Flares and transparency

[Ed Romero]

hey Dave,

How can I make the flare visible without any footage below it to render the comp(with no footage/solid when rendered)?

When I render out the comp with no footage the flare is gone… So I’m wondering if there is a way to render the comp with the flare (light flash effect) to be able to overlay it in Final Cut as a title. Even when I turn off the footage in After effects, the flare is gone, but if I turn the footage back on then I see the flare.

Is this possible without any footage/solid below the flare layer? I can think of another way which does require the footage and creating a mask of the area I want to affect, but I’m wondering if there is a better quicker way?

Thanks

[Ed Romero]

Thanks again Dave. Links were informative.

However, the only issue I have is that with the footage layer turned off, I can’t see the flare in AE. (Blend mode set to normal on flare layer)
I don’t think my question is clear enough.

[Andrew Donaldson]

Are you applying the flare to an adjustment layer?

If you are, then you’ll need something underneath it, even if its just a black solid.

[Chris Wright]

sometimes even with an alpha channel, you want a boost. You probably found that out with transfer modes. If you like the look of premultiplied effects, you get them separated again with this post.

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/989045#989055
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/988892#988892

https://technicolorsoftware.hostzi.com/

[Ed Romero]

Hey Andrew

Yes it’s an adjustment layer. However I can’t use a solid below the adjustment layer because I need to see through the solid. (overlay/screen wont work)
I just need the flare to affect the text layer, but without the footage or a solid of some kind, the flare does not affect the text.

CURRENT LAYOUT IN TIMELINE:
1)Adjustment layer with Flare effect. (Adjustment layer affecting layers behind it is active)
2)Pre-comp composition containing animated text and another pre-comped compositing within containing animated lines.
3)Footage.

The flare won’t affect the Pre-comped text layer(2) unless I have the bottom layer [(1) Footage] visible, or a solid.

Just noticed Chris’s post. Will check it out to see if that helps.

[Michael Szalapski]

You can apply your lens flare to a black solid and use the free Unmult plugin (Google should find it pretty fast) to make it transparent.

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.