Digital Film Tools 55MM;
Photoshop plug-in review
“we were fascinated by the fact that the 55MM filters, designed for feature film and television visual effects, could achieve those same looks in Photoshop”.
he 55MM digital optical filters from Digital Film Tools seem to have a bit of that Hollywood movie
magic as they apply their effects to Photoshop images.
An extensive filter collection, they excel at enhancing the light, color, and diffusion in ways that magically transform the atmosphere and mood in images. On a more routine level, they are some of the best and most powerful tools we have found for color correcting, and as such are a basic part of our workflow.
We originally came across Digital Film Tools 55MM when we were looking for 16-bit plug-ins for Photoshop. As you probably are aware, processing in 16-bits is a huge advancement over 8-bits when it comes to maintaining image quality. 55MM has 47 different filters, all with 16-bit functionality.
Viewing their web site, we were fascinated by the fact that the 55MM filters, designed for feature film and television visual effects, could achieve those same looks in Photoshop. We downloaded the demo, and were hooked.
The Filters Overview
Rather than ramble on trying to describe all the filters I am quoting Digital Film Tools web-sight; “55MM is the definitive set of digital optical filters meant to simulate popular glass camera filters, specialized lenses, optical lab processes, film grain, matte generation, exacting color correction as well as natural light and photographic effects--all in a controlled digital environment with either 8 or 16 bits per channel processing”.
The set of plug-ins includes:
Black Mist Black & White Bleach Bypass Center Spot Color Conversion Color Correct Color Grad Color Temperature Cross Processing Defocus Diffusion |
Dual Tint Enhancing Fast Blur Faux Film Fluorescent Fog F-Stop Glow Grain Infra-Red Lens Distortion |
Light! Low Contrast Matte Generator Mist ND Grad Night Vision Overexpose Ozone Polarizer Printer Points Rosco Gels |
Selective Color Correct Selective Saturation Selective Soft Focus Soft EFX Star Streaks Sunset/Twilight Tint Temperature Ultra Contrast Warm Mist |
The filters we use most are Color Correct, Selective Color Correct, Bleach Bypass, Rosco Gels, Fog, Black & White, Enhancing, and Light!.
Image transformation from the application of three filters from Digital Film Tools: Ultra Contrast, Rosco Gels, and Light!. See original image below.
“Lost Boats” , A stylized interpretation using the Bleach Bypass and Fog Filter.
Color Correction
With the intriguing filter names above you are probably wondering why I would start out with something as mundane as color correction. The answer is that the 55MM color correction filters are the most powerful all in one tools we have found, better than anything that Photoshop CS has. The great power lies in the combination of controls allowing interactivity between Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, Red, Green, Blue, and Color Temperature. And, saving the best for last, the adjustments can be applied globally to the whole image or locally to select areas. The selections or masks are generated within the plug-in. The bragging rights for Digital Film Tools is that the means of producing the masks is more intuitive, flexible, and powerful than Photoshop CS.
The ability to generate a mask and apply adjustments locally is built in to many of the 55MM filters. Other filters in the set make use of gradient masks, and once again the controls are intuitive and easy to use. If all this talk of masks and selections seems a little daunting to you, that’s exactly why these filters are so useful. All you have to do is adjust for the look you want, and apply it just to the areas in the image you choose. The 55MM filters can also be used fully automatically. Just select the filter, click Reset, and then Ok. In this manner these filters can be applied as easily as using an action in Photoshop.
Bleach Bypass
One of the popular looks for Hollywood movies is one of desaturated color, altered contrast, along with an overall added color tinting. Some describe the look as a color image merged with a black and white one. The 55MM filter Bleach Bypass goes along ways towards achieving this look.
“Islets”, The Digital Film Tools Light! Filter was used to add the look of clouds to the sky. The Fog Filter was used to complete the look.
Digital Film Tools 55MM Selective Color Correct was used to add warm sunlight to the clouds, without altering the rest of the image.
“The bragging rights for Digital Film Tools is that the means of producing the masks is more intuitive, flexible, and powerful than Photoshop CS.”
Before Bleach Bypass.
After Bleach Bypass.