Update the Add Grain effect to use GPU and 32-bit
I need to apply grain frequently in my work to clean plates I’ve created, and it needs to match the 6k/4k HDR plates I’ve been provided. I prefer Add Grain to Match Grain, as it’s quicker and more accurate for me to manually set it. Because of the size of the plates, and the lack of GPU acceleration in this plug-in, it’s the main bottleneck in my rendering speed, plus 32-bit would help with color fidelity. Obviously, multiframe rendering would be great, too, but I would at least love GPU acceleration to start!

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Vishrut Manseta commented
Not just the grain and noise settings but the color management as well. If you ask me color management in AE is terrible and the whole thing needs an immediate overhaul. Working with multi channel exrs and ACES in Nuke is a breeze compared to the crazy and often confusing processes in AE. Have been using AE for 20 years now and if things dont change I'll have to abandon it completely
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adrian wyer commented
update the grain to 32bit, add gpu support to speed things up, and maybe even consider native OCIO/ACES color workflow or, as others have said, you are completely irrelevant in the current VFX space.
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Nate V commented
Adobe, do you hear us? We don't need a new AI gizmo! We need BASICS!! Like a grain effect that actually works with today's workflows! I'm seriously considering switching to NUKE for any compositing because of this, and how sloooooowww AE is with EXRs.
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Dan Sollis commented
There's still so many essential plugins that still don't support 32bit float (or work unpredictably in colour managed space), but this is probably the most egregious omission.
And GPU acceleration would be a huge boon too. -
Jari Hakala commented
UP!
Film grain overlays don't do it.
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Roei Tzoref commented
as a workaround, and since grain or sharpen are operations that usually benefit from working in log 10-bit integer color space anyway, you can simply convert your footage from its color space to Log using Color profile converter or OCIO plugin, do the grain, then Convert it back.
an example here is in 07:36
https://youtu.be/1OuHZOeU4DQ?t=456 -
Dan Pochtrager commented
THIS IS STILL VERY NEEDED
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kaczorefx commented
Oh come on, AE 2022 and grain is still not 32bit?!?!?!?!
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Jari Hakala commented
Bump up this topic!
I fight with this in every project, since I work in 32-bit almost without exception. Please Adobe, there is no tool for decent grain management at the moment. It's not for film emulation only, every digital camera has noise too we have to match in compositing. Grain overlays are not a way to go in my opinion. -
Dustin Solomon commented
Agreed, this is the #1 block to our linear ACES HDR pipeline. Please make this effect 32bit.
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Nathan Apffel commented
Adobe you are in serious danger of becoming obsolete.
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Gabriel Valente commented
Adding my vote to this one as well.
Surprised that this fairly basic effect isn't compatible with 32-bit color... -
Jari Hakala commented
Absolutely! I work mostly in ACES and 32-bit. Please upgrade the "Add Grain" plugin.
... but by all means, don't stop there. Everything inside AE should work in 32-bit. -
Paul Daniel commented
yes I agree with everything said here. Found this thread as I'm trying to figure out how I'll re-grain my 32-bit shot
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Adobe+4 Ingenuity Studios commented
100% Agree with this. As the Head of Motion Design within a NUKE-Based VFX Company, issues like 32-bit grain are on of the last things we need to really start compositing and finaling VFX shots out of AE instead of NUKE.
If Adobe seriously embraced color-management and 32-bit FX the way Foundry has, they could seriously disrupt how VFX are done.
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Philip B commented
Yes please! After Effects is way behind other free software for modern workflows. Not being able to do really basic things in 32bit color space makes it really frustrating. We pay serious money to use this software and tools like Blender's compositor and Fusion clearly understand the need for 32bit, linear workflows. Why is After Effects soooooo behind on this? It's not 2005 anymore.
Upgrade Add Grain and Match grain to 32bit. In fact, upgrade everything to 32bit. The reshape plugin, CC Composite, all of it. There's no point in destroying data that you don't have to. We'll wait for the longer render times if it means being able to actually use the stuff.
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kaczorefx commented
Please move this to the top of priorities.
Since we're now all moving towards ACES which requires working in 32bit, not having a grain effect that works in 32bit makes most of the compositing work almost impossible to do. It's hard to think of an effect that doesn't require grain matching with the background plate, and now every time we apply the add grain effect all, overbright values get clamped, so we CAN'T use the effect on any new production :/