Ultraflares

$99.99

Released August 4, 2015
Version 1.3
102,649 views

This Photoshop plugin generates complex lens flares.

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SKU: 73359026 Category: Tag:

Ultraflares is arguably the most powerful and sophisticated lens flare solution for Adobe Photoshop and compatible hosts. Backed by over a year and a half of research and development, Ultraflares boasts some of the most advanced and realistic lens flare features available today. Ultraflares comes packed with hundreds of presets including over 65 natural flares, over 60 stylized flares, over 35 glints and over 40 light leaks.

Ultraflares GUI.

Ultraflares GUI

Ultraflares packs some of the world’s most realistic lens flares, all modeled after existing real-world lens flares, anamorphic flares, glints and light leaks. As a matter of fact, Ultraflares’ technology has been built upon the careful study and research of real-world light phenomena thereby resulting in some of the most sophisticated flares available today.

Ultraflares presets are modeled after real-world lens flares.

Ultraflares Real-world Lens Flare Comparison

Ultraflares offers unlimited power and flexibility through the assembly of lens flare objects in a hierarchical stack to produce any number of flare variations, with any amount of complexity. The artist can choose from a range of 13 realistically-modeled flare objects such as iris, multi-iris, spot glow, halo, ring, caustic, shimmer, lens orbs, spikeball, hoop, sparkle, streak and glow. Each object has been carefully developed to match real camera optics thereby producing photorealistic results. Every object features its own massive set of specific variables allowing the artist to tweak just about any feature and produce just about any result.

Ultraflares object types

Ultraflares Object Types

Add focus to any image using sophisticated light flares.

Ultraflares Shuttle Flare

Ultraflares ships with an easy-to-use, intuitive GUI boasting production-proven features. The stack can be easily navigated and any particular object can be renamed, deleted, duplicated, soloed, moved up, moved down, moved to the top or moved to the bottom easily and effortlessly with the click of a button. A powerful, built-in file browser provides super-fast, immediate flare load / preview. This efficiency results in increased productivity and faster lens flare development.

Ultraflares comes packed with natural flares, stylized flares, glints & light leaks.

Ultraflares Singer Glints

Ultraflares provides a set of highly specialized transformation tools that allow for inherently complex lens flare object movement. Each object can be free to move in all axes, horizontal only, vertical only, none (for light leaks), or custom (which controls the range of horizontal and vertical movement inherent to anamorphic flare behavior). A secondary distance controller provides additional positioning tweaks for horizontally-locked, vertically-locked objects or unmovable objects resulting in extremely natural flare movement.

Sophisticated transform operators result in hyper-realistic flare behavior.

Ultraflares Transform Controllers

Create killer anamorphic flares with complex movement.

Ultraflares Car Anamorphic

Ultraflares features a powerful coloring engine allowing each and every object to be uniquely shaded by a single color, two blended colors based on screen location, two gradient colors, or a full spectral array. Each coloring mode features offsetting, scaling, saturation, and even spectral blending with the underlying color to reproduce distinctive natural phenomena such as solid colored rays with spectral ray ends. Ray-based objects such as shimmers and spikeballs extend coloring features even further by providing random ray-color controls.

Ultraflares features virtually limitless coloring options.

Ultraflares Shimmer Coloring

Ultraflares is capable of generating virtually any type of flare or light effect.

Ultraflares Planet Flare

Ultraflares offers a highly versatile multi-iris object with an insane limit of up to 1000 irises. Their positioning along the light vector can be random, even or semi-random while their spread can be clustered together or fully separated. Their corresponding color, intensity, size, offset, spherical aberration, feathering, light distribution and circular completion can be randomized to any particular degree for truly natural results. Each object carries its own adjustable random seed ensuring no two objects are ever alike.

Ultraflares specializes in photorealistic lens flares.

Ultraflares Sunset Flare

Ultraflares features chromatic aberration, an optical effect that is caused by a lens’s inability to focus all three wavelengths together on the same focal plane. This results in red, green and blue color fringing. Chromatic aberration can be applied globally to the entire flare, thereby simulating real-world camera lenses.

Powerful chromatic aberration features affect entire flare.

Ultraflares Chromatic Aberration

Ultraflares features stunningly-realistic iris effects such as spherical aberration, aberration scale, aberration offset and asymmetry for replicating ultra-realistic natural lens flares. Circular completion controls how much of the iris diameter (in degrees) is visible while light distribution, a new and truly unique feature specific to Ultraflares only, controls the illumination across the iris with its respective angle. Chromatic aberration can be globally applied to the entire flare while spectral coloring can work on any number of specific objects. Add subtle touches like iris edge ringing to push the realism to the next level.

Specific to Ultraflares only, light distribution produces ultra-realistic results.

Ultraflares Light Distribution Comparison

Ultraflares harnesses the power of Adobe Photoshop and allows the artist to automatically sample both the intensity and hue of the image by clicking in the preview window. Darker parts of the image will dim the flare while image hues will color the flare accordingly, all in real-time. Global adjustments can be made on-the-fly and will impact all lens flare objects thereby affecting the entire lens flare as a whole. Some of these global settings include color, blending mode, position, center, intensity, scale, aspect, rotation, chromatic aberration and saturation.

Ultraflares can automatically sample image brightness and hue, realistically affecting the lens flare.

Ultraflares Flashlight Flare

Ultraflares boasts an extremely powerful feature called triggering. Triggering allows any objects setting to change according to the flares location. This results in extremely realistic flare behavior where the intensity may increase near the center of the screen, where chroma hoops may scale in size close to screen edges, and where streaks may flare out when located outside screen coordinates, for instance. Virtually any object variable can be triggered and thereby affected both positively or negatively using its own distinct trigger mask. Trigger masks can be inverted, modified and toggled to react to lens flare center points or lens flare emission points.

Ultraflares trigger masks affect objects according to location.

Ultraflares Triggering

Ultraflares provides both object-specific and global blending modes. This means the artist can decide how each lens object should be composited with the previous one, and how the final flare should be composited with the image. This advanced precision in local and global compositing allows for particular flare objects to flare up and intensify while others maintain their fine details.

Ultraflares is easy to realistically integrate within your images.

