Physical Lens Flare
Updated: 24 Feb 2025
Add a physically correct lens flare reflections and a starburst flare to the scene.
Physical Lens Flare
Method #
This node simulates a lens setup to generate physically correct lens reflections and a starburst pattern from a given 3D transform point.
Parameters
Parameter Details Intensity
Intensity of the flare components caused by reflections within the lens elements.
Chroma
Amount of Chromatic aberration in the internal lens reflections.
Reflect Gamma
Gamma curve applied to the internal lens reflections.
Coating Quality
The simulated ‘Quality’ of the lens coatings. Higher quality coatings reduce the amount of internal reflections.
Fresnel Spectrum
Shifts the hue of the Fresnel reflections in the lens elements.
Fresnel Variance
Variance in the internal reflections across the lens elements.
Max Size
Culls the reflections that are larger than this size.
Resolution
Defines the resolution at which the lens reflections are calculated. Lower resolutions will improve performance, but may introduce artifacts. Resolution is based on current scene resolution.
- Full : Calculates lens reflections at full resolution.
- Half : Calculates lens reflections at half resolution.
- Quarter : Calculates lens reflections at quarter resolution.
These properties control the core behaviours of the node.
Parameter Details Active
Enables or disables the effect. Disabling the effect means it will no longer compute, so disabling a node when not in use can improve performance.
Active
Custom Shader to use for the lens flare effect.
Viewport Info
Show additional information in the viewwport about the Lens Setup.
- Off : Don’t show additional information in the viewport.
- Show Lenses : Show graph of the lens setup, and how the light is refracted and reflected in it.
Light Mode
Effects the dimming of the lens reflections and starburst. Also controls the size of the starburst.
- Near : The light source is treated as a near distance light. Size of the starburst is scaled based on the distance to the camera.
- Distant : The light source is treated as an infinite sized distant light source. Size of the starburst is controlled by the ‘Light Size’ attribute only.
Mask
When on, uses a depth based mask area around the light point to cover areas of the lens reflections and/or starburst pattern.
- Off : Don’t use the depth mask area.
- All : Mask both starburst and the lens reflections.
- Starburst : Mask the starburst pattern. Effects the aperture shape used for the starburst flare calculation.
- Reflections : Mask the lens reflections. The masked light rays are dimmed out from the lens reflections, resulting in seeing the edge shapes of blocking geometry in the lens reflections.
Parameter Details Distance
Simulates the distance between the lens and the sensor.
Sensor Scale
Simulates the scale of the camera sensor relative to the lens.
IOR Multiplier
Globally controls the Index of Refraction (IOR) of all the lens elements.
IOR Variance
Variance in the Index of Refraction (IOR) across the lens elements.
IOR Variance Frequency
Controls the ‘scale’ of the Index of Refraction (IOR) variance across the lens elements.
Radius Multiplier
Globally control how curved the lens elements are.
Radius Variance
The variance in the curvature of the different lens elements.
Radius Variance Frequency
Controls the frequency of the radius variance across the lens elements.
Parameter Details Radius
Size of the aperture opening.
Angle
Rotation angle of the aperture blades.
Sharpness
How sharp the edges of the aperture blades are.
Blades Count
Number of Aperture blades.
Corner Rounding
How rounded the corners of the aperture blades are.
Dirt
Controls the amount of dirt on the aperture blades.
Parameter Details Mode
Toggle the starburst effect on or off.
- Off : Disable the starburst effect.
- Spectral : Toggle the spectral starburst effect.
Light Intensity
Intensity of the light causing the flare.
Light Gamma
Gamma correction for the light source.
Light Size
Size of the light source.
Chroma Frequency
Hue shift frequency of the chromatic aberration in the starburst.
Chroma Amount
Amount of chromatic aberration in the starburst.
Aperture Sharpness
Sharpness of the aperture shape used in the starburst calculation.
Aperture Scale
Scale of the aperture shape used in the starburst calculation.
Aperture Dirt
Controls the amount of dirt on the aperture blades.
The properties control the time at which the node is active. See Timeline for editing time segments.
Parameter Details Duration
Control the duration of the node’s time segment.
