Film conversion software for the GH2. Does it work? You tell me :)
Invicem from Kristoffer Stranden on Vimeo.
Rubber Monkey Software have just released a fine new version of the FilmConvert digital emulsion emulation with support for the Panasonic GH2 sensor. On top you can watch the example video shot with the GH2. What do you think…are we really getting this “mythical” film-look?
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Meantime “price-cheaters” are pretty active on eBay (Click here). Selling the GH3 for much more than you can get in “ordinary” stores. Here are some more “normal” price in EU, US and Canada. Only exception may be UK where Panasonic set a high price:
12-35mm GH3 kit:
Wex UK, Wex DE, Photoexpress UK, FotoHansKeuzekamp (NL),
14-140mm GH3 kit:
Wex UK, Amazon UK, Photoexpress UK, Wex DE, Amazon FR,
Body only:
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Panasonic store, Samys, Henry, Vistek, Wex UK, FotoHansKeuzekamp (NL), Amazon FR, Webdistirbution FR,
Anonymous
6 months ago |I like the look. Nice short.
Dummy00001
6 months ago |> On top you can watch the example video shot with the GH2. What do you think…are we really getting this “mythical” film-look?
Oh please no! You mean now during playback I have to apply blur+noise filters also the the HD videos??
Most of the video the grain is pretty OK, but occasionally it is not very good and gets mangled by the MPEG compression artifacts. Plus, they should have run the video through the blur filter first: oldish videos are LD (low-definition), what causes less problems of the grain interfering with the details (because there should be no details smaller than the grain).
Duarte Bruno
6 months ago |The looks i great, but I wonder how close you could get to that with ColorGHear + an add Grain filter.
Paul Alexander
6 months ago |some grain a little out of focus and that’s supposed to be film conversion???\No Sorry.
P4INKiller
6 months ago |How about you actually read up on what FilmCovert does?
It’s not just a simple grain filter.
The grain is good, but you’re not supposed to crank it up and make it noticable.
What makes FilmConvert shine are the colors.
I gave it a try a few days ago.
There’s nothing mystical about it, everything that it does can be replicated with standard After Effects plugins.
But that’s not what you’re paying for, you’re paying for the film color experise that the team has incorporated into their plugin; you’re paying for it so you won’t have to waste your own time researching how certain film stocks are affected by light.
They have also put effort into looking at how certain sensors capture colors.
The film stock effects are applied differently depending on what camera your source footage originates from.
It’s not a substitute for actual color grading, but it’s a nice addition.
Does a good job of getting rid of sharp edges.
mike Fix
6 months ago |I usually use Magic Bullet.. But this looks interesting…
marsupial2go
6 months ago |I like it. Appropriate for the clip. I wouldn’t use it much, hence the price is above me. Maybe there’s a similar ‘scene’ option inside the GH3.
stravinsky
6 months ago |We need some new juicy rumors. GH3 Already here
Ray
6 months ago |I bought my GH3 three days ago from Henry’s in Canada. I called them to makse sure they had some in stock and they said they have plenty. Mine is on the way.
Anonymous
6 months ago |Does not do a thing for me, all I could see was a noisy jerky film clip, of very poor quality.
Ulli
6 months ago |one scene had a certain film look,but in general no because of the typical sharpness we have since the use of digital film.
Alfons
6 months ago |Tons of “grain” won’t do it. I liked the blues on that clip though.
serl
6 months ago |Your right, too mucha grain, i dont like it.
Mundstrøm
6 months ago |It looks pretty good I must say, but this just seems to boost saturation and contrast then add grain and then a sort of pulsing flickering dance of blotches – and too much grain at that. It looks wrong when it’s only visible in certain areas, though that may be a compression artifact. So to sum up my humble opinion: this looks OK but it’s not what it claims to be.
Stranden
6 months ago |Hi, I am the DP of the video. I must clarify one thing, the grain is not FilmConvert, it is rGrain, the colors however, that’s FilmConvert and IMO it did a pretty good job at getting the colors right.
As you may or may not know, rGrain is nothing but an overlay grain, and yes, it is exaggerated, I was not aiming to mimic 35mm and I needed it to survive Vimeo compression.
I have not choosen to blur the footage, although it may look so. The last shot is with a 7D + Rokinon/Zeiss lenses, so the resolution does not hold up well there. FilmConvert did not affect the sharpness in any of the previous clips. And last if it is of any use, mostly everything was shot with Apocalypse Now patch using a Nikkor-H (Nippon Kogaku) 50mm 1.4 and Voigtlander 25mm at around f1-2.
Thanks!
Christian G
6 months ago |Great work, Stranden! Looks fantastic, very Lynch-like and atmospheric
What is this clip for?
And how did you find such a great location? I need something like that for my next short film
Christian
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purecinema
http://www.youtube.com/user/kxstrough
Mundstrøm
6 months ago |Very well then – it’s no criticism of the actual film I really like it, visually right up my alley. As for the colorization I’m too distracted by the grain to decide if FilmConvert it works as advertised. Also, the general darkness of the film makes it hard to evaluate – it’s easiest with daylight shots to see how the effect renders colors, saturation, balance. So I won’t write off FilmConvert yet
Mike
6 months ago |I downloaded the stand alone trial of FilmConvert and tried it out on some of my old 60D footage. Turns out it won’t read GH2 footage straight from the camera, I would have to convert it first. For $200 I expect the software to read the MTS files directy.
The effect was cool buut novel. In many other examples I’ve seen it just looks like grain, blur and desaturation were added. Half of which could be done with your regular old NLE. Not at all worth $200 in my opinion. If this were a $20-$30 plugin I would definitely spring for it just because of the ease of use and the fun concept of dropping film stocks on my video files. But it feels like an iPad app or some other Instagram-filterly-gimmicky thing. It’s not something I would use on every project or even most if any paid projects. Just like I don’t use Instagram to shoot most of my photos on my phone. But I also wouldn’t pay $50 for Instagram for when I wanted to have those filtered effects.
So for me it’s not so much what you’re getting, it’s what you’re paying for it that is the problem. Because at best it’s nifty and novel. So I expect to pay a novelty item price, not a professional price.