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BCC Boris Effects vs Premiere stock effects - sharpening and video limiter - which is better?

Community Beginner ,
Jan 27, 2025 Jan 27, 2025

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I am finishing a documentary for television which has been shot in UHD Slog3 on a Sony Fx3 and needs to be delivered in HD 50i. As theres no in-camera-sharpening when shooting in slog3 I need to sharpen the footag a little in post and apply a video limiter. I found out that Boris fx BCC has filters for sharpening/detail and a video limiter as premiere plugins but playback performance is FAR worse than using the premiere stock effects. Did anyone use "BCC+ detail" or "BCC+ MagicSharp" or the "BCC Broadcast Safe"? Are they much better then premieres unsharp mask or sharpening in the lumetri panel and premieres video limiter? And are they worth the hassle to render the whole sequence to be able to have smooth playback?

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Editing , Effects and Titles , Hardware or GPU , Performance

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Community Expert , Jan 27, 2025 Jan 27, 2025

While there is some redundancy between built-in effects and third-party effects, I don't believe Premiere Pro has a native plugin equivalent to BCC+ Magic Sharp. For effects that are similar, the choice comes down to how important the additional parameters and settings provided by BCC are compared to the built-in options.

 

Take BCC+ Blur versus Gaussian Blur, for example. BCC+ Blur offers features like the FX Editor, direct access to online documentation via the "?", Mocha tracking and masking,

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Community Expert , Jan 28, 2025 Jan 28, 2025

Premiere doesn't give you the option to choose your scaling algorithm. In Resolve for example you can choose Smoother/Sharper/Bicubic etc. Since you are downscaling from UHD to HD, it might be worth looking to see how that looks with just a Sharper downscale. Might not work but might give you a pleasant gentle result so could be worth a try, especially if you are just planning to bulk add the effect to everything.

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LEGEND ,
Jan 27, 2025 Jan 27, 2025

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This is one of the many "maybe but not in all situations" things. So you have to really test on your own.

 

I know some folks that prefer the Boris sharpening overall, and there are occasional issues with the Premiere video limiter not completely expunging all superwhites and blacks. 

 

But I have seen demos where someone noted that for certain types of footage the Boris sharpening was better than say Resolves, but for another clip, the Resolve one was overall slightly better.

 

The really highest video sharpening I know of is the Topaz video sharpening which is amazing.

 

I would love to see a test/demo showing the differences between Boris's limiter and Premiere's. That could really be helpful.

 

@Warren Heaton do you have any thoughts? @Jarle Leirpoll ... @Richard M Knight  ... @Averdahl ?

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Community Expert ,
Jan 27, 2025 Jan 27, 2025

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While there is some redundancy between built-in effects and third-party effects, I don't believe Premiere Pro has a native plugin equivalent to BCC+ Magic Sharp. For effects that are similar, the choice comes down to how important the additional parameters and settings provided by BCC are compared to the built-in options.

 

Take BCC+ Blur versus Gaussian Blur, for example. BCC+ Blur offers features like the FX Editor, direct access to online documentation via the "?", Mocha tracking and masking, Compare Mode, Beat Reactor, Edge Mode (with options like Reflect, Transparent, and Repeat), and GPU rendering toggles specific to the effect. In contrast, Premiere's Gaussian Blur only provides control over the blur amount, dimensions, edge pixel repetition, and a project-wide GPU rendering setting.

Is one faster than the other? I've never directly compared them. Ultimately, if an effect achieves the look you need, you work around the render times. That said, effects that enhance picture quality inherently increase render time—it's just the nature of the process.

 

As for BCC-specific tools, BCC+ DeNoise ML stands out as an excellent option. Unlike some alternatives, such as Topaz Video for After Effects (which I've had crash issues with despite extensive troubleshooting), BCC+ DeNoise ML has been reliable for me. For beauty passes, BCC+ Beauty Studio is one of the best tools available, though Digital Anarchy's Beauty Box and Red Giant's Cosmo (part of Maxon One) are also strong contenders.

 

For workflows, the key is to wait until picture lock before applying render-intensive effects. However, in documentary projects, where picture lock can sometimes take years (or even a decade), consider using "Render and Replace" for effects you're confident about. This can save significant time during the editing process.

 

When ensuring broadcast legality, Premiere Pro's built-in scopes with Lumetri adjustments are sufficient. For smoother timeline playback during editing, reduce the Video Preview frame size until picture lock. For example, with 2160p source material in a 1080p sequence, set the preview to 1280x720 or even 960x540.

 

Looking ahead, consider shooting in a Smart Rendering format like ProRes for your next documentary. Working in a ProRes pipeline—shooting, editing, and finishing—eliminates unnecessary transcoding, provides source that can be its own preview file in the Timeline, and accelerates the process.

 

Regarding Boris FX Continuum, the subscription model is similar to Adobe Creative Cloud. One advantage is the flexibility to subscribe only when needed—for example, $37 for 30 days to apply and render BCC effects. If the subscription lapses, most effects can still be adjusted but will display a red "X" until re-licensed.

 

Finally, one of BCC's strengths is that its plugins work in both Premiere Pro and After Effects. I’d love to see Premiere Pro support After Effects plugins directly—it's been a long-standing feature request of mine. If anyone with decision-making power is reading this, consider it a nudge!  ðŸ™‚ 

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 27, 2025 Jan 27, 2025

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Thanks for this detailed answer!

So BCC+ Magic Sharp is way better than sharpening in premiere?

Do you see a real difference?

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Community Expert ,
Jan 28, 2025 Jan 28, 2025

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I'd take advantage of the free trial to see how it works your footage.  

If you want the same amount of sharpening across the entire frame, you may be fine with Unsharp Mask.  If you'd like to keep some areas soft, like skin, then you'll likely appreciate BCC+ MagicSharp.  Also, the Detail Tuning is likely to be helfpul to keep the sharpening from being too much.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 28, 2025 Jan 28, 2025

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Premiere doesn't give you the option to choose your scaling algorithm. In Resolve for example you can choose Smoother/Sharper/Bicubic etc. Since you are downscaling from UHD to HD, it might be worth looking to see how that looks with just a Sharper downscale. Might not work but might give you a pleasant gentle result so could be worth a try, especially if you are just planning to bulk add the effect to everything.

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