Using Nattress Film Effects

[Graeme Nattress]

I find that the 3way CC is a great tool for correcting colour imbalance, bad white balance etc., but it’s not that fun to use for “creative” effects. If the footage is balanced ok, I tend to just jump straight into Film Effects.

The curves controls in Film Effects are pretty comprehensive, and you can do CC with them, but they’re really for creative effects. So, if you’re needing to do CC first, this is what filters I apply and in what order:

G Film (for the 24p Effect, best if it comes first for render times etc.)
3 Way CC
G Film Plus RT (or one of the presets in RT, or with the frame rate conversion turned off)

Hope that helps,

Graeme

– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP

[Renny Mccauley]

Graeme:

Thanks for the quick response. I like that you suggested this way. It’s a very logical workflow.

Say I use your method of G-Film, then CC, then I apply the “Basic” preset with frame adjustment turned off. When I apply this, though, to a color-corrected clip, my whites get blown out past 100 IRE. Should I then lower White Output under Curves to compensate for this? In other words, is lowering the white output the same as the whites slider in CC?

Thanks,
Renny

[Arnie Schlissel]

Renny, remove the 3-way CC filter altogether from that clip. Use the curves in Graeme’s filter to do your cc. If the whites are still too hot, use the Proc Amp filter to bring them down (adjust the Video slider on the Proc Amp). I like to put the proc amp after the Film filter, but try it both ways to see if there’s any difference.

Arnie
https://www.arniepix.com

[Graeme Nattress]

Lowering white output in the curves section should stop whites from blowing out. I’d use that in preference to the proc amp plugin myself.

Or, I’d use the levels plugins in Set 1.

Graeme

– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP

[Renny Mccauley]

Graeme and Arnie:

Thanks for the responses. It does seem like the proc amp is doing pretty much the same thing to the image as lowering the white output. Color correcting on the Nattress filter is not nearly as intuitive as using the three way CC, but I can see the advantage of doing so. These suggestions are giving me a lot to experiment with.

One thing I’m loving about the Nattress filter is that it can really bring dark footage back to life. I just bump the white curve up to about 30 and keep the black at around 0 to -5 and I get a really cool look from high-gain dark footage. Very gritty and film-like.

Renny