap-on LUT, is that you actually have control over the image and the look at all stages, rather than entrusting it to the mercy of a blackbox LUT, the internal mathematics of which you may never fathom.<\/p>\n<p>Another benefit over a stand-alone LUT is that, because the plugin also has three way colour correction controls, you can do much of the work that needs to be done to make all of your shots match across a scene, inside of the Filmconvert plugin alone.<\/p>\n<p>A colorist\u2019s \u2018order of operations\u2019 are usually to balance and correct every shot in a scene to create a good foundation to work from, and then tailor the look of the grade after that, usually by focusing on a few hero shots first, before rippling it out to the rest of the scene.<\/p>\n<p>You could, of course, balance and correct all of your shots with your NLE\u2019s inbuilt colour correction effects first, and then simply apply FilmConvert as a secondary effect just for the look and grain, but why double up, if you don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n<h2>FilmConvert\u2019s Secret Sauce<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-393\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-supported-cameras-and-profiles.png\" alt=\"filmconvert-supported-cameras-and-profiles\" width=\"810\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-supported-cameras-and-profiles.png 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-supported-cameras-and-profiles-150x50.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FilmConvert-supported-cameras-and-profiles-300x100.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Part of the under-the-hood-magic of FilmConvert are the camera profiles that you download and install. These tell the plugin how to best match the response curves of the film stocks they have emulated to the digital picture profile of the camera of the footage you are working with, making your digital images look like film.<\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/download\/camera-profile\">download updated camera profiles<\/a> as and when new cameras come on the market, or cherry-pick\u00a0individual profiles from their online profile matrix. Additional camera profiles are usually created in response to community demand, so if there\u2019s something missing that you need, be sure to email in. The latest additions include the Sony F5, Sony a6300 and the URSA Mini 4.6k cameras.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-394\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-Sony-a6300-with-Film-Covnert.jpg\" alt=\"using-sony-a6300-with-film-covnert\" width=\"388\" height=\"610\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-Sony-a6300-with-Film-Covnert.jpg 388w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-Sony-a6300-with-Film-Covnert-95x150.jpg 95w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-Sony-a6300-with-Film-Covnert-191x300.jpg 191w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The file sizes of the camera profiles can vary depending on the number of options within each one. Something like the Sony a6300 weighed in at 1.2GB, where as the Sony FS7 was only 125mb. But the FS7 only had 3 profile options to choose from, compared to the a6300\u2019s 26 options.<\/p>\n<p>FilmConvert\u2019s website suggests that even if you can\u2019t get the exact camera profile for your particular camera, you can still get excellent results with a similar profile from the same camera Manufacturer.<\/p>\n<h2>Things I like about FilmConvert<\/h2>\n<p>The first thing I have to say about FilmConvert\u2019s Premiere Pro plugin is just how easy it is to instantly achieve great looking results. This can\u2019t be overstated. This is what you\u2019re paying for the plugin to do and it does it, and does it very well.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/jonnyelwyn.co.uk\/film-and-video-editing\/free-film-luts-for-editors-dits-and-colorists\/\">Compared to a simple LUT<\/a> it\u2019s apparent that all the work that has gone on behind the scenes to map the film stocks to the camera specific picture profiles has done a great job of emulating the look and feel of real film. It\u2019s also a great benefit that the plugin doesn\u2019t just stop at letting you apply the stock and the grain, but provides a 3 way colour corrector and levels controls to fine tune the final grade as well.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-395\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/I-like-the-filmconvert-levels-graph.png\" alt=\"i-like-the-filmconvert-levels-graph\" width=\"493\" height=\"253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/I-like-the-filmconvert-levels-graph.png 493w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/I-like-the-filmconvert-levels-graph-150x77.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/I-like-the-filmconvert-levels-graph-300x154.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I also really like levels graph that\u2019s included in the colour correction section of the plugin.\u00a0It\u2019s really helpful to be able to see and adjust what\u2019s going on in your image, all within the plugin itself.<\/p>\n<p>The levels controls also indicate whether anything is being clipped in each channel if you go too far. As the plugin works in a hierarchical fashion the adjustments\u00a0flow down to it, so you can see if adjustments you\u2019re making higher up are clipping your signal.