Adding noise anyone?

[tonygamble]

I never look at the retouching area in DPR. Those guys love having a play, don't they?

In my view there are two issues here. One is what I had in mind when I started this thread. Namely is there something one can add to a digital print to make it look more like one made from a film negative. I might have another experiment with that noise suggestion I highlighted.

The second is emulating high ISO neg film and those memorable smokey jazz club style pics of Armstrong, Ella and so on. We ran another thread on this theme and here, my view only again, is that it does require a much more selective application of noise.

Tony

[tomczak]

I've done a few experiments with grain; reviewed noise adding software and looked at a few exhibitions that had excellent prints with grain (both film and simulated). It's a complex topic, I think, but worthwhile. I don't have a fail-proof recipe for PWP yet, but I think there is a simple procedure that to a degree looks natural enough and its easy to do in PWP. I wonder if people would like to experiment with it further and see if it makes any sense.

One objective of mine was to realize the technique in a workflow, or somewhat interacively, since there are several settings that need to be adjusted. The way it is now it's not easy, but maybe, if it works, a tweak or two could be implemented so that it works in a workflow, or make it interactive. The manual techique is this:

- create new image, the same size as the one you want to add grain to, 50% gray
- add noise to it
- blur the result
- sharpen it
- make a midtone mask (eg: [0,0], [50,100], [100,0] or similar)
- filter the original image through the blurred/sharpened grain, through mask (adjust amount and compensation); composite may work too, but it has no widget.

The results look more or less good to me, depending on settings, the adjustments are plenty enough, but automation/interactivity is not there. What else can be done to smooth it out?

[tomczak]

I've done a few experiments with grain; reviewed noise adding software and looked at a few exhibitions that had excellent prints with grain (both film and simulated). It's a complex topic, I think, but worthwhile. I don't have a fail-proof recipe for PWP yet, but I think there is a simple procedure that to a degree looks natural enough and its easy to do in PWP. I wonder if people would like to experiment with it further and see if it makes any sense.

One objective of mine was to realize the technique in a workflow, or somewhat interactively, since there are several settings that need to be adjusted. The way it is now it's not easy, but maybe, if it works, a tweak or two could be implemented so that it works in a workflow, or make it interactive. The manual techique is this:

- create new image, the same size as the one you want to add grain to, 50% gray
- add noise to it
- blur the result
- sharpen it
- make a midtone mask (eg: [0,0], [50,100], [100,0] or similar)
- filter the original image through the blurred/sharpened grain, through mask (adjust amount and compensation); composite may work too, but it has no widget.

The results look more or less good to me, depending on settings, the adjustments are plenty enough, but automation/interactivity is not there. What else can be done to smooth it out?