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Dehancer Ae/Pr video plugin

Quick Guide
2023-02-13
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Contents

Contents 3
Installation, configuration, and first launch 4
Color Settings [Ae, Pr] 5
Performance tips and realtime playback 8
Preview and Rendering quality settings [Pr] 10
Adding Dehancer to the Project [Ae] 12
Adding Dehancer to the Project [Pr] 13
Applying Dehancer to multiple clips at once 14
Dehancer plugin in the FX chain 18
Input source, camera profiles 19
Input corrections 21
Film Profiles, Push/Pull 22
Film Developer 23
Film Compression 25
Expand 27
Print Medium 28
Print Settings 29
CMY Color Head and Print Toning 31
Film Grain 33
Halation 35
Bloom 38
Vignette 40
Film Breath 41
Gate Weave 42
Monitor 44
Output 45
LUT Generator 46
Options 47
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Installation, configuration, and first launch

The installation, initial configuration and activation of the plugin is  described
in the Quick Setup Guide, which is also included with the installation package.
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Color Settings [Ae, Pr]

Correct colour settings for your Project / Sequence are important, as Dehancer
can handle a specific set of colour spaces and gammas at Input.

Although Premiere Pro and After Effects do not offer such a wide range of color
pipelines, please check these settings:

Project Settings [Ae]

1. Open After Effects menu, File → Project Settings…

2. Select Depth: 16 bits per channel to get better gradations

and less artifacts.

3. Select Assume Working Gamma: 2.4 (Rec. 709) as the standard

for SDR grading.
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Sequence Settings [Pr]

1. Open Premiere Pro menu, Sequence → Sequence Settings…

2. Select Video / Working Color Space: Rec. 709 as this is the basic standard
for SDR grading using Dehancer.

3. How to get better rendering and preview quality in Premiere Pro

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Dehancer Input Settings

Usually, Dehancer Input should match your Project / Sequence color space
and gamma.

In the Ae/Pr workflow, it would be either the Rec. 709 (normal contrast source)
or the Choose Camera (Log footage).

Source interpretation is covered deeper in this chapter:

Input Source, Camera Profiles.
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Performance tips and realtime playback

Dehancer is a complex software with sophisticated algorithms.

We are constantly improving the performance, but the high-quality
film simulation still requires top hardware to run smooth.

We cannot fully guarantee realtime playback because it depends on many

factors, including hardware, operating system, video drivers, host application
version, plugin version, FX chain and video dimensions. However, there are
options to improve the Preview performance up to the realtime experience.

Common tips:

1. Turn off some GPU-critical Dehancer tools at different stages of color

grading. For  example, Grain and Halation may be enabled at the final stage
of video processing, since they consume a lot of processing power.

2. Turn off other consuming FX in the chain, like noise reduction.

3. Convert the original video to a format that is easier to decode, for example,
DNxHR or Apple ProRes, which is processed with a dedicated hardware codec
on modern Apple computers and creates almost no additional processing load.

4. Apply Dehancer to the Adjustment Layer or Nested Sequence,

instead  of  individual clips. In  the  latter case, multiple plugin instances
are loaded, each of them consuming additional resources.

5. Close unnecessary applications that may consume memory and actively use
the processor in the background.

[Ae]

1. Disable Frame Blending and Motion Blur

in the Composition settings.

2. In the Project Settings disable Depth: 16 bits

per channel. Notice that video quality may
suffer with this setting.

3. Set the Preview Resolution to Half and lower.

4. Pre-render your Composition containing heavy

VFX and composing before applying Dehancer.
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[Pr]

1. Disable the Maximum Bit Depth and the Maximum Render Quality
checkboxes in the Sequence Settings. Notice that video quality may suffer with
this setting.

2. Set the Playback Resolution of the video preview to 1/2 and lower.

Also it is convenient to set the Paused Resolution to Full, while keeping

the Playback Resolution lowered.

Dehancer plugin settings

While Film profiles and Print tools don’t stress the hardware, other Dehancer FX,
like Film Grain and Halation, require lots of processing power to run in realtime.

Then, as said, it is logical to temporary disable heavy Dehancer tools if you need
realtime.

Also you can set the Film Grain → Mode to Digital (exp.) for non-critical or low
resolution output. This is a simplified grain generator that speeds-up
the playback.
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Preview and Rendering quality settings [Pr]

When using Dehancer and other plugins with Adobe Premiere Pro, the Preview
and the rendered footage may suffer from posterisation artifacts.
This is caused by insufficient bit depth.

Maximum Preview quality:

1. In the Premiere menu select Sequence → Sequence Settings.

2. In the Video Previews section enable the Maximum Bit Depth checkbox.
3. Optionally you can enable the Maximum Render Quality checkbox.
4. Then you will get the warning alert, which in most cases can be ignored.
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Maximum Render quality:

1. Go to the Export tab.

2. In the Video / Basic Video Settings enable the Render at Maximum Depth
checkbox.
3. Optionally you can enable the Use Maximum Render Quality checkbox.

