Polaroid SX70 effect?
by Karel Bata
on
May 6, 2008 at 10:39:59 am
I've been trawling the net to find a way of getting the polaroid SX70 'look' and there's plenty of stuff out there for faking a polaroid frame, or advice like: * Over expose the image * play with the colour balance to give an orange cast * add gradients to darken areas * gaussian blur *etc. The authors clearly don't understand the fundamental differences. Not that I really really do or I wouldn't be asking here. I'm surprised that no-one's marketed a plug-in - they'd make a killing.
Anyhows, anyone here in this august forum got a clue?
BTW Polaroid used to make instant cine film - Polavision
I can remember a kit being available for hire to commercials shoots as an alternative to video assist in the Sammy's catalogue. That was way back when...
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Karel Bata on May 6, 2008 at 2:18:34 pm
To my knowledge Magic Bullet has no Polaroid preset.
But would you say that MB has another that would do the job? I've never seen any moving image that comes close to replicating the dream-like magic of a polaroid. But it would be great to get it in AE somehow.
Part of it has to be the optics of a Polaroid camera lens coupled with the relatively huge format of an SX70 film, but most of it is, I believe, down to Polaroid's own chemistry which doesn't work in the same way as a film emulsion's.
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Karel Bata on May 6, 2008 at 5:21:47 pm
And why use two legs when you can hop?
Well...I think it's a more complicated affair than just tweaking the knobs that magic bullet comes with. I figure I can't possibly be the first person to consider this question and could save myself many hours of trial and error by seeking out someone who's already cracked it.
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Dave LaRonde on May 6, 2008 at 5:33:45 pm
[Karel Bata]"I've been trawling the net to find a way of getting the polaroid SX70 'look'..... I'm surprised that no-one's marketed a plug-in - they'd make a killing. I figure I can't possibly be the first person to consider this question "
Actually, you just might be the first. Your question is one of color grading. In your three examples, about the only things that are consistent from picture to picture are poor focus and a good deal of cyan, particularly in shadows.
There is apparently no such thing as adjusting an SX70 for color temperature.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Dave LaRonde on May 6, 2008 at 6:13:55 pm
[Karel Bata]"Surely someone somewhere in our brave new world must have figured out a way to do this...?"
You're counting on someone to have figured out the color grading techinques in After Effects to replicate the look from an obsolete, 35-year-old camera that didn't take very good pictures to begin with?
Good Luck!
I understand that the SX 70 is a source of endless fascination for you, but I also know that the likelihood of finding day-for-night color grading techniques for AE is far, far greater than SX 70 color grading techniques.
Sorry, but that's just the way it is. If you want to replicate the look, I'm pretty sure you're on your own.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Nicholas Toth on May 6, 2008 at 6:33:02 pm
There are presets in the MB Suite may emulate what you're looking for, mix it with some edge blur/diffusion and maybe some over-grained chromatic aberration... also some carefully applied gradient blurs based on perspective gradients....
Don't forget too, the beauty of consumer/low end polaroids (which is why I have 5 of them) is that they never develop the same way twice --- and they are spontaneous. Take two pictures of the same composition at the same time, at the same place, and they won't develop the same. Perhaps you want to take this into consideration when creating your preset.
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Karel Bata on May 6, 2008 at 7:41:31 pm
So translating that literally would mean that every frame is a bit different. I think I'll pass on that.
also some carefully applied gradient blurs based on perspective gradients....
and I'll have to google that!
However it's done would be a cheat. The problem is (in effect) how to determine what mix of colors were present at a particular point (or pixel) - which would be way more than just levels of RGB - and then translate that into how a polaroid would have reacted. Pixel by pixel. An impossible task made more difficult by the fact that the way any 'grain' on a polaroid film develops seems to be affected by its neighbors.
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Dave LaRonde on May 6, 2008 at 7:56:09 pm
[Karel Bata]"Or else cheat. "
That's the way many things are done in AE, and no viewer is ever the wiser. For purity's sake, you seek a technique that will replicate the color response of the film. For simplicity's sake, I suggest you cheat.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: Polaroid SX70 effect? by Brian Berneker on May 9, 2008 at 11:46:49 pm
You have to realize that "a bit of color grading" isn't diminishing the task whatsoever. It's probably the most accurate and robust technique to get the results you want. You already have the reference shots, so you should know what you're looking for. Time spent learning or working on color grading is never time wasted.
AE's tools with a bit of patience and a mindful eye can get you far closer to a perfect match than any canned software off the shelf ever will. Even if it mathematically calculated a perfect conversion, a preset or plugin would probably start from the assumption that your footage is properly color corrected to begin with... so you're back to grading again.
AE is a hands-on tool. Don't be shy to use it as one. Why not be the first one to make a preset to match this particular polaroid and post it here on the Cow for everyone to appreciate?
Honestly, I think the only way anyone will find a preset for that particular grade of film on the internet is if someone (such as yourself, with a passion for the integrity of said preset) were to post it.
