Selecting the Negative Stock is a crucial step in preparing your footage for print film emulation. This step adjusts the base characteristics of your digital footage to mimic the tonal and color response of a particular film negative. It effectively brings your raw or log footage closer to how a specific film stock would have rendered the scene. While the names reference Kodak’s Vision series, these are not literal Kodak stocks but digital interpretations inspired by them.

Here’s a quick overview of the film stock families included:

• Vision1: An older generation of film stock with a more contrasty response and visible grain. It has a rougher, more stylized quality that can be useful for a vintage or raw aesthetic.
  
  
• Vision2: An intermediate generation that improved grain structure and color fidelity. It’s a good middle ground with moderate contrast and fine detail.
  
  
• Vision3: The most modern and refined of the group. It offers wider dynamic range, better highlight retention, and subtle color reproduction, making it the most flexible for general use.

Each of these stocks comes in multiple variations like 500T, 250D, or 200T, indicating their lighting balance (Tungsten or Daylight) and speed. Additional tone mappings such as Balanced, Natural, and Legacy offer different stylistic renditions of each stock. Choosing the right negative stock not only defines how your image is interpreted at this stage — it also sets the foundation for applying the final Print Film Emulation, which happens in the next step.