Note: These settings may significantly affect the plugin performance

and memory requirements.
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Adding Dehancer to the Project [Ae]

1. After the plugin installation, restart After Effects if it was already running.

2. Open a Project.

3. Open the Effects & Presets panel (or press Cmd + 5).

4. In the Effects & Presets tab, open the Film Emulation group and find
Dehancer.

5. Select a clip on the timeline, then drag and drop Dehancer to  the clip.
Also, you can double-click the effect to apply it to the selected clip.

Tip:
In the same way, Dehancer can be applied not only to the individual clips,
but  also to the  Adjustment Layers, thus allowing to grade the entire
timeline with a single Dehancer instance.
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Adding Dehancer to the Project [Pr]

1. After the plugin installation, restart Premiere Pro if it was already running.

2. Open a Project.

3. Open the Effects panel (or press Shift + 7).

4. In the Effects tab, open the Video Effects / Film Emulation group and find
Dehancer.

5. Select a clip on the timeline, then drag and drop Dehancer to  the clip.
Also, you can double-click the effect to apply it to the selected clip.

Tip:
In the same way, Dehancer can be applied not only to the individual clips,
but  also to the  Adjustment Layers, thus allowing to grade the entire
timeline with a single Dehancer instance.
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Applying Dehancer to multiple clips at once

There are several methods to add Dehancer to multiple clips at once, and there
is also a Copy/Paste functionality for effects, + custom presets.

Copy and Paste the effect [Ae, Pr]

You can configure Dehancer on a single clip, then copy and paste the effect to
the rest of your sequence.

Use the Copy and Paste context menu in the Effect Controls panel.

Copy and Paste Clip Attributes [Pr]

1. Select a clip.

2. Use the Copy and Paste context menu to copy the clip and its attributes.
Also you can press Cmd + C (Ctrl + C)
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3. Select another clip(s).

4. Select Paste Attributes in the context menu or press  Option  +  Cmd  +  V

(Alt + Ctrl + V).

Tip:
Don’t forget to revise Dehancer settings to compensate for possible
difference between the clips.
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Adjustment Layer [Ae]

1. In the After Effects menu select Layer → New → Adjustment Layer.

2. Set the length of the Adjustment Layer to match your Composition.

3. Apply Dehancer to the Adjustment Layer, as if it were an ordinary Layer

or Clip. All the Layers below will be affected.

Adjustment Layer [Pr]

1. Select the Project panel.

2. In the Premiere Pro menu select File → New → Adjustment Layer.

3. Drag and drop the Adjustment Layer from the Project panel to the
Timeline, just above the clips that should be impacted.

4. Adjust the length of the Adjustment Layer to match your video.

5. Apply Dehancer to the Adjustment Layer, as if it were an ordinary video

footage. All the clips below will be affected.
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Nested Sequence [Pr]

1. Select multiple clips on the timeline.

2. In the clip right mouse button menu select Nest… and confirm.

3. All clips will be combined in a single Nested Sequence.

4. Apply Dehancer or any other correction or FX to this new clip,

as if it were an ordinary video footage. All clips inside will be affected.

Effect Presets [Pr]

Premiere Pro lets you save current FX parameters as a Preset, which can be
applied to any clip within the current or any other project.

1. Right click on the Dehancer FX in Effect Controls panel

2. Select Save Preset…

3. New Preset will appear in the Effects panel → Presets folder.

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Dehancer plugin in the FX chain

Normally Dehancer plugin should be placed in the end of  the  processing
sequence, e.g., at the bottom of the effects stack.

Other additional correction (Lumetri Color, Color  Wheels, Levels, Curves,  etc)
can be added before Dehancer.

Some specific effects not related to color correction may be placed

after Dehancer (for example, mastering Sharpen).

To better understand the workflow integration principles treat Dehancer

as a virtual film on which you are shooting an already prepared and properly lit
scene. This makes it easier to figure out why all basic corrections and masks
should be applied before Dehancer or in the Input section of the plugin.

Typical effects sequence:

(Lumetri Color) → Primary Corrections → Composing → Dehancer  → (Sharpen)

Tip 1: Apply Dehancer as an Adjustment Layer to get complete

and  seamless film look if you are using transitions, titles, composing
and VFX.

Tip 2: If your source requires noise reduction or any other heavy

preprocessing, we  recommend to perform it prior to the grading stage,
then render your clip to ProRes and use this clip as a new source.
Thus you will significantly reduce the computational load, allowing you
to use Dehancer with better preview performance.
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Input source, camera profiles

If your source clip has been shot in Rec.709 color space, it already has
the  ‘normal’ contrast and do not require any transformation. It’s just enough
to select the Rec.709 option in the Source settings of the plugin.

However, professional production is usually based upon shooting in different

types of Log Gamma, which gives you a greater dynamic range and  more
flexibility in postprocessing but requires a thoughtful interpretation.