<\/p>\n<p>One negative thing I experienced with the levels graph was that the three control point triangles behaved in a sometimes sticking, sometimes slidying fashion when I was working my Wacom tablet. It\u2019s possible this is just a Premiere Pro bug but because everything else worked just fine in the plugin, it seems like it is an interface snag for the plugin.<\/p>\n<p>Another real plus to the plugin was the real time playback on my 2013 Mac Pro. I never once had to render anything and playback was always extremely smooth. In the past I\u2019ve noticed that plugins like Magic Bullet Looks, on some corporate iMacs, can get a bit choppy, FilmConvert was silky smooth.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore the 35mm grain looks lovely!<\/p>\n<p>Getting to see your digital images be transformed by a \u2018lowly\u2019 bit of grain into something that feels like a film is an enjoyable process! Part of me will have to resist simply slapping the plugin on everything, just so I can get some grain on my rushes.<\/p>\n<p>A secondary benefit to adding grain, especially on lower bit depth footage, is that it helps to reduce any banding that might have crept in, which also improves the look of your final images.<\/p>\n<p>The ability to export 3D LUTS to use in other applications or for on-set viewing scenarios is a great addition. This is also a handy way to export the look of your grade and apply it on a system that doesn\u2019t have FilmConvert, as a rough approximation at least, because\u00a0you won\u2019t have that lovely grain. You can export these as 16, 17, 32, 33 or 64 point LUTs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-396\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-black-and-white_smaller.jpeg\" alt=\"filmconvert-black-and-white_smaller\" width=\"810\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-black-and-white_smaller.jpeg 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-black-and-white_smaller-150x84.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-black-and-white_smaller-300x169.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Things to Consider about FilmConvert<\/h2>\n<p>So what didn\u2019t I like as much about the plugin?<\/p>\n<p>Well one wish I have is that they could some how fully port the great looking user interface from the standalone application (see the video tutorial in the section above) into Premiere. The levels graph and three way colour corrector have come over, but it would have been nice to have had the camera profile and film stock selection interface too.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose it makes sense that within Premiere it looks like a Premiere plugin and within FCPX it looks like an FCPX plugin. Anyway, just a thought.<\/p>\n<p>When I first installed the plugin and realised there weren\u2019t any camera profiles installed with it, my first thought was that FilmConvert should have just include all the camera packs with the initial download, but then, when I started to download some of them, I realised why this wasn\u2019t the case as they can get quite big.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the Sony a6300 is 1.2GB and obviously leaving this out gives everyone a lighter download and you won\u2019t waste time downloading profiles you don\u2019t need. But maybe if my expectations had been set on the website before hand, I wouldn\u2019t have thought of it as an extra cumbersome step. So, basically I get it, but I wasn\u2019t expecting the extra step.<\/p>\n<p>On the plus side the plugin did\u00a0seem to auto update inside Premiere when I installed camera profile (with Premiere open the whole time) so the process is fairly efficient. Although I then had to re-start Premiere to get the a6300 camera profile to appear as installed. I\u2019m not sure why this was the case.<\/p>\n<p>Another niggle is that to be positive you\u2019re getting the best results from your footage you will need to know what camera picture profile it was shot in. This isn\u2019t impossible to discover with a quick phone call to the cameraman\/woman, but in many situations you might have no way of doing that. So then it\u2019s just down to guess work, which on a camera like the Sony a6300 \u2013 with 26 different options, can be time-consuming working through them until you think you\u2019ve hit something like the right exposure settings.<\/p>\n<p>It would also be good to have\u00a0a wider range of motion film stocks to choose from, even if these were supplied as some kind of add-on purchase.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-397\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-Bundle-deal.png\" alt=\"filmconvert-bundle-deal\" width=\"810\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-Bundle-deal.png 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-Bundle-deal-150x32.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-Bundle-deal-300x64.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/\">At $149 dollars the Adobe Premiere Pro plugin from FilmConvert<\/a> is a reasonably priced and extremely effective film emulation plugin. It does what you need it to do, which is to create great looking results with very little effort.<\/p>\n<p>The reach and limitations of the controls feel about right in that you can tailor the image quite a bit without getting bogged down in too many controls or extraneous options, and the real-time playback made the plugin a breeze to work with.<\/p>\n<p>The 19 different film stock emulations provide a good range of starting points for your grade, from gritty black and white to pleasing colour stocks.