Making Digital video look like Film (PrPro)

[momoffduty]

I haven't tried this yet, but looks promising:

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/filmic- ... miere-pro/

[Chuck Engels]

That looks pretty cool, I've had some really good results with ProDad Vitascene

[Bob]

This is called "filmic blend" and has been around for quite a while. It works by increasing the contrast and saturation using blend modes. It does not fill in the gaps between scan lines as that description seems to imply.

[momoffduty]

This is called "filmic blend" and has been around for quite a while. It works by increasing the contrast and saturation using blend modes. It does not fill in the gaps between scan lines as that description seems to imply.

Thanks for clarifying Bob. I was wondering how it would "fill in". It does make the video pop a bit. I have Magic Bullet Quick Looks and using one of the presets at a low percentage does the same thing. ProDad must do the same thing as Chuck posted.

[Bob]

The purpose of adding the blur is to mimic the look you get with film when you overexpose or shoot through some kind of diffuser. Film shot that way will get a glow or bloom to it where the highlights and/or shadows spread out into the surrounding image. This type of glow is often used in glamour/romantic shots -- all too often used with a far too heavy hand. When I use it, I prefer a subtle touch. The blur is added to the layer(s) with the blending mode. Applying it to the base layer will just make the image fuzzy.

As for the blending modes, Add and Screen increase the brightness of the image, especially in the highlights. And, Overlay and Soft Light increase contrast and apparent saturation and darken the shadows. Generally, if you use this technique, you would use both types of blend layers and adust the opacity of each to adjust to taste.

You can achieve a similar pop using other techniques including curves, Black Magic Looks (or Quick Looks), and other plugins.

[momoffduty]

It would be easy to overdo the effect. Have you noticed commercials are leaning towards the blown highlights lately or a soft haze look?

[Dave McElderry]

It would be easy to overdo the effect. Have you noticed commercials are leaning towards the blown highlights lately or a soft haze look?

I don't know that it's exactly what you're talking about, but there's a series of commercials by Brand Power and another by Medifacts that blow out the highlights in the fake product displays in the background. Hurts my sensibilities.