Using the Remove Grain Operator

The Remove Grain operator consists of two filters:

• An RGB-averaging filter that removes noise and softens the image.
• An RGB-sharpening filter that selectively restores the sharp details of an image.

These filters can be adjusted to achieve the necessary compromise between a blurred de-grained image and a sharp grainy image.

To reduce grain in a clip:

1. In the composite, select the layer you want to de-grain, or select an operator (such as Footage) from which you want to remove grain.
2. Choose Operators | Grain Management | Remove Grain.

The Remove Grain Controls panel appears.



By default, the Red, Green, and Blue channels are all enabled.

3. If you do not want to de-grain a specific color channel, disable it. You could also leave its Average and Sharpen values set to 0.
4. Enable Exclusive to show the selected channel as grayscale. This is useful when viewing the blue channel, as the eye is less sensitive to blue than to other colors.

When you enable Exclusive, Red is enabled (selected for display) by default. Click Blue or Green to show either of these channels.



Note: While Exclusive is enabled, any changes made in step 3 (disabled channels) are ignored; you only see the one channel. When you disable Exclusive, all channels become enabled again.

5. Disable Proportional below the fields to adjust the channels independently.

You can apply changes to all channels simultaneously by enabling Proportional, but adjusting each one individually is far more accurate.

6. Drag the appropriate RGB Average field until the desired amount of grain is reduced in the selected channel.

The range of values is from 0 to 100.

7. Drag the appropriate RGB Sharpen field until you are satisfied with the image's sharpness.

The range of values is from 0 to 100.

Note: It is at this point that you will recognize the need for compromise between removing grain and retaining sharpness in an image.

8. After setting the Average and Sharpen values for the necessary channels, check the result in various regions of the image (for example, shadows, midtones, and highlights).
9. You can compare the grain in the image to either the same image with another Remove Grain setup or another image from the workspace.

For information on the Compare tool, see Using the Compare Tool.