LiveGrain OFX Release 2.12.0 (2022-07-06)
Important Notes:
Beginning with LiveGrain 2.12.0 all LiveGrain OFX builds are unified across all hosts. This means that the LiveGrain Linux Plugin, will work across all of our Linux supported hosts : Resolve, Baselight, Nuke, etc... , the same holds for the LiveGrain Windows Plugin and the LiveGrain Mac Plugin.
New Features since LiveGrain 2.11.4
1) Global UI Updates:
A) "SET UP" Menu:
We are replacing the Beta "HDR Mode" Button, with a dedicated "SET UP " Menu. Since this is something that is usually only adjusted at the start of a new project, but is of the HIGHEST importance in terms of getting a proper dimensionalization of your texture, we decided to give this its own menu.
You will still be selecting the "Gamma Workflow" that is being fed into LiveGrain and expected from LiveGrain, and you can now simply select your "TARGET DISPLAY", and LiveGrain will automatically adjust the TONE curve to match your current display! No TONE adjustments needed to shift between SDR and HDR.
GAMMA WORKFLOW : Now covers a very large range of possible working Color Spaces. From Rec709, BT1886, DCI P3, ACES, to all Camera Log Formats, PQ Curves, and now even DaVinci WideGamut Intermediate (for Resolve systems ONLY).
TARGET DISPLAY : Is now very granular and allows you to chose from : Rec709, to DCI P3, and all the flavors of HDR, including Dolby Vision Cinema PQ108. LiveGrain will automatically change its internal transforms from Gamma or Camera Log, to being native PQ. Matching textural applications should now be as easy as changing TARGET DISPLAY when you change display targets!
B) "COLOR" Menu:
We have added separate "COLOR - SATURATION" and "COLOR - BALANCE" Controls.
SATURATION : You can now chose to de-saturate or saturate the texture as a whole, or un-gang it, and control saturation in only specific areas of the curve.
BALANCE : This tool allows you to change the Color Balance of the texture, by prioritizing one layer of the film over another layer. By providing Balance control of the Yellow Layer (Blue output) and the Cyan Layer (Red output) you can shift the balance of the color in the texture as it responds to the input fed into LiveGrain. You can do this in a Gang'ed way, where the entire image shifts together, or an un-gang'ed way, where you are selectively controlling the shift. Naturally, you cannot adjust the Magenta Layer (Green output) as this would change the brightness of the grain.
C) "GRIT" Menu:
LiveGrain has always reacted the way a Film DI, reacts. Which means, Light Input = Density Output. As such, images with deep blacks, should not have visible grain dancing in the shadows. We have been asked about recreating the look of "projected film", whereby the light bulb on the projector, continuously shines light through the black areas, and shows some grain even in the deepest blacks. That is what our GRIT tool is designed to replicate. It's effect is subtle, but should be noticeable if applied to dark areas of the image.
SHADOW GRIT, DENSITY and LIMIT : With finer controls than ever before, you can now control the amount of GRIT you would like in the shadows, the DENSITY of that GRIT, and also, how far into the LOW MIDS you would like this SHADOW GRIT to extend to (there is a soft roll off already built in). As an added control, we have now made the GRIT affected area visible in the TEXTURE MAP. It appears in PINK and allows you to see the extent of the LIMIT control once you increase the SHADOW GRIT slider passed the Zero mark, to turn on this function.
2) OPERATING SYSTEM and HOST SPECIFIC UPDATES:
DaVinci Resolve : Support now for "DaVinci Wide Gamut Intermediate" and ACES workflows. For Mac OS, LiveGrain now supports native METAL and METAL2 processing.
Baselight : Enhanced support for "Render in Working Format" workflows.
Nucoda : Enhanced processing speeds for single and dual GPUs.
Numerous multi-platform processing enhancements and optimizations.
3) FAQ:
a) Is this version compatible with previous LiveGrain 2.11 versions?
YES.
LiveGrain 2.12.0 is designed to allow you to open and run prior versions with no issue. The Film Profile and all the settings should match. New functions non-existent in prior versions, are simply set to NIL if opened in LiveGrain 2.12.0
There is however one WARNING :
The SET UP menu is new in 2.12.0. As such it has many options not available before this release. It is a good practice if opening up a prior version of LiveGrain, to go and check that the SET UP Menu is correctly set up. With the correct GAMMA WORKFLOW, and proper TARGET DISPLAY. Since this setting is usually the same for the entire project, making this selection adjustment should be rather quick and easy and will ensure you are processing the texture correctly.
b) Are there more features expected in LiveGrain 2.X before you switch over to LiveGrain 3?
The only other feature we expect to add to LiveGrain 2.X is support for the M1 Architecture on Mac OS. It is currently in process and simply did not make this release schedule but we expect that to be forthcoming in a new release build. After that is released, we do not plan on adding any new features to LiveGrain 2.X, all new features will be coming in our forthcoming LiveGrain 3.0 which we hope will be ready by year's end. LiveGrain 3.0 is a complete ground up re-build with tons of new features and a new architecture! Upon it's release, you will be able to run LiveGrain 2.X and LiveGrain 3.0 concurrently.
We will naturally be supporting LiveGrain 2.X with bug fixes and OS support fixes as the need arises for the foreseeable future.
c) Will there be an Installer Application for Windows or Linux like for Mac, or do we still have to install the files manually according to the instructions?
We have built an installer application for both Windows and Linux, but it is currently built for LiveGrain 3.0. We do not plan on back-porting to LiveGrain 2.X as the architecture is quite different and we hope to put all our energies in getting LiveGrain 3.0 released ASAP! So manual installation it is.