Lens Flare in Anime Studio?

94253 · Post by **94253** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:37 pm

I flipped through the manual & searched for existing threads but I couldn't come up with anything relevant. I likely don't know which search terms to use. :'(

I would like to animate a star coming into view from behind a planet, creating lens flare across the screen as it emerges. I want the light from the star to fill the screen until it is entirely washed out. I can create a white layer and adjust its opacity to make it slowly flood the screen, but it doesn't look like the light is coming from the star... It just sort of appears. I've also tried layering a few smaller round white layers and fading them in slowly, but it doesn't look right at all.

Has anyone done something similar to this? Are there any tricks I should be aware of, or tools in AS which would help me create something like this? I've used the particle generator a bit but I don't know if that will help me with this specific project. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:47 pm

I'm sure Parker has done some of this stuff...take a look at his recent work. I think he's even done some tutorials which include lens flare.

94253 · Post by **94253** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:18 pm

Thanks for the tip! I checked out Parker's YouTube channel (specifically this video which is awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nerxZz0-h-0). I see he has a lot of flare, from the sun at the beginning, and the sword blades the whole way through, to the pot of gold at the end.

I'm terrible with describing what I want, which is possibly why it is so hard for me to find what I'm thinking of. The actual flare from the star on the lens (the rings closer and closer to you) I can do. The part I'm having trouble with is getting the screen to become completely washed out by the light. There is probably another term for this because it isn't really the lens flare... I don't really know how to describe it.

If I use my aforementioned technique (adding a white layer and adjusting its opacity to fade it in) very quickly, it looks ok. I want the pace of my clip to go very slowly, though, and when I slow it down it doesn't look like the light is actually coming from the star.

Hopefully this post will help clarify my trouble. I apologize for my poor handle on appropriate animation terminology!

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:45 pm

I'd try to stack several versions of flares on top of each other, scale them bigger and adjust opacity until everything is white.

94253 · Post by **94253** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:49 pm

That sounds good. I'll do that and just tweak the settings until I get it to look right. Thanks!

I found an awesome plug-in for After Effects which does what I want...but they don't make a plug-in for Anime Studio! xD