Ultraflares Lighthouse Flare

Ultraflares provides a powerful and versatile built-in object called lens orbs for dynamically generating complex lens textures! Lens orbs mimics real-world lens dirt that accumulates on the front and rear element of the camera. Lens Orbs are illuminated by objects in the stack so moving the flare around will result in correctly revealed lens dirt yielding stunningly realistic results. Because lens orbs are modeled after the multi-iris object, you can tweak just about any settings such as coloring them chromatic, setting polygonal iris blades, introducing optical vignetting for unique cat’s eye iris, and much, much more.

Ultraflares features a fast, dynamically-generated lens orbs object.

Ultraflares Lens Orbs Example

Ultraflares brings the power of lens textures to the artist’s fingertips. Select any lens texture and watch as Ultraflares realistically illuminates the texture according to its lens flare color, location and structure. Choose Ultraflares’ own highly configurable procedural lens orbs object or use custom textures of any kind. Embedded custom textures in compatible file formats such as PSD allow Ultraflares to easily toggle between multiple textures.

Use images as custom lens textures.

software_ultraflares_lens_textures

Ultraflares pulls lens textures from the image channels which means once you can store lens textures in any file format supporting multiple image channels such as PSD. This allows your to store as many as you want in one file and easily access them using Ultraflares from within a convenient drop-down menu.

Easily apply lens textures to your flares.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Example

Ultraflares is much more than a lens flare plugin; it’s a full feature light studio. Not only does it allow the artist to produce sophisticated lens flares, but also the ability to generate a wide variety of complex camera lens effects, all modeled after real-world light phenomena.

Ultraflares has an unlimited number of applications including the generation of volumetric lights, glows, light glints, star filters, sun glows, star bursts, film burns & aberrations, light leaks, highlight accents, photo filters, bokehs, lens textures, and much, much more. It is an indispensable tool for 3D artists looking to push their 3D renders to the next level.

Add ultra-realistic light leaks to your images.

Ultraflares Light Leak Example5

Light leaks are indispensable for adding creative personality to photography or reducing that computer generated look in 3D renders. But why spend hundreds on prefabricated light leaks that can’t be modified when you can create your own? Creating light leaks in Ultraflares is incredibly easy and its included library of 40 light leaks provides numerous options to start from. Best of all, lens flares, anamorphics, glints and light leaks in Ultraflares are all resolution independent and aspect conforming so the same light leak that works on a 1K composite will also work on a 4K composite.

Ultraflares is a full feature light studio with realistically modeled light effects.

Ultraflares Light Leak Comparison

Ultraflares is the definitive solution for any hobbyist or professional digital artist, designer or photographer demanding cutting-edge, high-quality lens flares and light effects. Download the demo today.

Make your images epic with Ultraflares.

Ultraflares Concert Flare

Ultraflares is 100% multi-threaded capable of using an unlimited number of cores for ultimate speed.

multithreading

Ultraflares supports both 8 bits / channel and 16 bits / channel color modes for professional workflows.

colordepth

Workflow

Ultraflares operates by combining various predesigned lens flare components together to create a complex lens flare. These components are called objects and the list of these combined objects is called the stack. The stack defines the lens flare in its entirety and due to its workflow, provides non-destructive modification. The stack is the most important part of the Ultraflares GUI and having a clear understanding of its operation will ensure you get the most out of the software.

Ultraflares Stack

It is helpful to visualize the stack as a number of transparent, glass panes. Each time a new object is added, a new pane is placed on top of the previous one, combining the images on the panes into a lens flare. You can adjust the order of the panes by deleting, duplicating, renaming or disabling them. When the lens flare is applied to the image, the stack is essentially flattened into one pane and placed over the image.

Every object dropped into the stack holds its own unique set of parameters based on the type of object that it is. For instance, a glow object will have a gamma parameter (among many others) while an iris object will have a number of blades parameter (among many others). Each object can be meticulously adjusted using these parameters to reach the desired look intended. Additionally, each object may have its own set of transformation parameters. This describes how the object moves in relation to the lens flare light source. Some objects may be free to move in all axes, while others may be locked to horizontal or vertical axes. By combining various movement ranges together, lens flares can be designed to behave in very realistic ways.

The multi-iris object is the most complex object Ultraflares has to offer. Adding a multi-iris object will unlock an additional set of controls that affect the sub-objects in the multi-iris object such as intensity, sizing, positioning, etc.

Finally, each object also carries its own specific trigger mask. A trigger mask is a gradient that defines how objects behave according to what position they are at. Triggering opens up an infinite number of possibilities. For instance, an iris can scale up as it moves towards the screen edges, a glow can become brighter as it approaches screen center, or a streak can flare up when it leaves the screen altogether. Triggering is an extremely powerful tool for creating ultra-realistic lens flares. Each object’s trigger value is located to the right of its controller value and the trigger mask can be displayed by clicking on the Display Trigger button. Most triggering values range from 200 to -200 but the scale triggering value ranges from 1000 to -1000.

In addition to the object-specific parameters discussed above, Ultraflares also has global parameters. These parameters affect the entire lens flare as a whole and therefore they are not saved. For instance, the global scaling controller will scale all lens flare objects while the global flare center controllers will adjust the center-point of the lens flare that affects all objects. These global parameters are meant to be used as final adjustments for compositing the lens flare on the image. Perhaps the most important controller in this section is the blending mode controller that defines whether to composite the final lens flare using additive mode or screen mode. Depending on the image and the lens flare, the artist should select the more visually compelling mode. There is no right or wrong choice, rather what is more appropriate for the image. If the lens flare is blowing out too much, it is encouraged to use screen mode.

Workflow Tips

Glows are generally placed first in the stack. Unlike the rest of the objects, the glow object requires full-screen drawing and is therefore computationally expensive. If you do not require a large glow, consider using the spot glow object instead.

Lens Orbs are generally placed last in the stack. This is because lens orbs are illuminated by the previous objects in the stack. If it is placed first in the stack, there will be no previous objects available to illuminate it and it will therefore be invisible.

Ultraflares performs heavy computations and requires as many cycles of drawing as there are objects in the stack. As a result, the more objects that there are and the larger that the objects exist on screen, the slower the performance. If feedback is slow, reducing the preview window size will greatly improve response time.