There are several ways to do the Log to Rec.709 transformation:

- Input camera profiles in Dehancer

- Built-in LUTs in Lumetri Color
- Camera vendor and custom LUTs
- Manual de-Log with color correction tools
- Third-party plugins for camera matching (Film Convert, etc.)

Each method has its own benefits and drawbacks. You can choose and adjust
your interpretation, according to  the  characteristics of the particular clip
or movie concept.

The proper Dehancer Input settings are crucial for both the source
interpretation and the timeline integration of the plugin.

Source

The Source parameter should either match your project/sequence color space
or a particular clip:

Clips with normal contrast (including HLG, all kinds of ‘Flat’ profiles, etc.)

Select the Rec.709 Input option.

Clips with Log gamma

Option 1: De-Log with any convenient tools (Lumetri Color, factory and
custom LUTs, manual correction) and select the Rec.709 Input option
in Dehancer.

Option 2: Use the Dehancer built-in camera profiles (as described below).
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Choose Camera

The Choose Camera option allows you to select from the range of high quality
custom camera profiles built by the Dehancer team.

Dehancer camera profiles can only be applied correctly if all of the following
conditions are met:

1. The source clip has been captured in Log format.

2. Project / Sequence is set to Rec. 709.

3. All other color conversions are turned off in the processing chain before
Dehancer.

Notice:
Camera profiles are custom made to meet our high aesthetic standards
instead of just technically matching. Therefore, our profiles may and will
differ from the factory-made or built-in LUTs and camera profiles.

→ Related articles:
How to manage image contrast and avoid clipping
Complete list of Dehancer camera profiles
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Input corrections

Input corrections are meant to quickly compensate for obvious technical issues
of a source material.

Exposure Comp.

This setting can be used to  compensate for the exposure errors of the source
media.

Unlike the Exposure setting in Print tool, this is a technical correction

of  the  original image before any Dehancer effects are applied. Conversely,
Print Exposure is rather a creative setting, the results of which largely depend on
the selected profile, print media, and other settings within the plugin.

Exposure Compensation is technically applied with the source color conversion.

Therefore  it may produce better results than adjusting exposure with
conventional tools. The  only  exception is RAW video, for which it is better
to apply exposure compensation in the corresponding RAW plugin (if available).

Temperature Comp., Tint Comp.

These settings technically work in a similar manner but  in  relation

to the temperature and tint of the source.

Defringe

Defringe helps to deal with the chromatic aberrations visible at the edges
that  may interfere with some of the Dehancer effects, such as Halation
and  Bloom. In  Dehancer Pro, Defringe settings are  located in  the Input
parameters group. In  the Dehancer Halation plugin, they  are  located
in a dedicated group.

Tip 1: Temperature and Tint compensation are better suited for strong
deviations of  a source, while Color Head is designed mostly for  creative
application and more subtle adjustments.

Tip 2: In some particular cases Defringe may lead to visible halos around
the edges in combination with the Bloom or Halation effects. Lowering
 the Defringe amount and radius settings helps to deal with this issue.
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Film Profiles, Push/Pull

Film Profiles are heart and soul of Dehancer. Each film is accurately sampled
with all of its characteristics. If you are ready to bet on years of film experience –
then you can simply scroll and try film profiles in the list until you get the most
interesting or desired results.

Push/Pull (Ev)

All films behave differently depending on how much light they received during
exposure. In Dehancer film exposure is implemented with the Push/Pull (Ev)
parameter. In  fact  there are 3 different film exposures sampled to build each
film profile in Dehancer.

As a creative tool Push/Pull allows you to vary color-contrast look of a scene

within a  selected film profile. Also, Push/Pull can be a good helper in clipping
control, since contrast greatly depends on film exposure. With negative films it
affects overall color and contrast. With positive films Push/Pull allows to set the
desired slide exposure, opening blocked shadows or protecting blown-out
highlights.

Tip: We optically print negative B&W fi lms on the famous

Slavich  Bromportrait paper known for its noble warm tone. If you need
a  pure black and white look, you may set the Saturation = 0
in the Print section at any time. Also you can try CMY Color Head and Print
Toning parameters to adjust tint and split-toning at your taste.

→ Related articles:
How we build film profiles
What is Push/Pull and how it works?
Modern motion picture color negative films
Complete list of Dehancer film profiles
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Film Developer

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

The conventional analogue approach makes it possible to process film

by  individually configuring the formula of the developer solution
and  the  development process. Film Developer tool allows to make your own
development recipe depending on the source material, shooting conditions and
creative tasks.

Contrast Boost

This parameter controls the developer contrast. In analogue processes,

development contrast is determined by developer temperature
and  concentration. In Dehancer this parameter can take both positive values
(contrast increases) and negative values (contrast decreases).

Gamma Correction

In film processing gamma correction controls the contrast ratio of a negative,

in  relation to the exposure time. This parameter determines how much
the  midtones are shifted towards shadows or highlights. Gamma correction
is possible with any Contrast Boost value other than zero.

