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problem with optical flares in AE cs5
Hi guys,
I am new here and new to gfx altogether. I work and study as a sound designer and would like to also get aquainted with the awesome work gfx artists do. So, whenever I have some free time I try to learn.
Today I came across a very frustrating issue in AE and this is actually the first time I couldn’t find the answer by googling or youtubing. At least not on par with my current knowledge about AE, which is probably below average.
So here goes;
In AE cs5 I have a precomp title and black solid beneath that. Now, I would like to add an optical flare(video copilot).
So, I add a another black solid above the main title and put the effect on that.
I Go to options, select the flare and press ok.
But then, the flare gets imported as an imaqe the size of my comp and when I move or scale the flare, the edges of the image become visible against the black background. I do not want that. I want the optical flare to show up the same way as it does in the preview screen in the optical flares plugin.I want the flare to be a vector(not sure i that is the right term) that merges with everything else and not be a static image. So, I tried turning on screen blending on the solid with the Optical Flares plugin on it. that didnt work. In addition I tried putting optical flares “screen option” on, but that didnt work either.
All threads I came across where about putting on screen blending on the layer that has the flare on it and that is what I did so I do not understand why it is not helping my issue. I also came across Knoll – Unmult but that did not help me either and I am not sure If Unmult is actually what I need.
Can anyone please help the new guy out? 🙂 or refer me to a tutorial I might have missed due to misuse of the right terminology?
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
Tom
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3 Replies
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It sounds as if you’re moving the comp that the flare is on, and not the center point of the flare. You need to spend more time going through the Optical Flare tutorials on the VideoCopilot website, and reading the help files. As far as making the flare look real, I always put my flare on a black solid, and then put that solid into Add or Additive mode. This adds the brighter values of the flare to the comps beneath it, and makes it look more realistic.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Hi Joe,
You are spot on with your assumption. It was indeed me not moving the flare the right way. Man do I feel stupid, this had me going all day! I will certainly look at the tutorials you mentioned.
Thanks for helping me out and the tip on realistic flares!
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Tom –
The only reason I knew was because I made exactly the same mistake when I first bought Optical Flares – and once in a while, still do, when I’m not concentrating on what I should be doing. It makes perfect sense that to move the flare you should move the layer…
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com
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