A commonly-used method of non-destructive lens flare compositing is to apply the lens flare to a black frame and then set that frame to additive or screen mode over your original image layer. This will allow you to keep your lens flare on a separate layer and preserve your original image.

Ultraflares can be maximized and minimized using the top-right hand corner button on the interface. This allows you to use your entire screen resolution and work with a much large preview window. The interface can also be dynamically resized and the browser can be maximized and minimized as well, once again, resulting in a large preview window with which to work with.

Stack Parameters

Object Selector: Specifies which object to add to the stack. Ultraflares currently supports 13 predesigned lens flare objects. Each object carries its own set of adjustable parameters. These objects include iris, multi-iris, spot glow, halo, ring, caustic, shimmer, lens orbs, spikeball, hoop, sparkle, streak and glow. Some objects will unlock additional controls such as the multi-iris object. As stated in the workflow tips above, glows tend to be placed first in the stack while lens orbs tend to be placed last.

Ultraflares object types

Ultraflares Objects

Stack: The stack lists the objects that make up the lens flare. Clicking on an object will update the GUI and display its specific parameters. Adjusting a parameter will update the object in the preview window.

Ultraflares Stack Legend

Active: Toggles the object on and off. This is useful for disabling an object instead of deleting it which will ensure the object is saved but does not display in the lens flare.

Custom Attribute: Depending on which object is selected, this dropdown will display specific object-related options. Please review individual objects below to see what this parameter does in more detail.

Blending Mode: Specifies the blending mode used to composite each object onto the previous ones. It is important to understand the difference between these local blend modes and the global blend mode. These local blend modes describe how to composite each object with those below it in the stack. This differs from the global blend mode that describes how to composite the final lens flare with the image. The local blend modes are saved as they impact the lens flare structure while the global blend modes aren’t as they are meant to be chosen according to the image and lens flare used. Generally, one will stick to screen mode for compositing objects together as with additive mode they may blow out too quickly. However, an intense spot glow may be more dramatic with additive mode than with screen.

Transform Axis: Specifies which axis the currently-specified object is able to move in. Free allows the object to move unrestricted in both horizontal and vertical axes. Horizontal allows the object to move only horizontally. Vertical allows the object to move only vertically. None prohibits all object movement (this is generally reserved for light leaks). Custom allows the object to move horizontally and vertically only according to the horizontal and vertical ranges specified in the transform controllers. The transform controllers are the green-colored controllers and more information on these can be found further below.

Circular Completion Axis: Specifies whether circular completion auto-rotation should lock to lens flare center or lens flare light source. Please read further below for more information on circular completion.

Ultraflares Circular Completion Axis

Light Distribution Axis: Specifies whether light distribution auto-rotation should lock to lens flare center or lens flare light source. Please read further below for more information on light distribution.

Ultraflares Light Distribution Axis

Reseed: Generates a new number to initialize the pseudorandom number generator. Almost every Ultraflares object uses random numbers for generation. For instance, the multi-iris object randomizes intensity, position, color, scale, etc. By reseeding, one can regenerate new intensities, colors, scales, etc until a suitable one is found. The seed is object-specific. This means that changing the seed will only randomize the current object’s random parameters.

Name: Display the name of the currently-selected object. Any object can be renamed to something more descriptive for ease of use.

Stack Operators

The stack operators are used to move objects within the stack. This is helpful from an organizational standpoint so as to keep sets of objects together. Additionally, some objects are position-dependent such as the lens orbs and these may need to me moved to the end of the stack at one point or another. Finally, some operators may become enabled or disabled depending on which object is selected and its position in the stack.

Ultraflares Stack Operators

Delete: Deletes the currently-selected object. Deletions cannot be undone.

Duplicate: Creates a copy of the currently-selected object (with the currently-specified parameters) and places it at the bottom of the stack.

Solo: Isolates and displays the currently-selected object only. This is useful for working with a specific object and displaying it without the rest of the lens flare for clarity.

Move Up: Moves the currently-selected object one position up in the stack.

Move Down: Moves the currently-selected object one position down in the stack.

Move Top: Moves the currently-selected object to the top of the stack.

Move Bottom: Moves the currently-selected object to the bottom of the stack.

Transform Controllers

The transform controllers are colored green for ease of identification. These controllers specify where the object will be placed along the light vector, and therefore how the currently-selected object will move. By assigning different transform parameters to different objects, one can create extremely complex lens flares that behave in very realistic ways. Certain transform controllers become enabled or disabled depending on the transform axis specified.

Ultraflares Transform Controllers

Distance: This is the main (and most often used) transform controller. A value of 0 places the object at the light source whereas a value of 100 places the object at the end of the light vector. Distance is enabled when the transform axis is set to anything except none.

Distance 2: This is a secondary transform controller for placing horizontally or vertically locked objects along the light vector. A value of 0 places the object at the light source whereas a value of 100 places the object at the end of the light vector. Distance 2 is enabled when the transform axis is set to anything except free.

X Range: Specifies the horizontal movement range of an object. A value of 0 restricts all horizontal movement while a value of 100 allows all horizontal movement. X range is only enabled when the transform axis is set to custom.

Y Range: Specifies the vertical movement range of an object. A value of 0 restricts all vertical movement while a value of 100 allows all vertical movement. Y range is only enabled when the transform axis is set to custom.

Iris Object

Ultraflares Iris Object

The iris object is determined mainly by the shape of the camera lens and can be best seen on out-of-focus highlights which assume the shape of the lens aperture. A lens with few aperture diaphragm blades (say 5) tends to produce pentagonal irises, whereas a lens with more aperture blades (say 7-8) tends to produce rounder (heptagonal/octagonal) irises. Ultimately, a higher number of aperture blades will produce more circular irises. In the custom attribute dropdown menu, the iris can be toggled between a circular or polygonal iris.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the iris.

Scale: Controls the size of the iris.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the iris.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the iris.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the iris. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the iris.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the iris.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the iris blades. Auto will automatically rotate the iris according to the flare position.

Blades: Controls the number of iris blades when the custom object attribute in the top menu is set to polygonal.

Ultraflares Iris Blades

Blade Curve: Controls the roundness of the iris blades.

Ultraflares Iris Blade Curve

Aberration: Controls the spherical aberration of the iris.

