The Film Grain operator adds realistic analog film grain texture to your footage. It simulates the photographic grain caused by silver halide crystals in traditional film emulsions, adding organic texture and a cinematic quality to digital video.
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Overview
Film grain consists of two components:
- Luminance grain - Brightness variations that affect all color channels equally (monochromatic)
- Chroma grain - Color variations where each RGB channel has independent noise (colored speckles)
Real film typically has more luminance grain than chroma grain, and grain visibility varies based on the brightness of the image.
Quick Start
- Add the Film Grain operator to your composition (found in Special Effects)
- Adjust Amount to set the overall grain intensity (try 15-30% for subtle, 40-60% for prominent)
- Adjust Size to match your desired film stock look (lower = fine grain like ISO 100, higher = coarse grain like ISO 1600+)
Settings
Grain
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Amount (%) | Overall grain intensity. 0% = no grain, 100% = maximum grain. Start with 20-30% for a subtle effect. |
| Size | Grain particle size. 10 = very fine grain (like ISO 100 film), 100 = coarse grain (like high ISO film or 16mm). |
| Softness (%) | How blurred the grain edges are. 0% = sharp/harsh grain, 100% = very soft/diffused grain. Try 20-40% for natural film look. |
Type
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Luminance (%) | Amount of monochromatic (brightness-only) grain. This is the primary component of film grain. Default: 80% |
| Chroma (%) | Amount of color grain (different noise per RGB channel). Creates colored speckles. Default: 20% |
| Chroma saturation (%) | How colorful the chroma grain appears. 100% = normal, 200% = very colorful. Higher values create more obvious color artifacts. |
Tonal Response (Advanced)
These settings control how grain varies across different brightness levels in your image.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Midpoint (%) | The brightness level where grain is at full intensity. Default: 50% (middle gray). |
| Shadow protection (%) | Reduces grain in dark areas. Real film shows less visible grain in shadows. Default: 30% |
| Highlight protection (%) | Reduces grain in bright areas. Set higher to protect highlights from grain. Default: 0% |
Blend (Advanced)
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Blend mode | How grain is combined with the image. See Blend Modes below. |
Blend Modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Overlay | Natural film-like blend. Grain affects midtones most, protects shadows and highlights somewhat. Recommended for most uses. |
| Soft Light | Subtle, gentle blend. Less aggressive than Overlay. Good for delicate footage. |
| Add | Direct additive grain. Brightens the image. Can look harsh but useful for specific effects. |
| Linear | Simple linear blend. Straightforward grain addition/subtraction. |
Animation
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Animated | When enabled, grain pattern changes each frame (dancing grain). When disabled, grain is static. |
| Seed | Random seed for the grain pattern. Same seed produces identical grain, useful for reproducibility. |
| Randomize | Button to generate a new random seed. |
Per-Channel (Advanced)
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Red amount (%) | Grain intensity in the red channel. 100% = normal. |
| Green amount (%) | Grain intensity in the green channel. 100% = normal. |
| Blue amount (%) | Grain intensity in the blue channel. 100% = normal. |
Use these to simulate different film stocks. For example, some films have more grain in the blue channel.
Debug
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Show grain only | Displays only the grain pattern on a gray background. Useful for seeing exactly what grain is being applied. |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| F1 | Toggle Animated on/off |
| F2 | Cycle through blend modes |
| F3 | Toggle Show grain only |
| F4 | Randomize seed |
Film Stock Presets
Here are starting points for emulating different film looks:
35mm Fine Grain (ISO 50-100)
- Amount: 15%
- Size: 15
- Softness: 40%
- Luminance: 90%
- Chroma: 10%
35mm Standard (ISO 200-400)
- Amount: 25%
- Size: 25
- Softness: 30%
- Luminance: 80%
- Chroma: 20%
35mm High Speed (ISO 800-1600)
- Amount: 40%
- Size: 40
- Softness: 20%
- Luminance: 75%
- Chroma: 25%
16mm Film
- Amount: 50%
- Size: 60
- Softness: 25%
- Luminance: 70%
- Chroma: 30%
Super 8 / Vintage
- Amount: 65%
- Size: 80
- Softness: 15%
- Luminance: 65%
- Chroma: 35%
Digital Camera Noise
- Amount: 30%
- Size: 10
- Softness: 0%
- Luminance: 50%
- Chroma: 50%
- Chroma saturation: 150%
Tips for Best Results
Natural Film Look
-
Keep chroma lower than luminance - Real film grain is primarily monochromatic. A ratio of 80% luminance to 20% chroma is a good starting point.
-
Use shadow protection - Film grain is less visible in shadows due to how film responds to light. Set Shadow protection to 20-40%.
-
Match grain size to format - Larger film formats (35mm) have finer grain relative to frame size than smaller formats (16mm, Super 8).
-
Enable animation - Static grain looks unnatural. Always animate grain for video.
-
Use Overlay blend mode - This provides the most film-like grain interaction with the image.
Performance
-
Softness affects performance - Higher softness values require more computation. For real-time playback, keep softness moderate.
-
Amount zero = bypass - When Amount is 0%, the filter is completely bypassed for maximum performance.
Common Issues
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Grain looks too digital/harsh | Increase Softness, reduce Chroma amount |
| Grain not visible enough | Increase Amount, try Add or Linear blend mode |
| Grain too colorful | Reduce Chroma amount and/or Chroma saturation |
| Grain visible in blacks | Increase Shadow protection |
| Grain in highlights looks bad | Increase Highlight protection |
| Grain pattern is static | Enable Animated option |
| Want same grain every time | Disable Animated and set a specific Seed |
Technical Notes
- Grain is generated using a fast GPU-based hash function for high-quality pseudo-random noise
- The grain pattern is deterministic based on the seed and frame number, allowing for reproducible results
- Grain size is achieved by sampling the noise function at different scales with bilinear interpolation
- Softness is implemented using a 5-tap blur filter on the noise values