Digital Film Tools Film Stocks 3.0.1.3 Win
Melvin Amey
Digital Film Tools brings together the unbeatable combination of superior software designers, motion picture visual effects veterans, video editors and photographers. Add three Emmy Awards and experience in creating visual effects for hundreds of feature films, commercials and television shows and you have a recipe for success. The understanding of photography, film and video editing, and in particular visual effects, allows us to design productive and highly specialized software. Software that is useful as well as easy to use. Our products stand up to the rigors of production and are the culmination of many years of experience.
DFT
DFT (aka Digital Film Tools) is the definitive digital toolbox meant to simulate optical camera filters, specialized lenses, film stocks and grain, lens flares, optical lab processes, color correction, keying, and compositing as well as natural light and photographic effects.
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Digital Film Tools has won three Emmy Awards for its expertise in special effects in feature films, commercials and television shows but what its Film Stocks plug-in really wants to do is make your images winners.
We've recently fallen in love with taking Micro Four-Thirds digital images with our old (30 years old) film lenses. And our latest crush is shooting with our venerable Vivitar Series I 70-210mm macro zoom mounted to on an Olympus E-PL1 micro 4/3 digicam using a Lensbaby Tilt Transformer.
First, the telephoto range is spectacular. The 2x crop factor of the E-PL1 means we're shooting with a 140-420mm zoom. And just to make the package sweeter, the E-PL1 has body-based image stabilization, so the Nikon-mount Vivitar enjoys something it never had on any of our Nikon bodies, film or digital.
One reason that thought occurred to us was because we'd reviewed DxO's FilmPack 3, a collection of 60 emulsion renderings devised from film emulsion processed in Paris and New York labs. It's an impressive package.
And, as we noted above, Alien Skin's Exposure 4 also emulates films and historical processes. It even goes so far as to add dust and simulate other physical defects. Which was just a bit too far for this job.
DFT provides an interesting option, though, in Film Stocks, which simulates 288 still photographic film stocks, motion picture films stocks and historical photographic processes. And unlike the other products, these filters work on both stills and video, although video requires a more expensive license.
- 288 analog photographic film presetsSelect from Agfa, Fuji, Ilford, Kodak, Polaroid and Rollei color and black and white film stocksChoose from a wide range of historical photographic processesGet the skewed color look of cross processingApply Lo-Fi photographic looks from Lomo and Holga toy camerasAge your images with the looks of faded filmsCreate your own film stock presetsLayering system for multiple film stock application (photo plug-in version only)Sophisticated but easy to use masking tools (photo plug-in version only)Add a vignette to any presetModify images with presets or slidersQuickly search for presets8/16 bit image processingMulti-processor accelerationOne Film Stocks photo plug-in license will allow it to run in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture if installed on the same machine.One Film Stocks video/film plug-in license will allow it to run in Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro (including FCPX), Apple Motion 5 and Avid Editing Systems if installed on the same machine.
While we're not sure how much to make of this, we do have to be wary of applying a digital cut-and-dried perspective to the analog world of film exposure and processing. Both of these programs provide adjustments to vary the effect, after all. So we're just looking at defaults here, not final results.
I recall years ago working in the camera department on The Glass Menagerie, a feature film directed by Paul Newman, and shot exquisitely by the late Michael Bauhaus ASC. Michael chose to shoot the 1930s scenes on Agfa XT320 stock, which he felt best conveyed the warmth and mood of the Depression era story. In contrast, for the few contemporary scenes, he opted for the cool, less dreamy look of Kodak stock 5297. Film shooters have long understood the nuances of various emulsions, and how film type and filters can impact the visual story.
Referencing film emulsions from A Ilford and Kodak, Film Stocks 3 features 300+ analog film presets and 89 color grading presets for iconic feature films like 2001 A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, and War of the Worlds (above).
