By: Erik Vlietinck
Thu, April 19, 2007 - 10:05:00
Pros: 0

http://www.dxolabs.com
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DxO Labs launched FilmPack 1.1 as a plug-in to DxO Optics Pro 4.2, a plug-in to Photoshop, and as a stand-alone application. FilmPack does only one thing, but it does it effortlessly: it gives your digital shots an analogue-style look.

The first version of FilmPack was only available as a plug-in to DxO Optics Pro 4. It gave users access to a large number of analogue film rendition profiles and grain. Then came DxO Optics Pro 4.1 and with it, FilmPack 1.1. The DxO Optics Pro plug-in was joined by a Photoshop plug-in that acts like a filter, and recently the two plug-ins were joined by a stand-alone application. The three versions are identical, but serve different workflows.

For my review, I tested the stand-alone version. This newest version allows you to drop a colour or Black and White digital photograph onto the application icon. The photo will show in its original format and you will be given the opportunity to change the rendition, add film grain, tune contrast and saturation, and add a special look to the result (such as sepia tone).

Renditions are available in colour positive, colour negative (such as Kodak Portra 160VC), monochrome and cross-processed film. You can make a digital image look like it’s been shot with Kodak Ektachrome 100VS or Fuji Velvia 50 and a bunch of other film formats. When the photo is displayed at a zoom factor that is too small to see the film grain which belongs to the rendition format, a small yellow triangle in the bottom left of the application’s Inspector, tells you so.

Contrast can be manipulated in four steps from low to high. The same goes for saturation. A photo can be “enriched” with a special effect like sepia or ferrite sulfate, but when you select such an effect on a Velvia 50 format, the photo is converted to monochrome first. 

Film grain can be added for the film you’ve used to render the image, but you can also opt for a different grain, enabling you to create a totally different look. Adding to this you can also increase or decrease the grain effect using a slider, and by additionally setting the size of the film frame (going from 24 x36 to large format or a custom format you define).

When using FilmPack as plug-in in DxO Optics Pro 4.2, the FilmPack options blend in with the rest of the program and can be found under the DxO Color item. In Photoshop, the DxO FilmPack plug-in sits under the Filters menu item.

Using FilmPack couldn’t be much easier, so the following question is whether it’s worth the money. The answer to that question is that it certainly is, provided you want to make a photo accurately look like it’s been shot with an analogue camera using a specific type of film. My own experience with Kodak Portra negative film and Kodak Ektachrome positive film tells me that FilmPack does a wonderful job of resembling those films’ look and feel.

If you want to give your photos character without having to tamper and play around too much with Photoshop’s many filters and adjustments, FilmPack makes miracles happen. Grain and an analogue film look can make an otherwise dull looking digital shot a lot more interesting --as long as you don’t expect a really dull picture to suddenly become the Press Photo of the Year candidate, you can’t go wrong with FilmPack.