4 Great Ways to Get the Look of Film in Your Digital Darkroom

A lot of us still shoot film for love and for fun. I’m often dragging around my Polaroid 600, my Hassie 500cm, some Lomo stuff (or这些其他胶片相机)… but it’s next to impossible to have clients get fired up to shoot film in a professionals setting. They wanna see their picture NOW. Well, if you’ve ever been in a pickle over how to get the speed of digital with the look of film, join the crowd. In my studio we use a lot of digital tools to get this look and it seems there ar always new software toys emerging for this very job… But since I’m out on assignment now, I can’t think of a better guy to walk you through a handful of the very best options than my pal Sohail. And no doubt you all will have some other tricks not covered here to add…

谢谢追逐。As the man said, the “look” of film isn’t something we are willing to part with….(and we’re not talking the vintage filters on your iphone or droid..) Some of this comes from an old-school love of grain; some of it has to do with the fact that we just love the way film renders tonality and color. We can all love digital photography just as much, however, so finding a happy medium is the task of this post. I’ll run you through the faves and you can decide for yourself what might suit you well…

在过去的一年左右，我通过我的工作流程循环各种插件和应用程序，试图找到将响应曲线和旧电影的旧电影的右加载作用回到数字图像中。我发现了四种选择。

地面规则

我决定我希望像Ilford HP5或Kodak Portra这样的“真实”乳液的外观和感觉。Although I’ve liked the look and feel of “vintage” filters that mimic (but not truly reproduce or emulate) old films, I made the conscious decision to seek apps and add-ons that seek to reproduce the look of black-and-white, color negative, slide, and instant film emulsions produced currently and in the past. There are a number of apps today that can apply that vintage look, but that, to me, is not the same as truly emulating film.

应用程序

With that simple ground rule in place, I settled on four apps to look over. These aren’t by ANY MEANS all the apps out there that allow you to emulate film, but they are the four that do offer both color and B&W film emulation. They are:

• Nik Collection by Google
• 外星皮肤曝光
• DXO Filmpack.
• VSCO Film

Nik Collection by Google

直到最近，来自NIK软件，Color EFEX PRO 4和Silver Efex Pro 2的两个插件均可作为个别下载，每个下载约99美元。在谷歌购买本公司之后，整个套房现在可以使用149美元，这使得这一系列成为“爆炸”类别中最好的一个。FWIW，这是一个追逐在他的工作室初步使用。

彩色EFEX PRO 4具有许多薄膜效果，从上述“复古”效果不似乎不符合任何特定的电影库存，以基于非常好的现代彩色胶片列表来效果。

From slide films like Velvia to modern negative stock like Portra, Color Efex Pro 4 is a first-rate one-stop-shop for the most popular emulsions out there.

Silver Efex brings a similar range of choices for B&W images. Some of my favorite films are represented here; Ilford Delta 100 and 400, Fuji Acros 100, and Kodak Tri-X. The interface is somewhat similar to that of Color Efex Pro, and is pretty simple to use.

Silver和Color EFEX还包括NIK的独特控制点技术，这使您可以在不必处理Photoshop中处理掩码和选择的情况下进行一些非常复杂的选择性调整。此外，Silver Efex Pro还为您提供了一系列彩色过滤器，可用于调整B＆W图像中的音调。例如，红色过滤器可以使蓝天变暗，而绿色过滤器将淡化绿色，帮助将花从灌木丛中分开。

NIK系列（包括银色和彩色EFEX）is available now for $149。

外星皮肤曝光

Alien Skin’s Exposure plugin for Lightroom isn’t just a film effects plugin; it also places a number of powerful exposure controls at your disposal. It gives you very specific control over elements like film grain, aging, and vignetting, in addition to letting you adjust the tone curve of your images.

界面非常简单，功能很快。很少考虑似乎已经陷入了“漂亮”;相反，它使用最简单的接口元素。大多数研究该应用程序似乎已经进入了“引擎盖下”区域而不是窗户铬。

这是一件好事。该应用程序合理快速，应用效果和保存文件非常快。最后一项可能看起来像一件小事，但是当你节省100MB + .tiff文件时，额外的几秒钟很好。

对于那些不寻找胶片的人，曝光也提供了许多其他预设和箱体的影响。但是，对他们来说是一个重大的叮当声：他们没有制作他们的插件的光圈版本。光圈用户必须通过Photoshop舍入他们的图像来利用曝光。

外星皮肤曝光is available now for $199。

DXO Filmpack.