Ultraflares Iris Spherical Aberration

Aberration Scale: Controls the size of the spherical aberration of the iris.

Ultraflares Iris Spherical Aberration Scale

Aberration Offset: Controls the offset of the spherical aberration of the iris.

Ultraflares Iris Spherical Aberration Offset

Asymmetry: Controls the lens barrel optical vignetting of the iris.

Ultraflares Iris Optical Vignetting

Rings: Controls the intensity of the iris edge rings.

Ultraflares Iris Rings
Ultraflares Iris Rings Comparison

Feather: Controls the softness of the iris.

Ultraflares Iris Feather

Light Distribution Intensity: Controls the intensity of the light distribution across the iris.

Ultraflares Iris Light Distribution
Ultraflares Iris Light Distribution Comparison

Light Distribution Rotation: Controls the angle of the light distribution across the iris. Auto will automatically rotate the light distribution according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Light Distribution Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Ultraflares Iris Light Distribution Rotation

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the iris is visible throughout the circumference.

Ultraflares Iris Circular Completion

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Ultraflares Iris Circular Completion Rotation

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Ultraflares Iris Circular Completion Feather

Multi-Iris Object

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Object

The multi-iris object is identical to the iris object but instead of dealing with one iris, it generates an array of them. As a result, they both share the same parameters with an additional section that becomes unlocked when multi-iris is selected. This section of controllers is colored gray for ease of identification.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Legend

The multi-iris object is especially useful for quickly creating clusters of irises that would have otherwise taken considerable time to produce one at a time. Using the multi-iris controls, they can be easily varied in intensity, scale, position, etc.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Randomness

Iris Objects: Specifies how many iris objects to generate.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Objects

Position Randomness: Controls the randomness of the position of each iris along the light vector. A value of 0 places each iris object equal distance from one another along the light vector.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Position Randomness

Spread: Controls how far apart the irises lie from each other along the light vector. A lower value clusters irises closer together.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Spread

Color Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected color.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Randomness

Intensity Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected intensity.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Intensity Randomness

Scale Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected scale.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Scale Randomness

Offset Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected X & Y offset.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Offset Randomness

Aberration Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected spherical aberration.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Spherical Aberration Randomness

Feather Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected feather.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Feather Randomness

Light Distribution Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected light distribution.

 Light Distribution Randomness

Circular Completion Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected circular completion.

Ultraflares Multi-Iris Circular Completion Randomness

Spot Glow Object

Ultraflares Spot Glow Object

The spot glow object is a small, concentrated light glow. Unlike the glow object, a spot glow is size dependent so a small one will be generated much faster than a standard glow which requires the full screen canvas. Spot glows are ideal for a wide variety of uses but some of the key ones are the hot flare centers or small light spots throughout the light vector.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the spot glow.

Scale: Controls the size of the spot glow. Be aware that large spot glows are as computationally expensive as glows.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the spot glow.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the spot glow.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the spot glow. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the spot glow.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the spot glow.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the spot glow, which becomes evident when using X or Y Stretch. Auto will automatically rotate the spot glow according to the flare position.

Gamma: Controls the gamma (midpoint grays) of the spot glow. Gamma is especially useful for generating hot & concentrated spot glow versus soft & diffused ones.

Halo Object

Ultraflares Halo Object

The halo object is a circular, hollow shape that comes in the form of a halo disc or halo donut depending on the object’s custom attribute selected in the top menu. A halo object shares many of the same parameters of an iris object.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the halo.

Scale: Controls the size of the halo.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the halo.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the halo.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the halo. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the halo.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the halo.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the halo, which becomes evident when using X or Y Stretch. Auto will automatically rotate the halo according to the flare position.

Aberration: Controls the spherical aberration of the halo.

Aberration Scale: Controls the size of the spherical aberration of the halo.

Aberration Offset: Controls the offset of the spherical aberration of the halo.

Feather: Controls the softness of the halo.

Light Distribution Intensity: Controls the intensity of the light distribution across the halo.

Light Distribution Rotation: Controls the angle of the light distribution across the halo. Auto will automatically rotate the light distribution according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Light Distribution Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the halo is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Ring Object

Ultraflares Ring Object

The ring object will generate a ring with adjustable thickness and feather. By combining multiple ring objects together, complex natural shapes can be easily created.

Ultraflares Ring Object Examples

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the ring.

Scale: Controls the size of the ring.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the ring.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the ring.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the ring. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the ring.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the ring.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the ring, which becomes evident when using X or Y Stretch. Auto will automatically rotate the halo according to the flare position.

Thickness: Controls the thickness of the ring.

Feather: Controls the softness of the ring.

Light Distribution Intensity: Controls the intensity of the light distribution across the halo.

Light Distribution Rotation: Controls the angle of the light distribution across the ring. Auto will automatically rotate the light distribution according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Light Distribution Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the ring is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Caustic Object

Ultraflares Caustic Object

The caustic object creates a star-shaped pattern of focused light.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the caustic.

Scale: Controls the size of the caustic.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the caustic.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the caustic.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the caustic. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the caustic.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the caustic.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the caustic. Auto is always enabled for this object and will automatically rotate the caustic according to the flare position.

Distortion: Controls the star-shaped distortion of the caustic.

Ultraflares Caustic Object Distortion

Aberration: Controls the spherical aberration of the caustic.

Aberration Scale: Controls the size of the spherical aberration of the caustic.

Aberration Offset: Controls the offset of the spherical aberration of the caustic.

Feather: Controls the softness of the caustic.

Light Distribution Intensity: Controls the intensity of the light distribution across the caustic.

Light Distribution Rotation: Controls the angle of the light distribution across the caustic. Auto will automatically rotate the light distribution according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Light Distribution Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the caustic is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Shimmer Object

Ultraflares Shimmer Object

The shimmer object is somewhat similar to the spikeball object but they are computed in very different ways. The shimmer object is always generated within a bounding box whereas the spikeball object is generated per ray. This means that if one requires a small number of rays it may be more effective to use a spikeball. In contrast, if one requires a large number of rays, it may be more effective to use the shimmer object as it will draw its bounding box size regardless of how many rays are required. Aesthetically, both objects feature similar results but the spikeball offers more ray customization.

Ultraflares Shimmer Object Examples

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the shimmer.

