ARRI Film Lab 1.5 Released – 8mm to 65mm Film Formats, Anamorphic Grain and Halation, ACES 2.0 Support

Software Update

by Nino LeitnerToday

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ARRI has released Film Lab 1.5, a major update to its OpenFX plugin that brings the look of analog film to digital images. The new version adds 8mm, 16mm and 65mm film formats, anamorphic grain and halation, ACES 2.0 support, and processing that is up to four times faster. Let’s take a look at what has changed.

Film Lab 1.5 adds three film formats next to the existing 35mm look, with two new controls, Grain Size and Rendition of Detail, to fine-tune each format. An Anamorphic Ratio control with eight squeeze ratios from 1.25x to 2.0x stretches grain and halation horizontally, and a new Halation Spread control sets the radius of the glow around highlights. The maximum values of Grain Intensity and Halation Intensity are doubled to 2.0. According to ARRI, the plugin is up to 4x faster and plays 4K in real time on Apple Silicon MacBook Pro systems. New ACES 2.0 ACEScc and ACEScct input and output options sit next to the existing LogC3 and LogC4 pipelines, and in Baselight the plugin now follows the timeline color space automatically. The update is free for existing license holders.

We reported on the ARRI Film Lab announcement when the plugin first launched for DaVinci Resolve, Baselight and Nuke. Film emulation has been an active area of the grading suite since then, and we have also covered the Color.io shutdown and CineDream’s ACES 2.0 plugins. ARRI published a tutorial video together with the release, in which ARRI’s Sean Dooley and senior colorist Florian “Utsi” Martin go through the new features in Resolve and Baselight. According to Sean, almost all of the five main additions in version 1.5 come from user feedback.

Four film formats and two new controls

Until now, the Film Lab looks were based on 35mm film. Version 1.5 adds a Film Format menu with 8mm, 16mm, 35mm and 65mm as starting points. In the video, Utsi explains that the film format defines two properties: the size of the grain and the rendition of detail, which he describes as the resolution a given negative size can deliver. An 8mm setting is therefore visibly softer than 65mm. Utsi says that at 65mm, Film Lab mimics the MTF curve of 65mm film, so the image appears to have more resolution even though it is not much sharper.

ARRI says the grain is not made from scanned film overlays. The company scanned negatives and used them to profile its grain and halation algorithms, which then emulate the look. Sean notes that this work draws on ARRI’s long history with the digital intermediate process, including the ARRISCAN film scanner and the ARRILASER film recorder.

The new Grain Size and Rendition of Detail controls refine each format. Grain Size changes the scale of the grain, and Rendition of Detail changes perceived sharpness. Both have a range of 0.75 to 1.5, so users can create looks between the formats. Utsi gives the example of 8mm with both controls at 0.75, which moves the look about halfway toward 16mm. At 1.5, Grain Size goes beyond the 8mm preset, to approximately 6mm in his description. The two controls also work independently, for example to keep 8mm grain with more detail.

Stronger grain and halation

Users asked for stronger analog looks, and ARRI has doubled the maximum values of two existing controls. Grain Intensity and Halation Intensity now go from 0.0 to 2.0. The Negative Stocks, Print Processes and Gate Weave controls do not change. Utsi describes the Tune section of the interface as deliberately small, with the familiar controls plus three new ones, to keep the plugin simple to use.

The new Halation Spread control sets the radius and character of the glow around highlights and high-contrast edges. Halation Intensity continues to work like an opacity control. The color of the halation also stays the same. Utsi explains that it comes from the layer order in a color negative, which gives the glow a typical red to yellow hue, and that this behavior is modeled from the same negative scans ARRI used for grain.

Anamorphic grain and halation

The new Anamorphic Ratio control has eight squeeze ratios from 1.25x to 2.0x. It stretches grain and halation horizontally to match footage shot with different anamorphic lenses. Utsi explains the background: when film shot with anamorphic lenses was desqueezed in projection, the grain and the halation were desqueezed with the image. At 2.0x in Film Lab, the halation becomes wider and each grain is twice as wide as it is high. If the halation becomes too flat, Halation Spread can increase its size again.

