ARRI Film Lab: Bring the Look of Analog Film to Digital Post-Production

The ARRI Film Lab plugin offers a new way to bring the aesthetic of traditional celluloid to digital productions. You may already be familiar with ARRI’s long-standing reputation in cinema, from their cameras to their film scanners, and now that legacy extends into post-production. 

With ARRI Film Lab, digital footage can emulate the grain, color rendition, halation, and subtle imperfections that give analog film its distinctive character.

Designed as an OpenFX plugin, ARRI Film Lab is compatible with leading post-production software, including DaVinci Resolve, Baselight, Scratch, and Nuke. The software allows real-time processing of RGB footage from virtually any camera, making it suitable for projects of all scales, like high-budget movies and streaming series to commercials and independent films. 

What ARRI Film Lab Does

ARRI Film Lab translates decades of ARRI’s expertise in film and digital workflows into a single post-production tool. 

Grain can be adjusted to match different negative stocks, such as 50D, 200T, or 500T, while color options emulate various print stocks and processes, including reversal or bleach bypass. You can also control halation, replicating the red or orange glow around highlights typical of film, and gate weave, the slight frame unsteadiness sometimes seen in analog footage.

Unlike some film emulation tools that require heavy manual adjustments, ARRI Film Lab ensures that any combination of settings results in a pleasing analog look. The plugin respects existing LUTs or color grades applied to a project, so your pre-established workflow remains intact. 

This makes it particularly practical for productions using a mix of cameras, including ARRI’s own LogC3 and LogC4 workflows, as well as third-party footage from brands like Panasonic.

Technical Compatibility and Workflow

The plugin delivers real-time 4K processing for footage in formats such as ARRICORE, ARRIRAW, ProRes, and other codecs. It supports wide-gamut video and is future-proofed with ACES 2.0 support planned. 

For those looking to integrate ARRI Film Lab into a professional pipeline, floating licenses are available for studios, and cost-effective individual licenses can be purchased monthly, annually, or permanently. Educational pricing is also available.

An upcoming feature will allow on-set previewing of film looks on the ALEXA 35 and ALEXA 35 Xtreme. Using ARRI Textures and 3D LUTs, this simulation provides a real-time sense of grain, color, and halation directly in the camera viewfinder or monitor. 

You will be able to see a non-destructive representation of your final look during shooting without baking effects into the footage, giving total creative flexibility from set to post. This preview functionality is expected with a firmware update in Q1 2026.

Bundled Features and the ARRI Look Library

ARRI Film Lab also includes a special plugin version of the ARRI Look Library, allowing you to explore a wide range of LUTs in post. This provides convenient access to ARRI’s curated looks developed over decades for different environments and production types. 

You can experiment with these looks while keeping the workflow non-destructive, adjusting intensity, grain, or color parameters as needed.

The combination of ARRI Film Lab and the Look Library enables you to quickly achieve a cinematic film aesthetic in post, while still maintaining creative freedom. The plugin is designed to accommodate a broad spectrum of productions, from high-end features to small-budget projects, ensuring that filmmakers at every level can benefit from ARRI’s film expertise.

Availability of ARRI Film Lab

ARRI Film Lab is available now through RE:Vision Effects and its reseller network. Licenses can be purchased according to user needs, including floating options for studios or cost-effective plans for individuals. 

The on-set preview functionality for ALEXA 35 cameras is expected in Q1 2026, adding another layer of integration for productions already using ARRI hardware.

For anyone working in post-production or digital cinematography, ARRI Film Lab provides a practical and powerful tool to bring the look and soul of analog film into modern workflows.

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