Color Separation

The color separation of the negative film is determined by the color filters in the
emulsion layers, the sensitisation of each layer and their order. In Dehancer
you  can control the ‘chemical component’ of the developer, which affects
the sensitisation of the emulsion layers.

When Color Separation value is reduced, saturation of the most intense colors
is  reduced first, while medium and low saturation colors remain almost
unaffected.

By default, the Color Separation setting has a maximum value of +100. It affects
the image at any Contrast Boost value other than zero.
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Color Boost

Some color development processes allow saturation to be controlled

by  the  properties of the dyes that are introduced into the emulsion
at  the  development stage. In Dehancer, this feature is implemented
in  the  Color  Boost parameter, which increases or decreases the overall
saturation of the image (not only the most saturated colors, as with
Color Separation). This type of color enhancement is gentle and does not lead to
clipping, i.e. all colors remain inside the color gamut.

Practical tasks that can be solved with Film Developer:

- Grading a source with an unknown gamma, contrast and color,

for example, a Flat or Log video footage from an unknown camera.

- Working with a non-standardised videos, for example, the D-Cinelike that

looks different on different DJI drones, depending on the specific camera
and exposure conditions.

- Dealing with a camera that doesn’t have a dedicated profile in Dehancer.

- Making additional adjustments to the interpretation of the source

material.

- Adjusting the excessive or insufficient contrast, which you want

to normalise and make more flexible for further processing.

- Increasing the overall saturation, while avoiding oversaturation and color

clipping where possible.

→ Related article:
Film Developer – a new Dehancer tool
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Film Compression

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

Usually on a negative film, clipping in  the  highlights occurs much later than
on a digital camera.

To  emulate the  film-like compressed tonal range, we  invented

the  Film  Compression tool. It lets you fine-tune the  redistribution
of the highlights. The resulting image looks more analogue and becomes more
flexible for further manipulation with exposure, contrast, film/print profiles, etc.

Impact

This parameter determines the  degree of  compression. The  higher the  Impact
value, the more the highlights are pushed towards the midtones.

White Point

The White Point parameter defines the  ‘film clipping threshold’, and directly
affects contrast because it  determines the  steepness of  the  transition
to  the  clipping area. As  the  white  point gets closer to  the  midtones, the  more
contrast the image appears.

By default, White Point = 100. This means that it stays at its initial position.

The  White Point can be lowered, thereby increasing the  overall contrast
of  the  compressed range. The minimum possible value is  50. The lower
the White Point is, the more likely clipping will occur in the highlights.

Alternatively, the white point value can be  increased. In  this  case, the  overall
contrast of  the  compressed range is  reduced. The  maximum possible value
is  120. The  higher the  White  Point  is, the  more flat  and  grayed the  highlights
appear.

Tonal Range

This parameter represents the  width of  the  tonal  range affected by
Film  Compression tool. A  minimum value  =  0 means no  compression.
A  maximum value  =  100 means that the  compression affects the  wide range
from the brightest highlights almost all the way down to the deepest shadows.
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Color Density

Different films reproduce color differently as  they get closer to  the  highlights.
Negative  films tend to  noticeably loose saturation in  the  highlights.
Slides remain more vibrant, even though the clipping occurs earlier.

The Color  Density parameter controls the  color intensity of  the  compressed
range. Color  Density  =  0 produces the  lowest saturation in  the  highlights,
which is more typical for negative films. Color Density = 100 provides maximum
saturation, and the image looks more like positive films.

Tip: Although the Film Compression tool is not designed to restore

highlights lost in the source file, you can still use it effectively to make
the highlights more textured and smooth out the clipping.

→ Related article:
Film Compression — new Dehancer tool
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Expand

Expand tool provides a separate manual control for black and white points
in relation to the output color space.

All films naturally have different contrast, different black and white points.
At  the  sampling stage, we avoid digital correction to preserve the individual
features of the films, which  ensures a fair and convincing simulation.
Thus,  film  profiles in Dehancer, without  additional adjustment, usually lack
contrast, but at the same time they  have a lot of headroom for creative
adjustments.

We recommend adjusting Expand immediately after a film profile

selection. Set the black and white points to ‘fit’ an image into a dynamic
range of your timeline color space. Clipping control is  essential
at this point, so keep an eye on the Waveform.

During a grading session you will probably revisit this tool several times.

Color Mode

The Color Mode option can be useful if you encounter unwanted color shift
or  oversaturation. In the Luma mode Expand affects only the luminance
component of an image, but does not affect its color, so the changes in contrast
have no effect on the saturation.

Tip: If your source doesn’t have enough headroom for the Expand
adjustments try  to  enable the Analogue  Range  Limiter checkbox
in the Print toolset which gives more ‘relaxed’ extremes.

Also you can use the Film Compression tool to make the highlights more
textured and smooth out the clipping.

