Grain

Grain is the fine, random texture of the film emulsion — the visible “tooth” that film has and clean digital does not. Beyond simply looking filmic, it earns its place: the randomness breaks up digital banding in smooth gradients like skies and skin, hiding the stair-stepping that flat color can show. Grain is added as one of the last steps of a film emulation, sitting on top of the look, at a strength tuned to your delivery resolution so it reads as texture rather than noise.

First used in: 2.10 · Look development II — film emulation