Scale: Controls the size of the shimmer.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the shimmer.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the shimmer.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the shimmer. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the shimmer.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the shimmer.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the shimmer. Auto will automatically rotate the shimmer according to the flare position.

Width: Controls the width of all shimmer rays.

Ultraflares Shimmer Object Ray Width

Rays: Controls the total number of all shimmer rays.

Angle Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected shimmer ray angle.

Ultraflares Shimmer Object Ray Angle Randomness

Intensity Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected shimmer ray intensity.

Ultraflares Shimmer Object Ray Intensity Randomness

Width Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected shimmer ray width.

Ultraflares Shimmer Object Ray Width Randomness

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the shimmer is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Lens Orbs Object

Ultraflares Lens Orbs Object

In addition to the capability of using custom texture maps (more info on this below), Ultraflares also provides a lens orbs procedural object for creating out-of-focus lens dirt. The lens orbs object is based entirely upon the multi-iris object so they share common iris parameters, as well as the gray-colored multi-iris controls. However, lens orbs do not behave like other objects in that they cannot move. Additionally, lens orbs are tiled so offsetting them in the horizontal or vertical axis will result in a perpetually-repeatable texture. Using asymmetry on the lens orbs object will result in the unique and realistic cat’s eye bokeh. Lens orbs, like custom lens textures, can introduce an unparalleled level of realism to lens flares.

software_ultraflares_lens_orbs_sample

Please note that like the iris object, lens orbs also share the common object custom attribute in the top menu where one can specify circular or polygonal iris.

Finally, it is important to understand that lens orbs are illuminated by the previous objects in the stack. As a result, lens orbs should be placed last in the stack. If lens orbs is placed first (or early) in the stack, there will be an insufficient number of objects previous to it for illumination. Lens orbs will be illuminated by the color of the previous objects so violet streaks, for instance, will illuminate those parts of the lens orbs in violet whereas yellow glows will illuminate those parts of the lens orbs in yellow. This is based on how real-world lens dirt is illuminated.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the irises.

Scale: Controls the size of the irises.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the irises.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the irises.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the irises. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the irises.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the irises.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the irises, which becomes evident when using X or Y Stretch. Auto will automatically rotate the irises according to the flare position.

Blades: Controls the number of iris blades when the custom object attribute in the top menu is set to polygonal.

Blade Curve: Controls the roundness of the iris blades.

Aberration: Controls the spherical aberration of the irises.

Aberration Scale: Controls the size of the spherical aberration of the irises.

Aberration Offset: Controls the offset of the spherical aberration of the irises.

Asymmetry: Controls the lens barrel optical vignetting of the irises.

Feather: Controls the softness of the irises.

Light Distribution Intensity: Controls the intensity of the light distribution across the irises.

Light Distribution Rotation: Controls the angle of the light distribution across the irises. Auto will automatically rotate the light distribution according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Light Distribution Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the irises are visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Spikeball Object

Ultraflares Spikeball Object

The spikeball algorithm is very effective for producing singular rays. The spikeball object provides more control over each ray whereas the shimmer object provides more control over the entire object as a whole.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Examples

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the spikeball.

Scale: Controls the size of the spikeball.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the spikeball.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the spikeball.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the spikeball. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the spikeball.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the spikeball.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the spikeball. Auto will automatically rotate the spikeball according to the flare position.

Width: Controls the width of all spikeball rays.

Rays: Controls the total number of all spikeball rays.

Angle Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected spikeball ray angle.

Intensity Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected spikeball ray intensity.

Length Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected spikeball ray length.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Ray Length Randomness

Falloff: Controls the falloff curve of the spikeball ray width.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Ray Falloff

Flare: Controls the flare of the spikeball ray.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Ray Flare

Flare Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected spikeball ray flare.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Ray Flare Randomness

Spread: Controls the spread of the spikeball rays.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Ray Spread

Color Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected spikeball color.

Ultraflares Spikeball Object Color Randomness

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the spikeball is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Hoop Object

Ultraflares Hoop Object

The hoop object creates a circle of radiating lines that streak through the center of the light source. It is often chromatic and therefore usually colored using the spectrum coloring mode. The hoop is a common lens flare object albeit quite peculiar in appearance and behaviorally different from the rest.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Examples

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the hoop.

Scale: Controls the size of the hoop.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the hoop.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the hoop.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the hoop. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the hoop.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the hoop.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the hoop, which becomes evident when using X or Y Stretch. Auto if always enabled for this object and will automatically rotate the hoop according to the flare position.

Width: Controls the width of the hoop rays.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Width

Rays: Controls the number of hoop rays.

Position Randomness: Controls the randomness of the hoop ray positions.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Position Randomness

Intensity Randomness: Controls the randomness of the hoop ray intensity.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Intensity Randomness

Length Randomness: Controls the randomness of the hoop ray length.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Length Randomness

Falloff: Controls the falloff curve of the hoop rays.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Falloff

Angle Randomness: Controls the randomness of the hoop ray angle.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Angle Randomness

Length: Controls the hoop ray length.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Ray Length

Spread: Controls the spread of the hoop rays.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Spread

Color Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected hoop color.

Ultraflares Hoop Object Color Randomness

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the hoop is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Sparkle Object

Ultraflares Sparkle Object

The sparkle object is a series of light rays that have broken up into smaller ones. Sparkles are great for adding substance to lens flares.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the sparkle.

Scale: Controls the size of the sparkle.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the sparkle.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the sparkle.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the sparkle. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the sparkle.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the sparkle.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the sparkle. Auto will automatically rotate the sparkle according to the flare position.

Width: Controls the width of all sparkle rays.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Width

Rays: Controls the total number of all sparkle rays.

Position Randomness: Controls the randomness of the sparkle ray positions.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Position Randomness

Intensity Randomness: Controls the randomness of the sparkle ray intensity.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Intensity Randomness

Length Randomness: Controls the randomness of the sparkle ray length.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Length Randomness

Falloff: Controls the falloff curve of the sparkle ray.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Falloff

Angle Randomness: Controls the randomness of the sparkle ray angle.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Angle Randomness

Length: Controls the sparkle ray length.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Ray Length

Spread: Controls the spread of the sparkle rays.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Spread

Color Randomness: Controls the randomness of the currently-selected sparkle color.

