Film Grain Plates

Film grain can really add a certain something to footage. It allows you to partially enter the world of the story being told. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s just what we’re used to seeing in cinema or whether there’s more going on. Technically, it can also be used very subtly to reduce banding on footage or even to help when upscaling footage (see our video on upscaling from HD to 4K). Below you will find a number of different film grain plates that you can use with your footage. They’re free to download and use as you wish. You can of course pay for this if you want by going to a site like RGrain. They do great products in convenient packages but you pay up to $99 for the privilege.

File Format

All files are supplied in ProRes 422 HQ for maximum quality and NLE compatibility. Resolution is 4K DCI (4096 x 2160px).

Note: All files are files are guaranteed 100% virus free. The files are .zip files with the .mov files contained within them. Using .zip files saves about 4% of space and also means your browser will prompt to save the file rather than try to open it in the browser.

What’s Available?

The downloads are split into different sensor sizes. This essentially changes the size, amount and softness of the grain. Each sensor size is available in a light and heavy level of grain.

Using the Plates

After downloading the .zip file, extract the .mov ProRes file. Drop the footage on your timeline above the footage requiring grain and set the ‘Blend Mode’ to ‘Overlay’.

A word of warning. Grain doesn’t compress well. It adds a continously changing element to your image which looks lovely in your export but can look a smeared mess when uploaded and re-compressed by the likes of YouTube.

Sample Image

The image below gives you a simple idea of how the plates look when applied to a still image. You can reduce the effect by changing opacity but that only works to a point. As such, there are 2 variants of grain available. One is light and one is heavy.