Hey guys, welcome back to another HitFilm tutorial.
Today we're going to be taking a look at one of HitFilm's most popular built-in effects,
the light flares effect.
And we're going to be taking it to the next level by combining different types to create
our own customized anamorphic lens flare.
This techniques works in both HitFilm Pro and Express.
Later in the video we'll take a look at some effects that can enhance your light flares.
Some of these effects may require Express add-on packs.
Let's go ahead and get started.
Let's create a new black Plane and drop the Light Flares effect onto it.
Create a new Point as well- since we'll be using several effects, I want to be able to
move them all at once.
In the Hotspot Position properties, zero out the Center and select the Point under Use
Layer.
One of the first things I recommend you do is go into the Flare Type list and look at
every flare that is available.
If you want to start building your own flares, you have to know what tools you have at your
disposal.
Once you change the Type, you can use the down arrow key to quickly go through them
all.
Take note of features you like, whether it's the shape of the hotspot, the rays, or any
other element of each flare.
If you're not sure what kind of lens flare you'd like to build, try Googling real picture
and go off of those.
For this tutorial I'll use this picture as inspiration.
The idea is to break the flare you want to recreate into smaller parts, and focus on
replicating them one at a time.
So we'll start with the hotspot, which is the name I use for the core circular light.
Now luckily, the default light flare has a hotspot that is pretty similar to what we're
going for.
Let's tweak a few settings to get it the rest of way there.
First, we have these circles coming off the flare that we don't need.
These artifacts are usually classified as Other Elements.
So I'll open that property list and turn the Brightness down to 0.
We're left with just the hotspot.
The reference image doesn't have as many of these sharp rays coming out of the center.
Under Rays, I'll decrease the Quantity Scale a bit to lower the amount.
In addition to how many rays are visible, you have control over their rotation, length,
and width.
There are several settings that can change the color of the flare, but I typically like
to use the Global controls.
In this case I'll actually just decrease the Saturation to 0; we'll be adding color back
in later.
When you're building light flares, be sure to name each layer appropriately.
It's very easy to become confused about which part of the flare you're adjusting.
Let's move on to the next part- this horizontal line that is common in anamorphic lens flares.
Duplicate and reset the first effect.
Remember to parent the position back to the Point layer.
The flare type that will work perfectly for this next piece is Digital Stripe.
I'll just decrease the Scale a bit.
Moving right along to the bigger light rays that come off of most lens flares- these are
usually more subtle but help enhance the glow.
I'll add another piece onto our light flares puzzle, and again parent it to the point.
For this I'll use the Sun Glare type, which is a simple flare with a nice circle of rays
coming out from the center.
I don't want the Hotspot to affect the rest of the flare too much, so I'll decrease the
Brightness of that, while at the same time increasing the Brightness in the Rays dropdown.
Remember that you can increase or decrease the Quantity Scale for more or less light
rays.
Next up is this chromatic hoop coming off of the center of the flare, and we have a
type that is perfect for just that.
It's called Chromatic Hoop.
This flare type has its own Hotspot, I'll turn it down to make it a bit more subtle.
The hoop itself is considered to be Rays, so you can adjust the look under that dropdown.
By decreasing the Quantity Scale to almost 0, you'll have the hoop be a solid piece of
color.
If you like the look of the rainbow flare but don't want it to connect to the center,
try the Chromatic Arc type instead.
Before we move on to the next piece I want to colorize the flare we have so far.
If you're using Pro or have the Color: Looks pack for Express, I recommend using the Color
Vibrance effect.
Otherwise, you can use Hue Colorize.
I'll add this effect after my hotspot and ray flares but before the chromatic hoop.
I want the hoop to maintain its rainbow color.
Drop down the settings and increase the Saturation.
Adjust the Hue to your liking.
Now I'm going to to add some circles to our flare.
I'll choose the Anamorphic Enterprise type and completely turn down the Hotspot Brightness.
All we're left with is this artifact coming off the center.
Adjust its brightness as needed.
Alright, one more piece and then I'll move on to showing you some other effects that
can enhance your light flares.
I'm just going to add some big circles with the third type in the list: 50-300mm zoom.
The hotspot is definitely not needed at this point, so I'll turn that off.
The circles are considered Other Elements.
You can change the Brightness, Color, or Scale in that dropdown.
But there we go, we've built a unique lens flare that is not available in base Pro or
Express.
Let's take a look at a few other effects that can add more realism to your flares.
I'll start with effects available in base Express, then move on to some that require
add-on packs or Pro.
The first, as you've seen, is Hue Colorize.
This allows you to add a strong color over all the elements in your flare.
Remember that you don't have to put it on top and have it affect every part of the flare.
In this example I put the colorize about halfway through my effects chain.
Next up is Radial Blur.
If I add this onto my flare and go into the settings, I can set the Center to be on the
same Point as the flare itself.
This means that the middle of the flare will be sharp, and will gradually get blurrier
as it goes out.
This effect can be useful earlier on to soften some of those light rays.
And finally we have the standard Glow effect.
This can be used to increase the intensity of the whole flare, or if you just want to
add some more color and light falloff.
Use the Add or Screen blend mode for best results.
Moving on to the effects that require add-on packs or Pro to use.
By far my favorite effect to use with light flares is Gleam.
I'll add it on top of the flare elements here, and set the Position to use the Point layer
as well.
Then change the Blend to Screen.
You can see that the Gleam really helps soften the whole flare, and blend all of the elements
together.
If you're planning to use Gleam, keep in mind that it does make the whole light flare appear
to be bigger, so you might want to make each piece smaller than normal when putting it
together.
Gleam is available in the VFX: Lighting pack.
If you notice color banding in the Viewer, make sure you're working in a 16 bit color
depth.
This can be set in the Project tab at the top.
This gives HitFilm more colors to work with, and will result in smoother gradients. 16
bit color can be found in 4 different add-on packs: 3D Model Render, Color: Correction,
Color: Scopes, and Color: Starter.
The Anamorphic Lens Flare effect can add vertical or horizontal streaks.
The two Pivot properties determine whether the anamorphic flare sits directly on top
of the original flare, or on the opposite side.
This effect is also in the VFX: Lighting pack.
And of course, what lighting effect would be complete without Lens Dirt?
The Threshold setting determines how much of the flare is affected.
I recommend keeping this effect subtle.
If you have them available, you can use your own lens dirt pictures for more realistic
and varied results.
This effect can be found in the VFX: Retro Pack 2.
To save out your light flare to use in another project, right-click the composite shot in
the Media panel and select Save As.
This will export the composite shot as its own file.
In another project, go to Import, Composite Shot, then select the light flare file.
That's it for today.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.
Don't forget to subscribe, hit the bell icon, and I'll see you all in the next video.