Ultraflares Sparkle Object Color Randomness

Circular Completion: Controls how much of the sparkle is visible throughout the circumference.

Circular Completion Rotation: Controls the angle of the circular completion. Auto will automatically rotate the circular completion according to the flare position and will orient it to either the center or light source, depending on what setting the Circular Completion Axis in the top menu has been set to.

Circular Completion Feather: Controls the softness of the circular completion.

Streak Object

Ultraflares Streak Object

The streak object is often the second most commonly-used object next to the glow. Streaks are a key component of anamorphic lens flares and by using the rotation controls, streaks can also be used to easily create glints and starbursts. The object custom attribute dropdown in the top menu provides four different streaks with varying falloff algorithms.

sUltraflares Streak Object Streak Types

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the streak.

Scale: Controls the size of the streak.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the streak.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the streak.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the streak. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the streak.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the streak.

Rotation: Controls the angle of the streak. Auto will automatically rotate the streak according to the flare position.

Length: Controls the length of the streak.

Width: Controls the width of the streak.

Glow Object

Ultraflares Glow Object

The glow object is the most important lens flare object. It should be included in every lens flare and usually as the primary object. Glows require full screen drawing so they can be computationally expensive. If one requires a smaller glow, it is recommended to use the spot glow object instead.

Intensity: Specifies the intensity of the glow.

Scale: Controls the size of the glow.

X Offset: Controls the horizontal position offset of the glow.

Y Offset: Controls the vertical position offset of the glow.

Aspect: Controls the aspect ratio of the glow. Aspect ratio is also useful for anamorphic flares.

X Stretch: Horizontally stretches the glow.

Y Stretch: Vertically stretches the glow.

Gamma: Controls the gamma (midpoint grays) of the glow. Gamma is especially useful for generating hot & concentrated spot glow versus soft & diffused ones.

sUltraflares Glow Object Gamma

Coloring

Ultraflares features a powerful coloring engine allowing each and every object to be uniquely colored by a single color, two blended colors based on screen location, two gradient colors, or a full spectral array. Each coloring mode features color offsetting, color scaling, color saturation, and even spectral blending with the underlying color to reproduce distinctive natural phenomena such as solid colored rays with spectral ray ends. Ray-based objects extend coloring features even further by providing random ray-color controls.

Ultraflares Color Legend

Color Mode Select: Specifies which coloring mode to use for the currently-selected object. Certain color controls will become enabled or disabled depending on what selection is made here.

Ultraflares Color Mode

Color Offset: Controls the shift of the colors when gradient or spectrum color mode is selected.

Ultraflares Color Offset

Color Offset Randomness: Controls the random shift of the colors when gradient or spectrum color mode is selected. This mode only works on objects consisting of multiple rays.

Ultraflares Color Offset Randomness

Color Scale: Controls the size of the colors when gradient or spectrum color mode is selected.

Ultraflares Color Scale

Color Scale Randomness: Controls the random size of the colors when gradient or spectrum color mode is selected. This mode only works on objects consisting of multiple rays.

Ultraflares Color Scale Randomness

Color Saturation: Controls the saturation of the colors when spectrum color mode is selected.

Ultraflares Color Saturation

Color Saturation Randomness: Controls the random saturation of the colors when spectrum color mode is selected. This mode only works on objects consisting of multiple rays.

Ultraflares Color Saturation Randomness

Color Spread: Controls the masking of the gradient or spectrum colors when gradient or spectrum color mode is selected. The masked areas will reveal the underlying color swatch 1. This feature is quite powerful and ideal for creating colored rays that require spectral ends.

Color Spread Feather: Controls the mask feather of the gradient or spectrum colors when gradient or spectrum color mode is selected.

Ultraflares Color Spread

Reverse Spectrum: Reverses the spectrum color order.

Triggering

Ultraflares provides an impressive feature called triggering. A trigger mask is a gradient that defines how objects behave according to what screen location they are at. With triggering, an iris can scale up as it moves towards the screen edge, a glow can become brighter as it approaches screen center, or a streak can flare up when it leaves the screen altogether.

Ultraflares Trigger Legend

Triggering is an extremely powerful tool for creating ultra-realistic lens flares. Each object’s trigger value is located to the right of its controller value and the trigger mask can be displayed by clicking on the Display Trigger button.

To use triggering, include a positive or negative value in the trigger box located to the right of any object’s value box. For instance, to increase the intensity of a glow near the center of the screen, set the glow intensity value to 100 and the glow’s intensity trigger value to 100, and invert the glow’s trigger mask so that the red mask is more opaque towards the center of the screen. Now, the trigger value of 100 will be added to the glow’s intensity value of 100 as the lightsource moves near the center of the screen, as described by the inverted trigger mask.

In another example, to increase the scale of a hoop near the edge of the screen, set the hoop scale value to 0 and the hoop’s scale trigger value to 100. In this case, we do not want to invert the hoop’s trigger mask because we want the red mask to be more opaque towards the edge of the screen. Now, the trigger value of 100 will be added to the hoop’s scale value of 0 as the lightsource moves near the edge of the screen, as described by the trigger mask.

Display Trigger: Displays the currently-defined trigger mask in the preview window. The trigger mask is displayed in red. Red parts describe which parts of the screen will influence the object.

Trigger Axis: Specifies the trigger mask axis. To Center will lock the trigger mask to the camera center while To Light will lock the trigger mask to the light source.

Ultraflares Trigger Axis

Invert Trigger: Inverts the trigger mask.

Ultraflares Trigger Invert

Trigger Gamma: Controls the gamma (midpoint grays) of the trigger mask.

Ultraflares Trigger Gamma

Global Parameters

Ultraflares Global Parameters Legend

The global parameters affect the entire lens flare as a whole, as opposed to individual objects. They are used primarily to tweak the final lens flare and control its compositing with the source image. Using global parameters, one can control the lens flare’s color, blend mode, position, center axis, intensity, scale, aspect ratio, rotation, chromatic aberration and saturation. Additionally, one can set up a lens texture, enable / disable the matte box and sample both intensity and color.

Ultraflares Chromatic Aberration Example

Finally, the global parameters section also includes useful interface tools such as displaying stack numerics, center axes, and aspect ratio guides.

Active: Enables / disable the current lens flare.