→ Related article:
How to manage image contrast and avoid clipping
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Print Medium

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

Optical printing is the last stage of the analogue production. As the result we get
a paper print for direct viewing or a positive film for screen projection. Both can
be scanned for digital delivery. Optical printing is the only analogue solution that
can be used for proper interpretation of the negative films.

Beyond the technical significance, any print medium has its own tint, photo
latitude and contrast curve that makes it a useful creative tool.

In the Print parameters group, you have a choice of the print mediums:

Linear

Only a ‘pure’ profile of a selected film is used, without the influence

of the characteristics of photographic paper.

Cineon Film Log

Selected film is ‘printed’ into Cineon film scan format. This parameter also
makes it possible to ‘print-out’ negatives outside Dehancer.

Kodak 2383 Print Film, Fujifilm 3513 Print Film

Selected film is ‘printed’ onto Kodak Vision Color Print Film 2383 or
Fujicolor Positive Film Eterna-CP 3513DI.

Kodak Endura Glossy Paper

Selected film is ‘printed’ onto Kodak Endura Premier Glossy Paper.

Tip: It is convenient to follow the analogue pipeline when matching

the print medium with the film. Use the Linear profile with positive films,
Kodak 2383 or Fujifilm 3513 for corresponding movie stocks and Kodak
Endura paper for  photographic negative films. However, experiments are
always welcome.
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Print Settings

Relying on our experience in optical printing and our research

into  the  psychophysiology, we have developed the dedicated print settings
that faithfully reproduce the analog processes:

Target White

Only available when Kodak 2383 Print Film or Fujifilm 3513 Print Film
is selected. Allows to adjust the temperature of the printing light source in the
5500-6500 K range.

Exposure (Ev)

The Exposure tool is based on characteristic curves of optical prints.

With  the  analogue approach to the exposure correction it naturally affects
the  image contrast too. This  parameter is measured in the exposure value
steps (Ev).

Tonal Contrast

The Tonal Contrast tool inherits a nonlinear nature of analogue processes.

Increase  the  value to give more punch or apply negative correction to visually
‘soften’ an  image. Notice that changing the contrast also visually affects
the exposure, which is also typical for analogue media.

Color Density

Traditional ‘digital’ saturation affects all hues equally and linearly.

On  the  contrary, the Color  Density tool provides perceptual saturation control,
i.e. it affects aesthetically significant colors in a higher degree.

Color Density can be used to quickly solve many specific problems –

for example, to mitigate oversaturated accents or emphasise meaningful colors
without painstaking adjustment.
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Saturation

This is a more "traditional" saturation control based on altering the chroma

components in  YCrCb space. This correction is available only in the reduction
way due to the fact that oversaturation usually degrades the aesthetics.

Analogue Range Limiter

By default, Print adjustments work within the boundaries of the ‘digital’ contrast
range. Black  and white points are normalised to the digital brightness values
of 0 and 100, respectively.

To obtain a softer image and improve the detail at the extremes of the tonal
range, enable the Analogue Range Limiter which uses the uncorrected black
and white point values as they were measured on the reference prints.

Tip 1: Even though Tonal Contrast uses sophisticated nonlinear

compression, it may lead to some clipping at high values. If this happens,
revisit Expand to  set  a  more ‘relaxed’ cutoff for black and white points
or  enable the  Analogue  Range Limiter checkbox to get more headroom
for  processing. Also you can use the Film Compression tool to make
the highlights more textured and smooth out the clipping.

Tip 2: To get a saturated and expressive image, we recommend starting

with  increasing the contrast and simultaneously slightly decreasing
the  exposure. You can also adjust the Color Density to emphasise
your colors.

Tip 3: Some combinations of the print settings may produce colors falling
out of the gamut, with visible artefacts, especially when Color Density
is increased. In this case lower the contrast and saturation or try another
film or print media profile.

→ Related article:
How to manage image contrast and avoid clipping
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CMY Color Head and Print Toning

Subtractive CMY Color Head is based upon the analogue color correction tool
integrated in  photo enlargers. The similar method is used in Printer Lights –
a special device for optical movie printing to a positive film. Both have the same
principle – changing the color of light used for print exposure.

In Dehancer the Color Head tool is represented with three complementary color
pairs (YMC-BGR or commonly used CMY-RGB), combining both analogue
devices into one digital tool:

Yellow — Blue
Magenta — Green
Cyan — Red

The effect of changing these parameters corresponds respectively

to their labels.

Gang

Dehancer uses the real-life measured color filters values. Thus, even with
the identical adjustments in all three axis, the color changes are visible. For your
convenience, we  have  provided the Gang checkbox, which allows changing
all three filters at once.

Shadows Tone
Midtones Tone
Highlights Tone

In a general analogue sense, toning refers to giving a paper print or film positive
additional tints that  are not originally characteristic of a particular media
combination. This technique is widely used in movie production to give a special
character or atmosphere when the original film properties are insufficient.