- Composition Duration : Use the length of the composition for the node’s time segment duration.
- Custom : Set a custom duration for the node’s time segment.
Node Time
The custom start and end time for the node.
Duration (Timecode)
The length of the node’s time segment (in time).
Duration (Frames)
The length of the node’s time segment (in frames).
Time Segment Enabled
Set whether the node’s time segment is enabled or not in the Timeline.
Inputs
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Intensity | Intensity of the flare components caused by reflections within the lens elements. |
| Chroma | Amount of Chromatic aberration in the internal lens reflections. |
| Reflect Gamma | Gamma curve applied to the internal lens reflections. |
| Coating Quality | The simulated ‘Quality’ of the lens coatings. Higher quality coatings reduce the amount of internal reflections. |
| Fresnel Spectrum | Shifts the hue of the Fresnel reflections in the lens elements. |
| Fresnel Variance | Variance in the internal reflections across the lens elements. |
| Max Size | Culls the reflections that are larger than this size. |
| Resolution |
Defines the resolution at which the lens reflections are calculated. Lower resolutions will improve performance, but may introduce artifacts. Resolution is based on current scene resolution.
|
These properties control the core behaviours of the node.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Active | Enables or disables the effect. Disabling the effect means it will no longer compute, so disabling a node when not in use can improve performance. |
| Active | Custom Shader to use for the lens flare effect. |
| Viewport Info |
Show additional information in the viewwport about the Lens Setup.
|
| Light Mode |
Effects the dimming of the lens reflections and starburst. Also controls the size of the starburst.
|
| Mask |
When on, uses a depth based mask area around the light point to cover areas of the lens reflections and/or starburst pattern.
|
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Distance | Simulates the distance between the lens and the sensor. |
| Sensor Scale | Simulates the scale of the camera sensor relative to the lens. |
| IOR Multiplier | Globally controls the Index of Refraction (IOR) of all the lens elements. |
| IOR Variance | Variance in the Index of Refraction (IOR) across the lens elements. |
| IOR Variance Frequency | Controls the ‘scale’ of the Index of Refraction (IOR) variance across the lens elements. |
| Radius Multiplier | Globally control how curved the lens elements are. |
| Radius Variance | The variance in the curvature of the different lens elements. |
| Radius Variance Frequency | Controls the frequency of the radius variance across the lens elements. |
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Radius | Size of the aperture opening. |
| Angle | Rotation angle of the aperture blades. |
| Sharpness | How sharp the edges of the aperture blades are. |
| Blades Count | Number of Aperture blades. |
| Corner Rounding | How rounded the corners of the aperture blades are. |
| Dirt | Controls the amount of dirt on the aperture blades. |
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Mode |
Toggle the starburst effect on or off.
|
| Light Intensity | Intensity of the light causing the flare. |
| Light Gamma | Gamma correction for the light source. |
| Light Size | Size of the light source. |
| Chroma Frequency | Hue shift frequency of the chromatic aberration in the starburst. |
| Chroma Amount | Amount of chromatic aberration in the starburst. |
| Aperture Sharpness | Sharpness of the aperture shape used in the starburst calculation. |
| Aperture Scale | Scale of the aperture shape used in the starburst calculation. |
| Aperture Dirt | Controls the amount of dirt on the aperture blades. |
The properties control the time at which the node is active. See Timeline for editing time segments.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Duration |
Control the duration of the node’s time segment.
|
| Node Time | The custom start and end time for the node. |
| Duration (Timecode) | The length of the node’s time segment (in time). |
| Duration (Frames) | The length of the node’s time segment (in frames). |
| Time Segment Enabled | Set whether the node’s time segment is enabled or not in the Timeline. |
| Name | Description | Typical Input |
|---|---|---|
| Transform Node | Controls the position of the flare in the scene. | Null |
| Lens Dirt Image | Texture map to simulate dirt on the lens. | Video Loader |
| Starburst Dirt Image | Texture map to simulate dirt on the starburst. | Video Loader |
| Light Dir X | TBC | TBC |
| Light Dir Y | TBC | TBC |
| Ghost Scale | TBC | TBC |