Color Tint: Specifies a global color to colorize the lens flare. Specifying a color here will tint all objects in the lens flare with this color. It is useful for color correcting any lens flare to match the image.

Zoom: Allows the preview window to be enlarged or reduced.

BLK: Draws the lens flare over black instead of the background image. This is especially useful for building / editing flares which should be done over a black background for best visibility. This is also useful for non-destructive flare workflow.

Blend Mode: Specifies the blending mode to use for compositing the lens flare onto the image. The blending mode is often chosen according to the lens flare and image. If the image is relatively bright, and the lens flare is strong, additive mode may blow out the image too much and screen mode may be more desirable.

Display Numerics: Numbers the objects in the stack. This is useful to get an immediate report of how many objects are in the stack.

Display Center: Displays a cross in the preview window to show where the camera center currently lies. The camera center may be adjusted using the horizontal and vertical controls.

Fit To Preview: Forces the preview image to fit the largest possible image.

100%: Forces the preview image to 1:1 ratio which is ideal for viewing close-up details.

Guides: Displays various common industry aspect ratio guides.

Position X: Controls the horizontal flare position.

Position Y: Controls the vertical flare position.

Center X: Controls the camera’s horizontal center position.

Center Y: Controls the camera’s vertical center position.

Intensity: Controls the lens flare’s intensity.

Scale: Controls the lens flare’s size.

Aspect Ratio: Controls the lens flare’s aspect ratio.

Rotation: Controls the lens flare’s rotation.

Chromatic Aberration: Controls the lens flare’s chromatic aberration.

Ultraflares Chromatic Aberration

Saturation: Controls the lens flare’s saturation.

Enable Lens Texture: Enables the use of a lens texture. Lens textures add a higher level of realism to lens flares. Ultraflares allows the use of any map to be used as a lens texture right within Photoshop. To use a lens texture, please review the Lens Textures section below.

Intensity: Controls the lens texture intensity.

Enable Matte Box: Enables the matte box. A matte box is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare. The effects of the matte box can be seen when the light source exits the screen extents. With the matte box disable, the lens flare will maintain its intensity. With the matte box enabled, the lens flare will lose its intensity the further it travels away from the screen extents, as specified by the fade parameter.

Ultraflares Real-world Matte Box

Fade: Controls the matte box intensity distance. A low value will quickly reduce lens flare intensity while a high value will slowly reduce lens flare intensity.

Sample Intensity: When enabled, Ultraflares will read the pixel values of the source image in the preview window and intensify the lens flare accordingly. For instance, if the artist clicks on a dark sky to place the lens flare, the dark sky values will greatly reduce the lens flare’s intensity. Alternately, if the artist clicks on a bright star to place the lens flare, the bright star values will greatly increase the lens flare’s intensity. By clicking and dragging the mouse over the preview window, one will see the lens flare intensity continually adjusting itself in accordance with the source image luminance.

Sample Intensity Matrix: Specifies the sample intensity matrix. 1×1 will read every pixel’s unique values. 2×2 will return the average weight of 4 neighboring pixels. 3×3 will return the average weight of 9 neighboring pixels. Higher values will produce less flickery sampling.

Sample Color: When enabled, Ultraflares will read the pixel hues of the source image in the preview window and tint the lens flare accordingly. For instance, if the artist clicks on a blue sky to place the lens flare, the blue sky hues will tint the lens flare blue. Alternately, if the artist clicks on a yellow star to place the lens flare, the yellow star hues will tint the lens flare yellow. By clicking and dragging the mouse over the preview window, one will see the lens flare tint continually adjusting itself in accordance with the source image hues.

Sample Color Matrix: Specifies the sample intensity matrix. 1×1 will read every pixel’s unique values. 2×2 will return the average weight of 4 neighboring pixels. 3×3 will return the average weight of 9 neighboring pixels. Higher values will produce less flickery sampling.

Lens Textures

Ultraflares uses custom lens textures stored as extra channels. The benefits of this is that the textures can be stored and saved with the image provided one uses a file format capable of storing these channels such as PSD, TGA, TIFF, etc. Another benefit is that multiple channels can be stored using particular file formats such as PSD, allowing the image to carry multiple lens textures from which Ultraflares can choose from. Lens textures are stored as grayscale maps which is ideal since the illumination of them depends on the lens flare colors, not the texture itself.

Use images as custom lens textures.

software_ultraflares_lens_textures

Easily apply lens textures to your flares.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Example

To use a custom lens texture please follow the steps outlined below:

Ensure that your working layer is the base background layer in Photoshop. If not, you will need to flatten your layer into the background layer.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup Background Image

Click on the image channels.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup Image Channels

Click on the top, right-hand corner to create a new channel.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup New Channel

A new channel prompt will appear. Click ok to create the new channel.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup New Channel Prompt

A new channel will appear in the channels list.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup New Channel Added

Copy and paste the lens texture into this new channel. Repeat above two steps for multiple lens textures.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup New Channel Paste

Using the shift key, select all the channels and launch Ultraflares.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup New Channel Select

The Enable Lens Texture button will now be accessible and depending on how many lens textures you have added, you can select them from the list. To see the lens texture, load a flare or drop in some objects such as a glow. The lens texture intensity can be adjusted with the intensity slider.

Ultraflares Lens Texture Setup Enable Lens Texture

Browser

Ultraflares provides a simplified, easy-to-use file browser for quick and immediate access to pre-saved flares. The browser can be minimized to increase the preview window size.

Ultraflares Browser

To use the browser, first load any lens flare using the load button. Ultraflares will scan the specified folder and display all existing lens flare filenames in the browser. Clicking on a filename will immediately load the lens flare. Loading another flare from a different folder will update the browser with a new scan from the new folder. Be careful as clicking on any flare in the browser will overwrite the current lens flare and settings.

Changelog

  • v1.0 – First release.
  • v1.1 – Fixed file access crashing bug in Windows 10.
  • v1.2 – Maximize & minimize interface to fullscreen.
  • v1.2 – Maximize & minimize browser.
  • v1.2 – Resizeable dialog.
  • v1.2 – Numerics counter now starts from 01.
  • v1.2 – 100% feature added for 1:1 preview display.
  • v1.2 – Zoom enlarge / reduce moved to global settings section.
  • v1.2 – CPU cores display added.
  • v1.2 – Included presets have been modified to disable autorotation on spikeballs, shimmers and sparkles.
  • v1.3 – Fixed incorrect logo display when using larger fonts or DPI.
  • v1.3 – Centered interface to screen on first launch.