DXO的Filmpack可以作为DXO Optics Pro的独立插件或作为DXO Optics Pro的一部分提供，这是各种图像工具的集合，从锐化和去噪到透视和去噪。

There’a decent number of films represented here, from slide films like Velvia to black-and-white emulsions like Ilford Pan F 50. They also pack in refinement tools to adjust elements like HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance), noise, and film grain.

该界面非常简单，设计精心。你选择电影，让你更深刻的调整，然后关闭它。DXO安装两个版本的插件，32位和64位版本，因此如果您在旧版Lightroom，您仍然可以返回并使用32位版本。

Filmpack itself also has two tiers, “Essential” and “Expert.” They’re priced at $49 and $99, respectively, and the “Expert” version, in addition to having certain emulsions that the “Essential” version doesn’t, also has a few features like batch processing and noise reduction.

DXO Filmpack.isavailable for $49 (“Essential”) and $99 (“Expert”)。

VSCO Film

VSCO is perhaps the most unique of the plugins I worked with. Available for Lightroom, Camera RAW or Aperture (I tested the Lightroom version), the plugin is implemented in Lightroom as a collection of presets and camera profiles, all of which can be accessed without ever leaving Lightroom.

There are currently three collections available; 01, 02, and 03. Each adds a number of specific films to the roster of available emulsions, building on the previous version. Every film is made available in four presets. There is a normal version that is, according to VSCO, the most faithful representation of what that particular film would look like for the image you’re working on, a “-“ version that tones the effect down somewhat, a “+” version that ratchets the effect up, and a “++” version that pushes it even further.

Each of the three packs is sold separately, and is priced at $119, making VSCO’s collection the most expensive of the lot here. VSCO does offer a loyalty discount, so if you buy one of the packs, the others are available for a discount, bringing the price for all three packs under $300.

It should be noted that the real strength of VSCO is, in my opinion, their combination of both camera profiles and presets. They currently have Canon and Nikon camera profiles for all three packs, and in something of a first, they also have Fuji presets for 01 and 03. A Fuji preset for 02 is apparently in the works.

您肯定可以将通用的“标准”预设应用于其他相机上的图像，而且它们仍然做一个整洁的工作，但效果不会像你想要仿真的原始电影一样忠实。在我的快速测试中，用索尼A99拍摄的原始图像仍然看起来很漂亮。

Aperture users, take note that the camera profiles feature in VSCO Film isn’t available to you. Aperture doesn’t support that feature, so that isn’t VSCO’s fault, and the plugin for Aperture is priced at $79 to reflect that loss in functionality.

VSCO Filmis available now for $119 per pack。

结果

我曾在多个图像在过去几个月s, from portraits to landscapes, and came away with some pretty clear ideas and opinions on the strengths and weakness of each plugin. The thing to remember is that these are just that — ideas and opinions. I’m applying my subjective judgement to these images, and that should be taken into account when you make your own choices.

That said, let’s have a look at what I found.

最初，我考虑根据标准判断它们，例如易于使用，速度，功能和最终产品。opebet体育赛事

Ease of use

在几个星期后使用了所有四个应用程序后，第一个标准几乎落在了路边，因为所有四个都非常简单使用。然而，出现了一些因素，值得一提。

NIK系列也许是唯一一个有一点学习曲线的人。这是直接由于其控制点技术，除非您想要调整图像的特定部分，否则您不必使用 - 如果您这样做，则学习曲线绝对值得。

VSCO was the other one that has a learning curve, but again, only for a specific reason. If you do things like retouching skin in Photoshop,您需要使用解决方法to avoid smearing the grain pattern and messing with the other settings for your images.

Speed

Hands-down, VSCO was the fastest of the lot. Since you never leave Lightroom, there’s no round-tripping of images through an external program. Even better is the fact that the presets render lightning fast, and you can reset them with just a click.

Alien Skin’s Exposure was the other app that did a pretty decent job of round-tripping images from and to Lightroom. While it’s not orders of magnitude faster than its competitors, as I mentioned, the few extra seconds you eke out while working with 100MB+ .tiff files is kind of nice.

Features

如果您正在寻找一个具有一些相当先进的电影效果的插件，并且有很好的选择乳液来选择，你就不会出现问题谷歌的NIK系列。

在真正令人敬畏的控制点技术与威斯维亚等流行电影的集合之间，像acros这样的个人最爱，Nik收集将其从公园中敲门出来的“包装了一堆特色”类别。整个人数为149美元，这也是“轰击你的巴克”部分中的明确获胜者。

Lest you think it’s the clear overall winner in this criteria, however, let me throw a twist at you. VSCO has what I believe to be two truly killer features: its edits are non-destructive, and it actually takes your specific camera model’s output into consideration when applying its edits (as long as you shoot Canon, Nikon, or Fuji).

