Guide
GATE.24 vs Dehancer vs Film Look Creator: Which DaVinci Resolve Film Look Plugin Is Worth It?
If you edit in DaVinci Resolve and you’re trying to get a cinematic finish on a graded clip, you’ve probably run into the same three names: Dehancer, Resolve’s own Film Look Creator, and — if you’re reading this — GATE.24. Here’s how they actually differ, without the marketing spin.
The short version
- Film Look Creator is free and already in Resolve. It’s a reasonable starting point, but it ships with only 7 generic presets and doesn’t touch cropping, skin tones, or per-stock grain.
- Dehancer is the deep end: 60+ real film stock emulations and 130+ camera profiles, with granular control over density and color separation. Lifetime licenses run $500+ (subscriptions are also available), and the depth is only useful if you actually want to build a look from scratch.
- GATE.24 sits in between: one single effect that bundles multi-format crop bars, a lens-tied vignette, grain by camera stock (8/16/35/65mm), and a final contrast pass with skin-tone protection — with 13 ready-made presets so you’re not starting from zero. It’s pay-what-you-want, including free.
Feature by feature
| Dehancer | Film Look Creator | GATE.24 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $500+ | Free | Pay what you want (can be free) |
| Multi-format crop bars | No | No | Yes |
| Vignette tied to lens character | Generic | Generic | Yes (Anamorphic / Spherical / Subtle-tele) |
| Grain by camera stock | Yes, very granular (60+ stocks) | One generic grain | Yes, simplified (8/16/35/65mm) |
| Skin-tone protection | Not the focus | No | Yes, with an eyedropper to sample real skin tone per shot |
| Ready-made presets | Few — you build the look | 7 generic | 13, split into Essentials and Genre groups |
| Diagnostic overlay (see exactly where an effect is acting) | No | No | Yes |
| Learning curve | High | Medium | One click, still fully adjustable by hand |
Where each one actually makes sense
Pick Film Look Creator if you want zero cost and don’t mind a more manual, node-based workflow to get a full finish.
Pick Dehancer if you’re doing serious film emulation work and want granular control over dozens of real stocks — the price buys you depth, not convenience.
Pick GATE.24 if you want a single effect that gets you most of the way to a finished, cinematic frame — crop, vignette, grain, and skin-safe contrast — in one click, with room to fine-tune every parameter by hand afterward. It’s built for editors who want a fast, repeatable finishing pass without assembling a node stack every time.
Worth knowing before you download
GATE.24 is currently Windows only (the developer doesn’t have Mac hardware to build and test on yet), and works fine with the free version of DaVinci Resolve — no Studio license required. The plugin panel is in English, and the installer runs in English or Spanish.