Unlike the digital world, where you can ‘fill’ the entire picture with a single hue,
analog media is more varied. In addition to the natural variations across
the  tonal range, a  print can be intentionally colored with  different
tints in the shadows, midtones, or highlights.
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Toning can be achieved using a variety of methods, including special exposure

and processing mode, additional treatment with various chemicals, and split
printing through color filters with masking.

In Dehancer, the toning control is a natural evolution of the CMY Color Head tool.
Therefore, it’s based on split printing through color filters, with the only
difference that masking is performed automatically.

You can control the color temperature separately within three equally quantised
ranges – in shadows, midtones, and highlights.

Preserve Exposure

During the analogue printing the exposure is affected by color filters.

Dehancer  inherits this behaviour. When Preserve Exposure is set to 100%,
it  automatically compensates any  exposure changes, introduced
by the Color Head corrections.

Impact

This slider adjusts an overall impact of the effect, acting like ‘opacity’.

Tip 1: Prefer the Color Head tool for creative adjustments, while leaving
the  Input  Temperature and Tint compensation for strong WB deviations
of a source material.

Tip 2: Setting the Preserve Exposure slider to zero results in exposure

changes during color correction – just the way it does with the analogue
printing process. This is an additional way to naturally change an image
density in Dehancer.

→ Related article:
CMY Color Head – analogue correction for digital images
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Film Grain

Real grain on film isn’t just overlaid on top of an image, but in fact the image
itself entirely consists of  grain. Dehancer literally reconstructs the shot, using
the local color and  brightness characteristics along with a complex physical
modelling of a film emulsion.

There are 2 film types and 2 processing modes available in Dehancer:

Film Type

1. Negative grain is more pronounced in the highlights and the image

has a slightly higher microcontrast, which is more typical for negative films.

2. Positive grain uses the ‘classic’ algorithm that reproduces a softer grain,
which is less pronounced in the highlights and is more typical for positive
films.

Processing Mode

1. Analogue is the original type of grain that requires more processing power
but results in lifelike simulation.

2. Digital (Experimental) is the high performance simplified grain

that may be useful for dithering tasks (for example, to eliminate
the posterisation), for low-resolution projects and draft or daylies rendering.

Size

This parameter determines a size of silver halide granules. A higher Size value
corresponds to a more photosensitive (and therefore more granular) emulsion.

Amount

Total amount of grain generated, corresponding to a ‘film’ optical density.

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Shadows, Midtones, Highlights

This parameter affects grain distribution between different zones of a tonal

range to match your scene texture and grading look by setting the grain amount
individually for shadows, midtones and highlights.

Film Resolution

Usually the smallest image detail on film does not exceed the grain size.
Dehancer  Film  Grain is considering this fact by design. Also it is possible
to  manually adjust this effect to mimic a specific emulsion resolution
or to compensate for an excessive image softness.

Film Resolution parameter set to 100 keeps the initial sharpness of a source
media. Lowering the Resolution results in gradual loss of detail, while an image
becomes more blurred.  Resolution set to 50 represents the  detail balanced
with a current grain size and amount.

Chroma

Grain chromaticity may vary on different films. This parameter determines

the saturation of the dye granules in film emulsion.

Tip 1: On the real film, grain can be found in both the  deepest shadows
and  the  lightest highlights. But it cannot be visible on pitch black or pure
white – technically  there’s no  detail in  there. That is why Film Grain
naturally affects black and white points, lowering visible contrast when
enabled. Thus the Expand correction is recommended to regain
the contrast.

Tip 2: Sometimes, even at the minimum Size and Amount settings, grain
appears too obvious for some applications. To get even subtler and softer
grain lower the  Shadows, Midtones and Highlights values and  use
the Film Resolution to make-up the excessive sharpness. Also you can try
different grain types and processing modes.

→ Related article:
How does film grain work in Dehancer OFX plugin
 35

Halation

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

Halation is the film emulsion effect visible as the local red-orange halos around
the bright light sources, specular highlights and contrasting edges. Also, halation
may produce a  well  pronounced red glare in  the midtones, mostly affecting
the skin tones.

Source Limiter

This setting defines the minimum light source brightness that is able to produce
halation. The  default value = 0 means that even the weakest source is able
to  produce halation. By  increasing this value, you can cut the effect produced
by low intensity lights.

Background Gain

This parameter sets the range of the background tones on which halation
becomes visible. Default value allows halation to appear on most backgrounds.
Decreasing this value eliminates the effect over the lighter ones.

Smoothness

This integral parameter controls the distribution of the halation effect between
the large and  small sources, visually smoothing smaller halation details.
Increasing the Smoothness value reduces the effect around the point sources in
favour of  the larger areas. Setting the Smoothness to zero leads to the most
detailed halos.

Local Diffusion

This parameter defines how far the light spreads in an ‘emulsion’. The higher
the Local Diffusion value, the larger the geometric size (radius) of the halos.
 36

Global Diffusion

Global Diffusion controls the degree of the secondary glare produced

by  scattered light. This  is  a  more global effect that affects mostly low-contrast
midtones and also enhances the primary halation.