所有其他应用输出TIFF文件。这很好;当您从Lightroom到IT返回时，Photoshop与往返文件一样。您输掉的是有能力微调插件在将完成的文件导出回lightoom后的更改后的更改。

Since you never leave Lightroom, and are working on the original RAW file, VSCO’s edits are easy to roll back the edits – just select the “RESET VSCO FILM” preset in Lightroom and you’re back to your starting point. You can also adjust the preset’s effects at any time simply by moving the sliders in Lightroom or Camera RAW around to get your final look.

So, to me, this criteria has a two-way tie between Nik and VSCO.

Final Product

这是审查的肉。长篇小说是下面，但短篇小说是这样：对于我的使用，它是VSCO电影和NIK系列之间的第一名的双向领带。

Let’s dive in a bit more.

在下面的图像中，我在每个应用程序/插件中使用了电影预设，在插件本身中没有额外的调整。事先在Lightroom进行任何调整。全球调整仅限于白平衡和曝光，并且有一些局部调整，如避免，燃烧和皮肤平滑。也显示了每个案例中的原始图像。

在下面的每个图像比较中，原始起始图像显示在左上角。从那里顺时针方向，我们拥有VSCO薄膜，NIK集合，外星皮肤曝光和DXO Filmpack的调整后的图像。

Let’s start with B&W. I chose a film that all four apps had in common, Ilford HP5. The subject is the wetlands in the Alviso area of the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge.

从尾部顺时针方向，我们将原始DNG与曝光和白平衡的基本Lightroom编辑，其次是VSCO电影，NIK系列，外星皮肤曝光和DXO Filmpack。

What struck me here was how similar Nik and VSCO’s output was. VSCO laid the grain down a bit more evenly, while Nik Silver Efex was more selective about it. Silver Efex, on the other hand, crushed a little of the detail in some midtones and highlights.

Alien Skin’s Exposure, on the other hand, tended to underexpose the sky, and lay down far less grain than either VSCO or Silver Efex for this film emulsion. It did, however, do a great job of holding detail throughout the frame.

真正的惊喜在这里是DxO Filmpack。的output is nothing like that of the other three apps; in fact, I re-ran the original file through Filmpack again just to be sure, and the results were replicated exactly. DxO’s output looks almost washed out in comparison, with far less contrast than I remember seeing in images taken with actual HP5 film. The grain pattern is weak as well, which is odd considering that HP5 usually has some pretty good contrast with decent grain.

The color images showed a similar disparity in final results as well. I chose a portrait for the this round of images, and picked an image I’d made of my friend Alexandria (anawesome photographer in her own right）。图像已经经历了一点在Lightroom修饰，但亚历克斯有非常完美的皮肤，所以我不需要通过Photoshop往返它。

我选择的电影是柯达Portra NC。Portra最初有两种口味，NC和VC，但两条线组合成一个单象Portra乳液一段时间。Portra NC也是所有四个应用程序的常见电影之一，所以我通过标准版本使用它。

Once again, clockwise from top left, we have the pre-film-effect Lightroom version, followed by VSCO, Nik Color Efex, Alien Skin Exposure, and DxO Filmpack.

在这里，尼克彩色efex和外星人皮肤似乎是两个最接近的，但两者看起来有点冲出。我几乎就像那种效果，但VSCO的渲染看起来更加自然。彩色EFEX和曝光在突出区域中确实减少了细节，而VSCO则设法妥善保留它们。

DXO再次让我失望了。他们认为，他们的渲染是过度饱满的红色偏向。事实上，如果你朝着亚历克斯脖子的基地，它几乎看起来像是脸红了。DXO在某些区域中也减少了对比度，并比任何其他应用程序奠定了较重的晶粒样式。

So who’s the clear winner for the “Final Product” criteria? I’d say it’s a tie between VSCO and the Nik Collection.

Conclusion

如前所述,这个测试了两个way tie for first place between VSCO Film and the Nik Collection by Google. but thing is that there is no real way to quantify a choice when it comes to applications like these.

最终产品和特色是我最opebet体育赛事重要的事情，并且在这两个类别中，我想出了VSCO和NIK系列之间的领带。我希望VSCO在他们的包装中有一些滑块;这是一个明显的遗漏，但那么缺乏来自彩色EFEX的“真实”即时薄膜乳液。NIK系列具有令人敬畏的控制点技术，但您可以将VSCO的效果应用于Lightroom中的视频。

In an ideal world, I’d tell you all to go buy both, but that’d run you upwards of $450. Instead, I’d say this – you can’t truly go wrong with either. Look at the samples here and elsewhere on the interwebs, and decide for yourself.