Jan 2021

Best Quality Film Grain Packs – Tried and Tested

Everyone loves that grainy, vintage look at some point, but since we’re surrounded by the latest technologies nowadays, getting a realistic grain effect is definitely not easy. There are many grain packs out there and everyone wonders, which one is the best?

Some very talented people managed to bring the classic grain effect to the present day, creating the best quality film grain packs. Don’t worry – they’ve all been tried and tested already and we recommend these being the best on the market.

Ezra Cohen’s 35mm Film Grain & Textures

Ezra Cohen’s grain pack is one of the most realistic out there. Instead of finding the best combination using video processors, the team went ahead and used real scans of Kodak 50D and 500T film stocks – they didn’t just create the effect. They actually overscanned 8K film grain and digitalized it.

This pack starts at $39 for the basic, HD pack, and go to $99 for the Pro - 8K plan – meaning that you get the best quality possible and get to keep them for every project.

The overlays come as 30 seconds loops, at 24fps, so you can basically use them with any footage. The modular design allows you to create accurate looks for your films.

The starter pack comes with the 3 main grain styles:

35mm Film Grain - Coarse
35mm Film Grain - Medium
35mm Film Grain - Fine

The Pro plans include the 35mm matte looks, film burns, and transitions. You also get the effects in the highest resolution purchased plus all the lower resolution files because you never know, right?

FilmConvert Grain and Film Stocks

FilmConvert’s Grain and Film Stocks pack is definitely unique. This pack was created by the idea that “grain is not just a layer added on top of your image” which is actually true. In order to bring you the “true grain,” the team collected, modeled, and digitalized actual films – which is pretty awesome!

On their website, you can see samples of all their grain overlays. So far, they created a total of 19 to match the styles of Color Negative, Color Positive, B/W, and the classic Polaroid.

Their packs are compatible with Adobe’s Premiere Pro and Photoshop, Avid, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve, meaning that you’re pretty much covered.

In terms of pricing, you have two main options for getting it:

Separately for the editing software you use – starting at $29.
Along with its Nitrate program, from $119.

What’s particularly great about FilmConvert is that is comes as a plugin, so you can easily integrate it with all your projects.

Both of these packs will give you the best quality grain you need. Your creations will look flawless, and since they’re one-time purchases, you can use them whenever you need them.