<\/p>\n<p>One thing to note is that taking\u00a0the up-sell to <a href=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/purchase?plugin=Bundle\">the bundle deal at $219 is probably the smart choice<\/a>. For only an extra $70 you get to use FilmConvert in all the creative applications that it works with, which will become especially handy if you incorporate FilmConvert into your workflow in a deeper way, like say starting a grade in Premiere and finessing it in Resolve.<\/p>\n<p>Unless you\u2019re a dedicated solo app user, if you buy one plugin at $149 you\u2019ll almost certainly hit a point where you want to use it in two or three apps, so you may as well double-down and get the bundle from the start.<\/p>\n<p>How does it compare to the competition? Well from a price point only comparison, it\u2019s a bit more\u00a0expensive than say Color Finale ($99) and a bit cheaper than Koji Color Advance ($199).<\/p>\n<p>These aren\u2019t exactly oranges to oranges comparisons though.<\/p>\n<p>Koji is a film emulation system but has a much less intuitive interface (it\u2019s based on film colour timing, rather than digital colour grading) although it does support many more film stocks from Kodak and Fuji Film. But, from what I can tell, Koji doesn\u2019t allow you to adjust the size of the grain and you have to render the effect each time. Although the website claims this happens \u2018quickly\u2019. Personally I\u2019ll stick with no rendering, over rendering.<\/p>\n<p>Color Finale is an FCPX only plugin\u00a0which is essentially a souped up colour correction tool, but it also allows you to work with film emulation LUT packs (which is the basic foundation for these systems) like those from it\u2019s creator, colorist Denver Riddle. Obviously you\u2019ll need to pay extra for those and the main sticking point for why\u00a0Color Finale isn\u2019t really a film emulation tool in the first place is that it doesn\u2019t have any kind of grain facility, which is a pretty fundamental part of a film look. So its \u2018competition\u2019 in terms of offering quick and easy \u2018film looks\u2019 but it\u2019s not quite the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>In this light, it\u2019s clear that FilmConvert is a really great option when it comes to choosing a film emulation plugin at a reasonable price, allowing\u00a0you to easily create filmic images in moments.<\/p>\n<h2>FilmConvert Premiere Plugin Tutorial<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-379\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-convert-Trio-1024x225.jpg\" alt=\"film-convert-trio\" width=\"747\" height=\"164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-convert-Trio-1024x225.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-convert-Trio-150x33.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-convert-Trio-300x66.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-convert-Trio.jpg 1772w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The images I was working with to test out the plugin are from an as yet unedited and untitled documentary project <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adamroberts.net\/\">directed by Adam Roberts<\/a>, with Anthony Brown as Director of Photography.<\/p>\n<p>This project was shot on the Sony FS7, a6300 and Go Pro cameras. Given how easy it was to produce great looking results in a few seconds, this plugin might come in very handy for rough cuts and client screenings! The final project will probably be graded in DaVinci Resolve.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a step by step guide on how to use the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/plugin\/adobe\">FilmConvert Adobe Premiere Pro plugin<\/a> for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>1. Download and install the plugin. This is very quick and easy to do. Just <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/download\">download the free trial<\/a> and apply the license key.<\/p>\n<p>2. In Adobe Premiere search for the plugin in the effects panel under FilmConvert Pro. Add this to a <a href=\"http:\/\/wipster.io\/blog\/premiere-pro-masterclass-series-save-time-with-favorites\">favourite effects bin<\/a> to save time in future.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-398\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Missing-Camera-Profile-FilmConvert.jpg\" alt=\"missing-camera-profile-filmconvert\" width=\"810\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Missing-Camera-Profile-FilmConvert.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Missing-Camera-Profile-FilmConvert-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Missing-Camera-Profile-FilmConvert-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>3. You will need to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/download\/camera-profile\">download the camera profile pack<\/a>\u00a0for each of the different types of footage in your project or that you most often work with.\u00a0 The file size of the download will vary depending on how many options there are, so if there\u2019s a wide mix of cameras in your current project you might need to set aside a bit of time to get this set up before hand.<\/p>\n<p>The plugin will warn you in red text if you don\u2019t have a profile installed for a particular camera. If you click on the red warning it will take you to FilmConvert\u2019s camera profile page to download the pack.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-399\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-Convert-Camera-Settings-Section.jpg\" alt=\"film-convert-camera-settings-section\" width=\"810\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-Convert-Camera-Settings-Section.