BCC Match Grain Tutorial

By John Lafauce

BCC Match Grain takes a snapshot of film-to-video (“telecined”) media and generates a grain signature which can be used as a matching grain sample for a destination clip containing little or no grain. A common application of this filter is adding grain to computer-generated imagery to lend to a more realistic composite. Match Grain can also be used to grain footage shot on video so it edits more seamlessly into a sequence with telecined media.

To demonstrate how BCC Match Grain is used, I will add grain to a computer generated sphere I composited onto the tip of a surfboard surfacing from the ocean depths.

Click here to view the ungrained video »
(please allow a moment for the movie to load)

Media

Beauty Sphere.mov – A 3D sphere rendered as a premultiplied, processed foreground that has been tracked and color balanced using BCC Match Move and BCC Color Match respectively.

• Frames Size - NTSC 720x486 @ 30fps
• Format - Apple QuickTime
• Compression - Apple Animation
• Field Rendering - Progressive
• Duration - 8;21

SUR135.mov - Provided by Artbeats - Underwater footage of a surfer on his surfboard.

• Frame Size - NTSC 720x486 @ 30fps
• Format - Apple Quicktime
• Compression - Photo JPEG, high quality setting
• Field Rendering - Progressive
• Source - 16mm Film
• Video Source - Phillips Spirit Datacine to D1
• Duration - 8;21

Host Application

Adobe After Effects 6.5.1 Pro (BCC5 also supports many other NLE's used in the industry) running on Windows XP Pro. In addition, Match Grain is included with the RED 4 native filter set. You can use it inside RED plugin in any host supported by RED.

Getting Right to it

1. Import SUR135.mov followed by Beauty Sphere.mov and add them to your Composition with the Beauty Sphere clip above the SUR135 clip in the Timeline.

2. Advance to 2 secs. in the Timeline so the sphere is lit and plainly visible.

3. Navigate to the BCC Effects filter menu, select BCC Match Grain and apply it to the Beauty Sphere.mov clip.

Working with BCC Match Grain

4. In the BCC Match Grain Effect Controls window, set "Grain" to RGB (if we were matching to black and white film, we would choose Monochrome).

5. Make sure ‘Match Contrast’ is checked so you can generate grain with the same contrast as the source image.

6. In the Sample Controls parameter group, change ‘Sample Layer’ to the SUR135.mov clip, where a frame will be sampled.

Note: The Sample Controls are explained as follows:

• Sample Frame # - Sets the frame from the sample layer that is used to create the grain. The default is frame 0.
• Sample Size - Controls the size or region of the sampled area in pixels. The default is an area 32 pixels wide.
• Sample Center - Position control sets the center point for the sample area on the X and Y axis.

7. You should see grain appear on the sphere.

Examining the grain

Once the Sample Layer is assigned, BCC Match Grain conveniently copies the grain pattern from that clip, creates a grain signature and automatically applies it to your image.  To show you the power and accuracy of the match grain algorithm, let’s view each color channel separately using your host’s RGBA preview buttons.

The Red and Green Channels contain fine grain that is not so obvious. Notice how the grain on the sphere matches the background grain pretty well.

above: Red Channel

above: Green Channel

The Blue Channel reveals a much different story where it is very grainy.

above: Blue Channel

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