Amplify

It is important not to confuse this setting with the Impact as the Amplify affects
the  sensitivity of an ‘emulsion’ to the scattered light, not the opacity
of  the  effect. Increasing the Amplify value makes the effect more pronounced
and shifts the halation toward yellow hues.

Hue

This parameter modifies the sensitivity of the green layer of an ‘emulsion’

to the scattered light. Use this setting to better match halation hues to a scene
in the wide range from cool reds to warm yellows.

Blue Comp.

Cool backgrounds usually dampen the halation. Blue Compensation allows

to counterbalance this effect.

Impact

This parameter can be conventionally referred to as ‘opacity’, since it controls

not  the  physical parameters of  the  emulation, but the overall transparency
of the superimposed effect.

Mask Mode

This checkbox enables a special preview mode which allows you to better
control the settings with the effect preview isolated from the source image.
 37

Halation + Defringe

In some cases chromatic aberrations interfere with the Halation effect.

Defringe tool helps to deal with this issue.

In Dehancer Pro, Defringe settings are  located in  the  Input  parameters group.
In Dehancer Halation plugin, they are grouped in a dedicated tool.

Halation + Bloom

Usually these effects coexist on film and mutually influence each other.
Therefore, it  is  generally best to use Halation and Bloom in tandem to get a
more accurate simulation.

Tip 1: Halation effect is most pronounced when Source Limiter

is  at  its  lowest and  Background Gain at its highest settings, with Amplify
set to maximum. It  can  be a good starting point – just gradually reduce
the effect until getting optimal results.

Tip 2: Increasing the Global Diffusion can be an instant solution

to  naturally enhance any portraiture, filling the skin tones with a  touch
of vivid warm glare.

Tip 3: If Halation appears too dim or invisible in Mask Mode,

try to temporarily increase the Amplify and Impact values.

→ Related article:
Halation and its simulation in Dehancer
 38

Bloom

Bloom emulates the combined effect of light dispersion on the boundaries

of  contrasting image areas, which originates in the optical system,
and  then  amplified in the emulsion layers. Notice that bloom has little
in common with optical soft-effects as it appears only around the light sources.

Highlights

In general, this setting may be considered the ‘sensitivity’ of the effect

and  determines the  brightness threshold for bloom to appear. The higher
is the value, the wider the tonal range that produces blooming is.

Source Limiter

Source Limiter is used to cut-off the unwanted blooming from the lower end
of the tonal range defined by the Highlights setting.

Details

This setting controls the distribution of the bloom effect between large
and  small light  sources. Increasing the value makes the effect more detailed
and precise, up  to  the  smallest point sources. Lowering the Details results
in a more global effect across a frame, affecting larger objects.

Diffusion

Diffusion controls the extent of the bloom effect relative to the boundary where
it  appears. The bigger is the Diffusion value, the larger is the geometric size
of the glow radius.

Amplify

Amplify controls the overall effect strength by virtually ‘changing’ the brightness
of  a  light source and the diffusion properties of an emulsion. The higher
the value, the more obvious the whole effect becomes.
 39

Save Lights

Bloom affects not only the background but also increases brightness of  a  light
source itself. In  digital pipeline this may lead to visible clipping. Save  Lights
simply does what it’s supposed to do, protecting highlights from  possible
clipping induced by the Bloom effect.

Saturation

Naturally Bloom inherits the hue and saturation of a light source. This setting
makes it possible to desaturate the effect at your taste..

Impact

This parameter can be conventionally referred to as ‘opacity’, since it controls

not  the  physical parameters of  the  emulation, but the overall transparency
of the superimposed effect.

Mask Mode

This checkbox enables a special preview mode which allows you to better
control the settings with the effect preview isolated from a source image.

Tip 1: Sometimes with extreme settings Bloom may produce excessive

halo-like artefacts. In this case try to increase the Save Lights, decrease
the Amplify value and disable the Defringe tool.

Tip 2: If Bloom appears too dim or invisible in Mask Mode,

try to temporarily increase the Amplify and Impact values.

→ Related article:
Bloom: what it is and how it works
 40

Vignette

In lens design vignetting is usually considered a flaw. However, it is also

a proven creative tool that allows for better focusing on a subject and adds extra
depth. Also, in digital processing vignette with positive exposure values can be
used to compensate for unwanted vignetting.

Exposure

Negative Exposure values result in dark vignette while positive values,

respectively, produce the light vignette.

Size

This setting defines a size of the vignetting circle.

Feather

Feather controls the amount of blur applied to the vignette circle.

Aspect Ratio

This parameter affects the proportions of the vignette, allowing to make

it elliptical (in both the X and Y directions).

Center

These fields specify the X and Y offset of a vignette relative to the center
of  a  frame in  the range of  -1  to  +1 (from one edge to the other
where 0 represents the center).

