Dehancer Pro reviewed: Film emulation made easy

Dozens of real photographic and motion picture films with truly analogue controls; Film Grain, Bloom and Halation effects; complete native support of ACES pipeline… Blake Jones takes the Dehancer OFX plugin suite for DaVinci Resolve for a spin.

I have been extensively using Dehancer Pro recently and I am extremely impressed with the results. Dehancer Pro is available for many platforms, even for use on your iPad. I am using Dehancer Pro with DaVinci Resolve. The installation and licensing of the application was quick and easy. There is also an Options area in the Dehancer window that allows you to check your license and check the optimization of your hardware with the software. 

It’s important to note the applications such as DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 come with a film emulation OpenFXplugin. Their OpenFXplugin creates a look that resembles film but is not specific for a particular type of film stock. Dehancer Pro has presets for many different types of stocks. For example I tried out the Kodachrome setting and it really did look like Kodachrome. I also tried out their preset for Fujichrome and it was very realistic. 

There is also a setting for adding film grain into the picture. Upon trying it out, it really does look like film grain and not noise. In the past I used to layer real film grain over the image but with Dehancer Pro it’s no longer necessary. All the various adjustment tools in Dehancer Pro can be selected or deselected when required. The software also has the option that you can combine various effects and then export them in a LUT. 

Most recently their emulation has expanded so that film perforations can also be seen in the picture. You have the option of selecting everything from Super 8 perforations all the way up to 65mm perforations. 

Dehancer in use

So let’s get into how we would actually use the Dehancer Open FX plugin. First off let’s drag the plugin into our node graph. Next you have the option of selecting the source and exposure, You can then adjust color temperature or tint compensation. Defringe adjustments can also be applied when the Enabled check box is selected.

Next film developer variations can be applied. I then scroll down to the Film option and I can select the type of film stock that I want to emulate. I can then select the Film Compression and make any required adjustments. As I mentioned previously, the options in the software can be deselected when they are not required. You will also find the Expand section that gives you Black and White point adjustments when required. 

If you scroll down through the control window you will then come across the Print section that allows you to emulate various print stocks. This is particularly useful and you can easily create a print look in your grade using this function.

Moving on down the window will reveal many different options such as Color Head adjustments, and even Halation or Bloom. You also have the option of adding film damage into the image or even gate weave. Finally you also have the option of adding a vignette using the software. 

Recently it has become quite popular to show film perforations on the sides of pictures and this can be easily done with Dehancer Pro. Additionally the Print emulation section is extremely useful for creating a Print Look at the end of a grade. 

A two-seat license costs $149 for three months, $199 for six, $299 for 12, or $449 for a lifetime.

tl;dr

• Dehancer Pro is a powerful plugin suite for DaVinci Resolve offering real film effects and support for various film stocks.
• The software provides extensive control over the emulation process, including color adjustments, film type selection, and the addition of film grain and other effects.
• Users can export their adjustments as a LUT and easily create a print look using the print emulation section.