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-Convert-Camera-Settings-Section-150x36.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Film-Convert-Camera-Settings-Section-300x73.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>4. Set the camera profile. To do this click on the yellow text in Source Camera setting to open up a separate window that allows you to access the drop down menus for the Manufacturer, Camera Model and Camera Profile. You can also click on left and right arrows next to each of these (in the Effects Controls panel) to cycle through the available options.<\/p>\n<p>5. Adjust the Exposure and Temperature sliders to balance out your shot. The Temperature slider is working in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Color_temperature\">degrees on the Kelvin scale<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a05600 as roughly daylight. Set these so you\u2019ve got a well exposed and correctly colour balanced image.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-400\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-stocks-list.png\" alt=\"filmconvert-stocks-list\" width=\"500\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-stocks-list.png 500w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-stocks-list-150x135.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Filmconvert-stocks-list-300x270.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>6. Under Film Settings choose the film stock you want. The stocks are organised into these categories, but you\u2019re mostly selecting based on the look you\u2019re after. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/features\/film-stocks\">The Film Stocks page on the FilmConvert site<\/a> will guide you through each of the emulated film stocks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-401\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Grain-Size.png\" alt=\"grain-size\" width=\"400\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Grain-Size.png 400w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Grain-Size-150x75.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Grain-Size-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>7. Select the size of the grain you\u2019d like by selecting the film stock frame size.\u00a0Softness adds an overall blur to everything, which you might want to add in small measure.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-402\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-FilmConvert-in-Adobe-Premire-Pro.jpg\" alt=\"using-filmconvert-in-adobe-premire-pro\" width=\"810\" height=\"740\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-FilmConvert-in-Adobe-Premire-Pro.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-FilmConvert-in-Adobe-Premire-Pro-150x137.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Using-FilmConvert-in-Adobe-Premire-Pro-300x274.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>8. Adjust Film Color slider to reduce the intensity of the film stock\u2019s colour profile on the image. Curve allows your to adjust the brightness of the image without affecting the colour. Grain is the amount of grain applied to your image. Personally I liked to knock the graininess back by about 10%.<\/p>\n<p>9. Colour Correction allows you to adjust the image via three colour corrector wheels and a slider for saturation. You also have shadows midtones and highlights controls.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-403\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FIlmConvert-levels-graph.png\" alt=\"filmconvert-levels-graph\" width=\"400\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FIlmConvert-levels-graph.png 400w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FIlmConvert-levels-graph-150x70.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/FIlmConvert-levels-graph-300x140.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>10. Make use of the excellent Levels Graph to check that you\u2019re not clipping your image and to see how your previous adjustments have altered things.<\/p>\n<p>The clipping meter that appears at either end of the graph is very helpful showing you, per channel, whether your shadows or highlights are clipped. In the image above you can see that in the highlights the red channel is really clipped whilst the blue and green channels are pretty clipped.<\/p>\n<p>The key to getting good results\u00a0is always to know before you start what kind of look will fit your story, and work towards that. This might mean that you don\u2019t need to tweak very much in the plugin, as the original look of the stock and the grain will take you a good long way towards a nice filmic look, but just because you can add loads of grain doesn\u2019t mean you alway should, but don\u2019t be afraid of it either!<\/p>\n<h2>FilmConvert Premiere Pro Plugin Tips and Tricks<\/h2>\n<p>In experimenting with FilmConvert for the purposes of this review, I discovered a few things that I thought I\u2019d share to help you get\u00a0the most out of FilmConvert\u2019s excellent plugin.<\/p>\n<p>If you end up installing a lot of different camera profiles and want to weed out a few, you can manually delete them from the installation folder found here:\u00a0<em>\/Library\/Application Support\/RubberMonkey\/Profiles<\/em><\/p>\n<p>From a workflow point of view it\u2019s definitely best to set up the plugin for one clip and then copy and paste the effect onto the rest of your scene, before going in to adjust the exposure and colour temperature as needed to match. Otherwise you will have to set up camera profile from scratch each time, which would be pretty\u00a0inefficient.