Lens flares are a common visual effect that can enhance the realism and mood of a scene, but also pose some challenges for VFX compositors. How can you create believable lens flares that match the lighting, perspective, and color of your footage? Here are some tips to help you achieve convincing results.
Lens flares are caused by the reflection and refraction of light inside a camera lens, which creates various shapes and patterns on the image. The type and intensity of the lens flare depends on the source of the light, the angle of the camera, the aperture and focal length of the lens, and the quality and coating of the glass elements. To create a realistic lens flare, you need to understand these factors and how they affect the appearance of the flare. For example, a bright sun or a car headlight will produce a different lens flare than a candle or a street lamp. A wide-angle or fisheye lens will create more distortion and chromatic aberration than a telephoto or prime lens. A cheap or dirty lens will have more ghosting and streaks than a high-end or clean lens.
The compositor first must understand the source light and it's properties like, it's angle, intensity, how much the light is occluding... and lens type. There are few pulgins like are available they can create the almost realistic lens flare. Generally I use OpticalFlare
-Know your source. -But most important KNOW what lens is seeing this, is it Spherical? Anamorphic? if so is this Blue? Amber? -Is this for visual impact? or merely a real optical element you are adding to your scene?
- Keep REFERENCE of real footage close by to match animation timings - ALWAYS blur your lens flares - IMPERFECTIONS are key - NEVER over do it
Study how lens flares occur in real life. we had sort of reflection and scattering inside the camera lens. Ensure the lens flare matches the lighting lightbulbs and sun work in different ways. If you're creating lens flares manually, it's crucial to understand the underlying mathematics of how light behaves and interacts with the camera lens. Familiarize yourself with concepts like light scattering, refraction, and the use of multiple layered elements (sprites) to create a composite flare.
I think knowing about lenses and optical effects like softness, filters, shutter, aperture, shapes, directions of light and camera movements, if it comes from a big source of light or comes from a little pin light and the way how it blends and looks framing an image, how it reacts with the film or sensor inside the camera could be a tricky thing.
There are many tools and plugins available for creating lens flares in VFX compositing software, such as Optical Flares, Knoll Light Factory, and Sapphire. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you should choose the one that suits your needs and budget. Some tools offer more customization and control over the parameters and elements of the lens flare, while others have more presets and templates to choose from. Some tools also have features that allow you to track the motion of the light source, simulate the occlusion and obscuration of the flare by other objects, and match the color and grain of the footage.
In my practice Optical Flares (Video Copilot) has most of it as a tool, amount of elements and controls. But if you have too many resources you can create your own photorealistic Lens Flare system - all math is out there.
Creating cool lens flares? Here's the lowdown on tools: Optical Flares (Video Copilot): Vibe: Pro-level realism and tons of options. Catch: Needs a separate buy-in. Knoll Light Factory (Red Giant): Vibe: Variety and After Effects love. Catch: Might hit the wallet. Lenscare (Frischluft): Vibe: Depth of field champ with bonus flares. Catch: Less flashy customization. HitFilm Express: Vibe: Budget-friendly and beginner vibes. Catch: Basic compared to pros. Sapphire (Boris FX): Vibe: Hollywood-level effects. Catch: Pricey for the glam. Flare Factor (AE Scripts): Vibe: Script simplicity for After Effects. Catch: Not as fancy as plugins. Choose based on your groove, whether you're ballin' or budgeting. Time to lens flare like a pro! ????
For me, the right tool to do it with freedom is Knoll Light Factory. It's a very useful plugin for AE that covers all my needs.
Once you have chosen your tool and applied it to your footage, you need to adjust the settings to make the lens flare look natural and consistent. Consider the size, position, brightness, color, and shape of the lens flare. The size should be proportional to the size of the light source and distance from the camera; the position should align with the light source and center of the lens; brightness should be balanced with the scene and light source; color should harmonize with the scene and light source; and shape should be realistic and varied depending on the type and quality of lens. Use the tool's built-in tracker or manually keyframe position, masks or expressions to control brightness, color correction tools or filters to adjust hue, saturation, and contrast, and presets or custom elements to create different shapes.
Decide what is your Lens Flare – matching to one from plate or adding a creative one? These are two different types of work where. In the first case it is mostly a technical work. Maybe you will need to extract some elements from real footage and use them in your plug-in or system. Type of artifacts and imperfections are depends on lens qualities(check P31 Article-Bokeh-2010-EN.pdf ). In the second scenario – it’s up to a director, supervisor what is nice and works in the shot.
1. Study Real Flares: Understand how they behave in various lighting conditions. 2. Context Matters: Not every scene needs a flare; consider the environment. 3. Use Real Elements: Incorporate real flare footage for authenticity. 4. Vary Intensity and Shape: Experiment with different shapes and sizes. 5. Animate Realistically: Flares should move naturally with camera motion. 6. Color and Opacity: Adjust to match the scene's lighting and tone. 7. Blend with Footage: Ensure seamless integration using blending modes. 8. Positioning: Place flares where light sources would realistically cause them. 9. Depth and Scale: Consider how distance affects flare appearance. 10. Subtlety: Sometimes, less is more; a subtle hint of a flare can be effective.
Nailing those lens flares? Adjust like a pro: Intensity: Amp up or tone down the glow for the perfect vibe. Color Palette: Splash some color to match the scene's mood. Size and Scale: Resize for impact, from bold to subtle. Positioning: Shift around until it vibes with the light source. Animation Speed: If your scene moves, make the flare dance along. Flare Elements: Blend in streaks or stars for that extra flair. Blurriness: Soften the edges, add a touch of dreaminess. Flicker Effect: Subtle flickering for that touch of realism. Lens Dirt/Scratches: Introduce imperfections for a genuine lens feel. Customization: Play with every setting until it's just right. Less fuss, more vibe. Let those flares steal the scene! ???
Adjust the settings to control brightness and filters to adjust hue, saturation, contrast to match the natural source of the scene
To make the lens flare more believable and interesting, you can add details and effects that enhance the illusion of a real camera lens. An anamorphic lens flare is a horizontal streak that stretches across the image, often seen in cinematic films. Chromatic aberration is a distortion that splits the colors of the lens flare into red, green, and blue fringes, while dirt and dust are imperfections that create spots and specks on the lens flare. Flare flicker is a variation that changes the brightness and color of the lens flare over time. Lens flares are a powerful and versatile visual effect that can add realism and mood to VFX composites, but they require careful attention and adjustment to make them believable. By following these techniques, you can create lens flares that match your source footage and settings to achieve convincing results.
As I said before, you have to understand how flares work in real life. Then, all become easy to set up. I think is crucial to choose the right type of flare depending the situation, intensity of the light and direction of the camera's movement.
Be inspired by nature and find references in the real world events. Everything has instance, impulse and the reason to be in the frame, if it’s in harmony – then it will be working well.
The human brain notices when something is out of the ordinary. It's best to study how lens flares work and look in reality and then try to replicate that behavior. Find a real camera, go out and take photos with the light source in different positions.
Try, try and try. Making multiple tests you can understand the flares and get better results. You have to lose the "respect" to this tool. Good luck !
As a purist I agree with all the other comments, but let's be real about what we do: your job is to make it look great, in context whether there's direction or not. There's never one right answer.