Sean suggests a second use for the control: on 2.39:1 footage shot with spherical lenses, the anamorphic setting can add some of the anamorphic character to the texture. The video shows the controls on “Spin Cycle,” a short film shot on the ALEXA 35 Xtreme and graded by Utsi. For that project, he used the 16mm format, an anamorphic ratio of 1.5x, and a Halation Spread of about 2. He applies Film Lab after his clip-based grading, as the look for the whole film.

Up to 4x faster processing

ARRI says Film Lab 1.5 is up to 4x faster than the previous version. According to the company, this makes real-time 4K playback possible on more hardware, including Apple Silicon MacBook Pro systems. In the video, Sean says that UHD material with Film Lab now plays at 24 fps on a standard MacBook Pro, and Utsi runs the demonstration on a two-year-old mid-range MacBook Pro.

ACES 2.0 and color management

Film Lab has supported LogC3 and LogC4 pipelines from the start. Utsi says that for correct colors, users should apply ARRI’s color management after the plugin, which means the REVEAL lookup tables for LogC4 or the older LogC3 lookup tables. He also notes that many users run Film Lab with DaVinci Resolve’s own color management and output transform, which changes the colors the plugin produces. Footage from other manufacturers’ cameras can go into LogC3 first, with Film Lab and ARRI’s LogC3 lookup tables after it. According to Utsi, a LogC3 and a LogC4 decode of the same ARRIRAW frame give the same image on screen with this setup.

Version 1.5 adds ACES 2.0 ACEScc and ACEScct as input and output options, for workflows in applications such as DaVinci Resolve and Baselight. Utsi explains ARRI’s intention with a film lab comparison: a print from a calibrated lab looks the same in London or New York, and the Film Lab result should also stay the same whatever color management is in use. In the Resolve demonstration, he changes the timeline color management to ACEScct with ACES version 2.0, enables the color space aware grading tools so that the HDR grade carries over, and then sets the Film Lab input and output space to ACES 2.0 ACEScct. The result is the same image as the LogC4 workflow. ACEScc is also supported. Utsi notes that the results can differ if the plugin’s color intensity is lowered or Film Lab is not used.

Automatic color space in Baselight

In Baselight, Film Lab 1.5 uses OpenFX 1.5 color management integration. The plugin follows the timeline color space automatically and receives the correct input transform, so the input and output space shows “Auto” and is no longer set manually. In the video, Utsi switches the Baselight scene to ACEScct with ACES 2.0 rendering, and the plugin changes to ACES 2.0 by itself, with no change to the image.

On-set preview and current limitations

Film Lab is now available for on-set preview in Pomfort Livegrade. Sean says that Pomfort showed Film Lab at IBC as one of the OpenFX plugins that Livegrade now supports, with all version 1.5 settings available, including film formats, grain, halation and gate weave. ARRI’s Film Lab page names Livegrade Frontier for this workflow. Film Lab also works with DaVinci Resolve Live, an option that has been available for some time. We have covered Pomfort’s on-set tools before, including Livegrade Studio.

The in-camera preview of Film Lab that ARRI announced at launch is not available yet. In the video, Sean says that ARRI is still working on it and that it will come at a later time, without a date. He explains that the difficulty is to make sure that none of the plugin’s effects are burnt into the recorded images. Until then, ARRI recommends Pomfort Livegrade or DaVinci Resolve Live for on-set preview.

Price and availability

ARRI Film Lab 1.5 is available now from RE:Vision Effects. New customers can buy a license, and existing license holders get the upgrade free of charge. According to ARRI, individual licenses are available on a weekly, monthly, annual or permanent basis, company licenses are priced by the number of users, and educational rates are available. RE:Vision Effects also offers a free trial. The RE:Vision Effects product page lists more than 20 OpenFX host applications. For more information, please visit the ARRI Film Lab website.

Which film format would you choose as the starting point for your next grade, and would you use the anamorphic setting on spherical footage? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below.