Flare

This node simulates lens flares that are created by reflections between lenses inside a film or video camera when the camera is pointed towards a bright light source, such as the sun. Lens flares are typically added to compositions to create a sense of realism, implying that the image is an un-edited shot of a real life scene.

Lens flares are generally round, oval, or roundish with 5 or 6 flattened sides. They tend to show chroma shifting, generating rainbow-like outlines. Nuke flares are implemented as a donut-like shape. They have three radii:

You can define two colors for the flare: the color of the donut itself and the fill color for the donut hole. If these two colors are the same, flares are rendered as disks.

Inputs and Controls

Connection Type	Connection Name	Function
Input	unnamed	The image sequence to which you want to add lens flares.

Control (UI)	Knob (Scripting)	Default Value	Function
Flare Tab
Position
position	position	100, 300	Sets the center position of the flare on the x and y axes. You can reposition the flare along an imaginary line between position and the center of the image using the offset control. In this case, set position to the coordinates of the light source.
offset	offset	0	Adjusts the flare along a line between the center of the image at 0 and the position, or light source, at 1.
radius	radius	80, 100, 120	Sets the size of the flare as described by three radii: • inner - sets the size of the ’hole’ filled by the inner color control. • middle - sets the thickness of the donut filled by the ring color control. • outer - sets the outer limit of the donut.
size mult	size_mult	1	Scales the flare globally, while retaining the ratio described by the radius controls.
anamorph	anamorph	1	Simulates anamorphic lens flares by altering the default 1:1 flare shape.
Colors
ring color	ring_color	1	Sets the ring color of the flare donut. Flares fade from black at the outer radius to the ring color on the middle radius.
inner color	inner_color	0.5	Sets the inner color of the flare donut. Flares fade from the ring color on the middle radius to the inner color on the inner radius.
outer falloff	outer _falloff	1	Sets the blending or falloff between the outer radius and the background image.
inner falloff	inner_falloff	1	Sets the blending or falloff between the inner radius and the background image.
Color Shifts
chroma spread	chroma_spread	0	Moves chroma spread to and from the center of the flare. Positive values shift red outward and blue inward, and vice versa. Note: You can use the color inner and outerfalloff controls to compensate for banding created by large chroma spread values.
chroma shift	chroma_shift	0	Moves color components in the direction specified in the angle control.
angle	chroma_shift_angle	0	Sets the direction of chroma shift. Positive values rotate the shift counter-clockwise and vice versa.
rel	chroma_shift_angle_add	disabled	When enabled, angle is relative to the light angle (the angle between position and the center point of the image).
Visibility
brightness	brightness	1	Adjusts the overall brightness of the flare. Setting this value to 0 makes the flare invisible.
in	vis_in	1	Sets the relative distance from the light source to the matte, at which the flare is fully visible.
out	vis_out	1.1	Sets the relative distance from the light source to the matte, at which the flare is fully invisible.
mask	N/A	disabled	Enables the associated mask channel to the right. Disabling this checkbox is the same as setting the channel to none.
mask	vis_mask	none	The channel to use as a visibility mask. The lens flare effect is limited to the non-black areas of this channel. Where the visibility mask is white, the full brightness value is used. Where the mask is black, brightness is set to 0 (invisible). Gray areas are attenuated accordingly.
mask blur	vis_mask_size	4	When a visibility mask is used, the mask is blurred by this radius.
Shape
corners	corners	5	If edge flattening is set to a value greater than 0, this controls the number of sides that make up the polygonal flare.
edge flattening	flattening	0	Simulates polygonal flares that some physical lens flares create. The default value of 0 creates a circular flare. Higher values push the sides toward the center of the flare, creating a star shape at values past 1.
corner sharpness	sharpness	0.5	Adjusts the sharpness of the angles created with edgeflattening.
angle	corners_angle	0	Sets the position of the first corner of a polygonal flare. Positive values rotate the first corner counter-clockwise and vice versa.
rel	corners_angle_add	disabled	When enabled, angle is relative to the light angle (the angle between position and the center point of the image).
Multi Tab
Asymmetry
repeat	asym_repeat	1	Sets the number of darkened sections around the circumference of the flare.
multiplier	asym_multiplier	1	Sets how dark the darkened sections are. The default value of 1 creates no darkening, whereas a value of 0 sets the darkened sections to black.
falloff	asym_falloff	1	Sets the falloff at the edges of the darkened sections. The higher the value, the wider the darkened sections.
angle	asym_angle	0	Rotates the darkened sections around the center of the flare. Positive values rotate the sections counter-clockwise and vice versa.
Multiple Flares
repeat	mult_num	1	Creates multiple flares with similar attributes. These are randomized according to the controls below. You can affect multiple flares by adjusting the overall seed or by setting seeds for individual controls.
overall seed	mult_seed	0	Sets the master, or overall, seed for all the below attributes on all repeat flares. This produces random attributes for each flare. Change the value to randomly vary the attributes.
random offset	mult_offset	1	Randomly varies the offsets for all repeat flares along the line from the image center to position.
random offset	mult_offset_seed	48235	Randomly varies the offsets for all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
size	mult_size	0	Randomly varies the sizes of all repeat flares. Positive values scale the flares down and vice versa.
size	mult_size_seed	94335	Randomly varies the sizes of all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
hue	mult_color	0	Randomly varies the colors of all repeat flares. Positive values move the hue towards blue and negative values toward red.
hue	mult_color_seed	77088	Randomly varies the colors of all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
brightness	mult_brightness	0	Randomly varies the brightness for all repeat flares. Positive values increase the flare brightness and vice versa.
brightness	mult_brightness_seed	75021	Randomly varies the brightness for all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
visibility	mult_visibility	0	Randomly varies the visibility for all repeat flares. Positive values increase the flare opacity and vice versa.
visibility	mult_visibility_seed	68995	Randomly varies the visibility for all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
edge flattening	mult_flattening	0	Randomly varies the edge flattening for all repeat flares. Positive values push the sides toward the center of the flare. Negative values push the sides out, creating a more circular flare.
edge flattening	mult_flattening_seed	45203	Randomly varies the edge flattening for all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
rotation	mult_rotate	0	Randomly varies the rotation for all repeat flares. Positive values rotate the flare clockwise and vice versa.
rotation	mult_rotate_seed	49429	Randomly varies the rotation for all repeat flares. You can tie Multiple Flare controls together by giving them the same value here.
Extra
speedup	speedup	0	Decreases rendering time at the expense of horizontal resolution. The default value of 0 renders at full resolution.
Presets Tab
Flares
MultiPenta	MultiPenta	N/A	Creates multiple preset polygonal flares along the line from the image center to position.
Rings
LgRainbow	LgRainbow	N/A	Creates multiple rainbow colored ring flares along the line from the image center to position.
Glowballs
Bright	Bright	N/A	Creates multiple preset bright flares along the line from the image center to position.
Sparkles
ManyBright	ManyBright	N/A	Creates multiple preset sparkle flares along the line from the image center to position.
Symmetry4	Symmetry4	N/A
Resets
all	all	N/A	Removes all preset flares and resets all Flare node controls to their defaults.