Tip: Although the Vignette tool is located at the very bottom

of  the  Dehancer settings, we recommend to adjust it  at  the  beginning
of color grading since it affects the exposure and usually increases contrast
between the edges and  a frame center, thus requiring additional
adjustments of the exposure and contrast.
 41

Film Breath

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

The film breath effect is an accidental change in exposure, contrast and color
from frame to frame as the film moves. Caused by uneven emulsion coating
or development, instability of a camera shutter and other deviations, film breath
greatly affects the viewers’ experience in terms of ‘analogue feeling’.

To mimic the Film Breath phenomenon, we implemented a special toolset.

Period

Period determines the number of frames within which color, contrast

and  exposure varies. The larger this value is, the smoother these fluctuations
are. With smaller values changes occur faster and are ‘jerkier’.

Exposure, Tonal Contrast, Color

The Exposure, Tonal Contrast and Color parameters determine the amplitude
of  fluctuations. With greater values, the variations of the corresponding
parameters will be more pronounced.

Impact

Impact adjusts the overall effect. All fluctuations are reduced or increased
altogether.

Tip: Film Breath preview is demanding on playback FPS. For a precise

setup, make sure that your clip is played smoothly to judge the effect.

To optimise the playback, please, check:

Performance Tips and realtime playback

→ Related article:
Film Breath and Gate Weave. Introduction to the new tools
 42

Gate Weave

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

Gate weave stands for mechanical swinging of a film strip while it is being pulled
through a frame window in a film camera, projector or video coding device.
It is often simulated intentionally to ‘breathe life’ into a digital cinema.

Period

The Period parameter determines the number of frames within which

frame  shifts occur. The larger this value is, the smoother the ‘bumps’ during
playback are. With smaller Period mechanical shifts occur faster and ‘film’ yaws
jerkier.

Translation X, Translation Y

The Translation X and Translation Y settings specify an amplitude of random

shifts in a frame plane in conventional units.

Rotation

This parameter sets the maximum angle of random frame rotation in relative
units.

Auto Zoom

This option automatically zooms an image to compensate frame shifts brought

in by the current Gate Weave settings to crop any black gaps left around a frame
where a geometric transformation occurs.

Impact

Within the Gate Weave tool the Impact parameter adjusts the overall impact
factor, not  the ‘opacity’ of the effect. When Impact is reduced, all shifts
and geometric distortions in a frame are proportionally reduced.
 43

Tip 1: Film Breath preview is demanding on playback FPS. For a precise

setup, make sure that your clip is played smoothly to judge the effect.

To optimise the playback, please, check:

Performance Tips and realtime playback

Tip 2: If you are experiencing excessive loss of detail with Gate Weave,
and  the  Film  Grain is enabled, it is possible to partially compensate
the effect increasing the Film Resolution parameter.

→ Related article:
Film Breath and Gate Weave. Introduction to the new tools
 44

Monitor

False Color IRE, 16 zones

False Color tool represents different luminance values by distinct color ‘zones’
which gives a clear view of the exposure levels. False Color is a popular method
of a technical image control that provides a foolproof clipping and exposure
monitoring, emphasises details that otherwise aren’t visible to the human eye
and  reveals hidden textures. This tool is often useful for adjusting skin tone
exposure and for clip matching.

The single parameter is a checkbox which enables/disables the effect.

Clipping Indication

The Clipping Indication allows you to perfectly see the areas of  the  image
with  minimum exposure in shadows (RGB 0-5, filled with blue) and with
maximum exposure in highlights (RGB 250-255, filled with red).
 45

Output

The Total Impact slider is the single parameter in this group that controls
the overall impact of all the effects engaged in Dehancer plugin.

Tip: Total Impact is not equivalent to effect opacity as it properly reduces

the impact of the geometric distortion effects such as Gate Weave.
 46

LUT Generator

Featured in: Dehancer Pro

Since Dehancer is a resource-demanding tool that also requires a dedicated

installation, in  some cases it is more convenient to export a grading look
as a LUT file for further DIT on-stage or realtime dailies grading.

LUT Size

LUT Generator allows to export a color-contrast solution achieved in Dehancer

as a LUT with two quality options: Small (17x17x17) and Normal (33x33x33).

In most cases the small LUT is enough for DIT on-stage preview tasks.
Also,  it  reduces the  processing load. If you encounter visible artefacts,
try the Normal setting as a possible workaround.

Disable Input Transform

This option excludes the effect of Input settings from a generated LUT,
thus allowing for using this LUT universally, with any source and color science.

Tip: Notice that an exported LUT doesn’t include the effects based
on  geometric transformation or local corrections (including Film Grain,
Halation, Bloom, Vignette, Film Breath and Gate Weave) and therefore
cannot be used as a grading preset. Furthermore, the quality of a simple
LUT may not be sufficient for demanding delivery.
 47

Options

License Info

This button launches the Licence Info widget where you can view current
activation status of the plugin and activate your License Key.

Check Profiles

Use this button to check and download the updated Camera and Film Profiles.

→ Related articles:
F.A.Q.: Dehancer plugin and Profiles Update
F.A.Q.: How to buy and activate the License?