Film Look—Soft Bloom with Adobe Dynamic Link

Are you looking to push the "film look" even further for your DSLR footage? A quick trip to Adobe After Effects can enhance your clips.

filmlook

  1. Duplicate your current sequence in Adobe Premiere Pro in case you change your mind.
  2. Select the clips in the current timeline that you want to process.
  3. Choose File > Adobe Dynamic Link > Replace With After Effects Composition.
  4. The selected clips are sent to After Effects. If its not running already, the program will open. Name the project and click Save.
  5. Double-click the composition to ensure it is open, then click in the Timeline panel.
  6. In After Effects, choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer. You can use an adjustment layer to affect all clips below.
  7. Choose Effect > Blur > Fast Blur and crank the filter up to a radius between 15 and 90 pixels. Don’t worry if it looks over-done.
  8. Click the Repeat Edge Pixels checkbox.
  9. Switch to modes in the Timeline and try different blending modes such as Add, Overlay, Soft Light, or Multiply. In fact you may want to try all of the different modes to see which one you like best. Depending on your source, you may need to use different modes, to get results.
  10. Adjust the opacity of the adjustment layer to taste.
  11. Choose File > Close Project. Save your changes.
  12. Return to Adobe Premiere Pro to see the updated effect. If you want to update the effect, highlight the linked composition and press Cmd+E (Ctrl+E).