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-404 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Set-viewer-to-100.png\" alt=\"set-viewer-to-100\" width=\"87\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Set-viewer-to-100.png 87w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Set-viewer-to-100-61x150.png 61w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 87px) 100vw, 87px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Set the viewer scale to 100% otherwise you won\u2019t be looking at your image the way your audience will. If you\u2019ve got it set to a scale lower than 100% it won\u2019t appear\u00a0as grainy as it really if it is,\u00a0or if your viewer is set to above 100% it will seem grainer, because it\u2019s being artificially enlarged in your viewer.<\/p>\n<p>Loop playback (Shift+K) in Premiere will loop around an in\/out point or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/premiere-pro-loop-playback\/\">a few seconds on the timeline<\/a>, you can then adjust any of the plugin\u2019s settings and see the image in the viewer update in real time. This is a handy way to check out how each stock will look when working on a hero shot for\u00a0the scene. In the timeline select a clip to loop and press X to set in and out points around it, then hit Shift+K to turn on looping, then hit spacebar to start playback.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t really a tip, more an observation\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/photography.tutsplus.com\/tutorials\/film-emulation-for-digital-video-explained--cms-26144\">which\u00a0Charles Yeager mentioned in his film on Film Emulation plugins<\/a>, the look of film stocks is often much more desaturated than we\u2019re used to now with digital. You can obviously add in a bit more saturation with the plugin\u2019s dedicated slider, but it\u2019s just something to think about when creating the look\/presenting it to the client. It\u2019s supposed to look that way.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-405\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/adjust-slider-one-increment-at-a-time.png\" alt=\"adjust-slider-one-increment-at-a-time\" width=\"810\" height=\"57\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/adjust-slider-one-increment-at-a-time.png 810w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/adjust-slider-one-increment-at-a-time-150x11.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/adjust-slider-one-increment-at-a-time-300x21.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Finer adjustments can be made by holding down CMD when clicking and dragging sliders, or just click into\u00a0an effect parameter\u2019s number box and hit the up and down arrows on your keyboard for 1 percent changes. This is just a Premiere function but it\u2019s useful to know in this situation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-406\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Save-Preset.png\" alt=\"save-preset\" width=\"388\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Save-Preset.png 388w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Save-Preset-150x87.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Save-Preset-300x175.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Saving presets of your best looks is a great time saver and helps you copy looks across your project or to other projects entirely. You can save a preset for any look that you\u2019ve created in FilmConvert\u2019s Premiere plugin by using <a href=\"http:\/\/wipster.io\/blog\/premiere-pro-masterclass-series-save-time-with-favorites\">Premiere\u2019s in-built \u2018Save Preset\u2019 function<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Right click on the effect name in the Effects Control Panel and hit \u2018Save Preset\u2026\u2019 I\u2019d recommend giving it either a detailed descriptive name based on the settings inside FilmConvert, or a \u2018creative look\u2019 style name like Warm Contrast Super Grain. Or something that makes sense to you. Presets can be used in a drag and drop fashion and adjusted per clip if you need to.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-407\" src=\"http:\/\/filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Meaningful-Preset-name.png\" alt=\"meaningful-preset-name\" width=\"344\" height=\"239\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Meaningful-Preset-name.png 344w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Meaningful-Preset-name-150x104.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Meaningful-Preset-name-300x208.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jonny Elwyn discusses how to create a real film look in the FilmConvert plugin for Adobe Premiere for his blog. Jonny Elwyn is a freelance film editor and writer, living and working in London, UK. As a freelance film editor he works for a diverse range of clients handling everything from on-set rushes and offline&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/creating-a-real-film-look-with-filmconvert\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Creating a real film look with FilmConvert &#8211; Jonny Elwyn<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-tos","category-workflow-walkthroughs","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmconvert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}