Kodak Tri-x 400 effect with digital?

[gabri]

Hiya,

 

I've been shooting tri-x 400 for ages now, just wondering if you know any way to get the

same kind of effect with digital.

Maybe using a plug in or whatever.

 

I've a mac by the way.

 

if you wanna have a look at my stuff just to have an idea of what sort of B&W I mean, you

can find it here www.gabrielenoziglia.com

 

thanks alot!

 

gab

[dennisprice]

Here's one way:

 

http://www.silveroxide.com/BWTech.htm

[eugene_scherba]

Why B&W? Your color shots aren't bad at all. Anyway, I tend to

exclusively use Photoshop tools such as the color mixer and also <a

href="http://www.adobe.com/tips/phs8colorbw/main.html">this

technique by Russel Brown</a>. I find the plugins that are

specifically geared for emulating any particular film too

constraining.

[beau 1664876222]

Gabriele,

 

you can make digital shots look like Tri-x just like you can make a synthesizer sound like

an acoustic guitar.

[gabri]

eheh...alright beau, gonna put my new toy on ebay then :)

[eugene_scherba]

Point well taken, Beau, but what if Gabriele's only goal is to have

prints in a gallery display look more or less consistent? Not that

the finer points don't matter, but sometimes you've got to get on

what you've got.

[agf]

Try this:

http://www.theimagingfactory.com/data/pages/products.htm

http://www.alienskin.com/exposure/index.html

[patricklavoie]

I think the lack of experience of Beau in photoshop seem limited. It is indeed possible to

have a digital file look like a tradional one...just a matter of experience and the good tools.

Here is some of my recipe to get as close as possible the tonality of different films, to get

the noise part, i use a layer fill with 50% gray / in SOFTLIGHT mode / filter NOISE /

gaussian, monochromatic...add to your taste of ISO. so the recipe are/ Use them with

channel mixer red-green-blue. In monochrome mode._Agfa 200X: 18,41,41 / Agfapan 25:

25,39,36 / Agfapan 100: 21,40,39 / Agfapan 400: 20,41,39 / Ilford Delta 100: 21,42,37 /

Ilford Delta 400: 22,42,36 / Ilford Delta 400 Pro & 3200: 31,36,33 / Ilford FP4: 28,41,31 /

Ilford HP5: 23,37,40 / Ilford Pan F: 33,36,31 / Ilford SFX: 36,31,33 / Ilford XP2 Super:

21,42,37 / Kodak Tmax 100: 24,37,39 / Kodak Tmax 400: 27,36,37 / Kodak Tri-X:

25,35,40 And these basic ones: Normal Contrast: 43,33,30 /High Contrast: 40,34,60 and

at last a generic BW: 24,68,8. I like to use 50,50,0 or 25,75,0.

[klimax]

Over time, fewer people will have had experience with Tri-X and so fewer people will remember what feeling they are supposed to have when they see those spots.

 

Also, over time, people using digital will discover new visual metaphors that go beyond coarse grain. Gabriele, I hope that you will put your imagination to work and become one of those discoverers.

[kahheng]

Gabriele

 

The no-brainer way (i.e., pay money way) is to use Alien Skin's new plugin called "Exposure". It does simulate the Tri-X look (amongst others) quite well - tone and grain wise. Even has push simulation. I like the orthochromatic simulation the best actually.

 

You can download a demo from the Alien Skin website.

 

http://www.alienskin.com/

 

It's not perfect but really not too shabby a plugin.

 

I find Grain Surgery's grain simulation good as well.

[michael_matsil]

Gabriele....a few thoughts: You can do it the 'no brainer' way or you can do it the learned

way. Anything those

expensive filters can do, you can do with Photoshop alone. I've looked at your work and

you've got really nice style developing and the look of the materials you use supports that.

That's great. If you experiment with applyiing grain through various masks you can

control

its distribution though the highlights...midtones and shadows to suit what you have come

to

expect from tri-x. This in combination with sharpening, bluring technique and contrast

adjustment will give you what you need. (Also work with different blending modes on

these

layers.) You'll also want to investigate the various methods of converting your color digital

images into b&w....the channel mixer is my preferred way. Remember, if you're shooting

digital, you're shooting in color and then converting in Photoshop....don't do any auto b&w

jpeg garbage in camera...you'll be sorry. Shoot raw. This sounds like a lot of post

production work, but I know that you are selective in what you choose to print and display.

The few you edit out of the many are worth the effort.

 

In the long run, you'll have full knowledge and control of your results, which is what

artists like to have. Photoshop is your darkroom...get to know it well.