In the digital intermediate suite, savvy operators would often specify the manufacturer and type of print stock to ensure proper color output and density when recording back to film. With the advent of digital cinema and DCPs, the demand for film output has for the most part disappeared, but the lessons learned with respect to building a desired look remain as relevant as ever.
A diffusion filter is tough to mimic in software because most scenes require color-correction in addition to the smart application of halation. The effectiveness of any film emulation software is not 100%. Notwithstanding the technical prowess of Digital Film Tools, the emotional component of motion picture film is hard to quantify.
Barry Braverman is a veteran cinematographer and digital media expert with over 35 years experience in television documentaries and feature films. His latest book, Video Shooter 3rd Edition from Focal Press, explores the art and craft of video storytelling with the latest-generation digital cameras.
Less well-known than other film emulation programs, Film Stocks v1.5 from Digital Film Tools is the heart of the Film Stocks category of Tiffen Dfx. The plug-in software simulates 288 different color and black-and-white still photographic film stocks, motion picture films stocks and historical photographic processes.
Film Stocks also includes some unique features, and allows users to stack different film stocks onto one another. The stack is displayed in the Effects panel on the left of the preview. Controls for opacity and blending modes are included in the program, as well as four masking options, including Digital Film Tools EX Mask, for additional blending. When adjustments are complete, Film Stocks returns you to the host program with a flattened image.
Along with being one of the most complete film simulation plug-ins, it is also a relative bargain. One $95 license allows Film Stocks to run in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe AfterEffects, Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Aperture if installed on the same Windows or Mac computer.
With an MSRP of $129, the Expert edition is well worth the additional $50 over the stripped-down Essential edition. Expert includes presets for about 60 analogue films and 39 Designer presets, along with a range of adjustments.
Another program with hidden-away film emulations is Imagenomic Realgrain 2. A list of color and black-and-white presets are available for fairly recent films, including Fuji Velvia 50. The Realgrain plug-in has an MSRP of $99.95 or can be bundled with other Imagenomic plug-ins.
Replichrome 1.1.2a takes an entirely different approach to film emulation software. As a plug-in for Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), Replichrome is designed to apply corrections to RAW format files. In ACR, the presets are based on Noritsu and Fuji Frontier scans of popular color and black-and-white negative films. Replichrome is available from gettotallyrad.com for $99.
Whether users are truly interested in creating images that duplicate the look of film or just want a starting point to create their own custom look, film emulation software that gives the look of film is worth having in your arsenal.
Composite Suite Pro features a well rounded collection of visual effects plug-ins that were previously only available in-house at a Hollywood based feature film effects facility. Tested in the rigors of everyday production, Composite Suite Pro provides all that is needed to combine multiple images by utilizing compositing tricks and techniques, color correction, blur, grain, matte manipulation, lens distortion, lighting effects and edge blending.
Film Stocks:
Film Stocks is a unique filter that simulates 288 different color and black and white still photographic film stocks, motion picture films stocks and historical photographic processes.
Film Stocks is a unique filter that simulates 288 different color and black and white still photographic film stocks, motion picture films stocks and historical photographic processes. Using our experience in creating special effects for hundreds of feature films as well as expertise in film scanning and recording techniques, we have laboriously researched and analyzed different film stocks to come up with a set of interesting analog photographic, motion picture and vintage looks. Make any digital image look interesting by applying some of our film magic.
The merger marks the third Boris FX acquisition in recent years following Imagineer Systems (2014), and GenArts (2016), and builds upon powerful creative editing, visual effects, and motion graphics solutions currently available to the film and television post-production industry. Silhouette and Digital Film Tools join Boris FX flagship solutions Sapphire, Continuum, and Mocha Pro.
Digital Film Tools (DFT) emerged as an off-shoot of a Los Angeles-based motion picture visual effects facility whose work included hundreds of feature films, commercials, and television shows. The team used their strong practical understanding of photography, film and video editing, and in particular visual effects, to design highly-specialised software.
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