ForgeFilm is Born
Fujifilm recipes are one of the best things about shooting Fuji, but finding, trusting and loading them was harder than it should be. Here's how ForgeFilm started and what it's for.
Every Fujifilm shooter knows the moment. You flick through the frames on the back screen and they already look finished, like they came back from the lab. No laptop, no sliders, no evening lost to editing. That's what a good film simulation recipe does, and it's why I fell for shooting JPEGs.
ForgeFilm started because getting to that moment was harder than it should have been. We started on a mission to bring film simulation recipe to the new age.
The trouble with recipes
A recipe is just a list of settings: a film simulation, white balance and shift, dynamic range, tone curve, colour, grain and a few more. Simple on paper. In practice:
They're scattered. Blog posts, forum threads, social media, screenshots, notes on someone's phone. Finding the one you saw last month is half the battle.
They don't always fit your camera. A recipe written for a newer body can call for a film simulation, Clarity or Color Chrome FX Blue that an older body doesn't have. You find out halfway through the menus. Compatibility across cameras and sensors can be a challenge to figure out.
Typing them in is tedious. A dozen settings, menu by menu, slot by slot. Get one wrong and the look is off, and you might not notice until you're home.
Sharing your own is awkward. Build a look you love and there's no good home for it. It becomes another screenshot.
What ForgeFilm does about it
I wanted one place that treats recipes properly. ForgeFilm is built around a few ideas:
Camera first. Every Fujifilm X body has its own list of what it can actually do. Every recipe on ForgeFilm is checked against that list, so it only ever offers settings your camera supports. Pick your body and the gallery only shows recipes that will work on it.
No typing. Plug your camera in over USB and your browser writes the recipe straight into a custom slot, C1 to C7. Turn the dial and go shoot.
Build your own. The Studio lets you create a recipe from scratch with controls shaped around your camera's real ranges. Or drop in a reference photo and our AI Lab suggests the closest film simulation and settings, which you can tweak before saving.
Collections. A recipe is one look. A collection is a whole camera bag of them: a set built around one camera or one feeling. Load it into C1 to C7 and you can shoot a whole series in a single style, or switch moods with a turn of the dial. Make your own, or browse the ones the community has put together.
Recipe Roulette. Sometimes you don't know what you want until you see it. Roulette plays a shuffled run of photos made with ForgeFilm recipes. Keep the ones that catch your eye and the recipes behind them are revealed at the end. It's a fun way to find a look you'd never have searched for.
A home for creators. Publish recipes with sample photos and get seen.
What comes next
ForgeFilm is still young. An iOS app is on the way, using the same account you use here. There'll be more camera bodies, more recipes and more from the community.
And there's this journal. I'll use it to share the thinking behind new features, the recipes I'm shooting with, and what I learn along the way.
If you shoot Fuji, I hope ForgeFilm saves you time and gets you out the door. Charge the battery. Pick a recipe. Go for a walk. The rest is just looking for good light.
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