Special Thanks

  • Martin Vicanek.
  • Mike James.
  • Andrew Myers.

This is a thumbnail gallery of the included natural flares that ship with Ultraflares. Natural Flares have been modeled after real-world lens flares and are categorized by camera brand, lens and f-stop.

software_ultraflares_naturalflares_asahi_pentax_auto_akumar_55mm_f1.8_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_18mm_f5.6
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_40mm_f2.8_iscorama_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_50mm_f1.4_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_50mm_f1.4_proskar-16_2x_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_50mm_petrascope_1.5x_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_5dii_nikon_50mm_f1.8_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_5dii_sankor_16-d_albinar_80mm_f4.5_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_5diii_ef_24mm_f1.4
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_7d_ef_24mm_f4.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_30d_55mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_50d_50mm_f14.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_60d_10mm_f16.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_400d_20mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_500d_46mm_f5.0_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_600d_10mm_f8.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_600d_18mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_kiss_x_70mm_f4.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_rebel_t1i_10mm_f3.4
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_rebel_t1i_30mm_f20.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_eos_rebel_t1i_55mm_f5.6
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_canon_powershot_g11_28mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_elmo_skoda_4_icms_canon+takumar_105mm_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_helios_44-28mm_cinevision_1.5x_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_helios_44-m_58mm_f2.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_helios_58mm_f2.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_htc_mytouch_4g
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_iphone4s
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_iphone5s
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_leica_ag_m9_50mm_f1.4
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_lomo_50mm_roundfront_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_lomo_50mm_roundfront_scarlet_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_mir_1b_37mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_movietech_kowa_50mm_f2.3
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_43-86mm_ai_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_50mm_f1.8_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d3_24mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d40_35mm_f1.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d50_50mm_f1.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d80_35mm_f1.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d80_nikkor_50mm_f1.8_polarizer
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d90_10mm_f4.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d90_18mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d90_18mm_f3.5_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d300_14mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d700_50mm_f1.2
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d5100_17.5mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d7000_16mm_f4.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_nikon_d7000_18mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_noritsu_koki_ez_controller
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_olympus_20mm_f5.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_olympus_e-pl2_14mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_olympus_zuico_50mm_f1.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gh1_24mm_f3.5_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gh2_35mm_2x_iscorama_centavision_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gh2_35mm_2x_iscorama_cinemorph_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gh2_slr_magic_35mm_f1.4_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gh2_slr_magic_35mm_f2.8_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gh2_technovision_35mm_f1.4_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_gx1_olympus_45mm_f1.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_panasonic_lumix_dmc-g1_14mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_pentax_k10d_18mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_pentax_super-takumar_28mm_f3.5
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_sony_slt-a77v_dt_16mm_f2.8
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_vivitar_ultra_wideslim_22mm_f11.0
software_ultraflares_naturalflares_yashica_electro_35_45mm_f1.7

This is a thumbnail gallery of the included stylized flares that ship with Ultraflares. Stylized flares have been based on real-world lens flares and are perfect for dramatic and impactful results.

software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_abacus
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_amethyst_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_aquamarine
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_atomic_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_blueflash_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_bluevision_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_burnout
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_centaurus
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_chromatech
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_chrysocolla_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_combustion_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_countrysunset_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_crysis_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_diehard_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_diffraction
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_eclipse
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_entity_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_epicure_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_exothermic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_extraterrestrial
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_firestorm_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_generic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_goldeneye
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_greenlantern_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_halloween_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_heartbleed_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_heisenberg_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_helios
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_icenine
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_interstellar
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_kronosfire_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_kronosgalaxy_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_kronoslaser_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_kronosneon_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_kronossupernova_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_led
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_marvel_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_metallica_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_methylamine
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_moderndigital_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_mylar_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_navstar_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_plasma_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_pluto
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_purplehaze
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_purplepossum_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_sapphire_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_scope_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_streaker_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_sublime_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_sunkissed
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_sunstroke
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_super8_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_supernova
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_tactical_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_techra_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_tekken_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_tourmaline_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_transformers_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_trinity_anamorphic
software_ultraflares_stylizedflares_ultraviolet_anamorphic

This is a thumbnail gallery of the included glints that ship with Ultraflares. Glints have been based on real-world glints and are perfect for emphasizing small, bright flashes of light or specialized camera lens filters such as star filters.

software_ultraflares_glints_armageddon
software_ultraflares_glints_asymmetry
software_ultraflares_glints_bionic
software_ultraflares_glints_cannon
software_ultraflares_glints_caravan
software_ultraflares_glints_chromium
software_ultraflares_glints_clandestine
software_ultraflares_glints_dementia
software_ultraflares_glints_dwarfstar
software_ultraflares_glints_electric
software_ultraflares_glints_fullmoon
software_ultraflares_glints_gattaca
software_ultraflares_glints_gotham
software_ultraflares_glints_lumen
software_ultraflares_glints_milkyway
software_ultraflares_glints_molten
software_ultraflares_glints_optefex_2mm_blue_star_filter
software_ultraflares_glints_optefex_2mm_green_star_filter
software_ultraflares_glints_optefex_2mm_orange_star_filter
software_ultraflares_glints_optefex_2mm_pink_star_filter
software_ultraflares_glints_paparazzi
software_ultraflares_glints_predator
software_ultraflares_glints_rail
software_ultraflares_glints_razorsedge
software_ultraflares_glints_scope
software_ultraflares_glints_serenity
software_ultraflares_glints_spectra
software_ultraflares_glints_stonearch
software_ultraflares_glints_sunglint
software_ultraflares_glints_symbiotic
software_ultraflares_glints_terminator
software_ultraflares_glints_trombone
software_ultraflares_glints_trueblue
software_ultraflares_glints_vertica
software_ultraflares_glints_warmglint
software_ultraflares_glints_wildfire

This is a thumbnail gallery of the included light leaks that ship with Ultraflares. Light leaks have been modeled after real-world light leaks and are perfect for adding natural light aberrations to your images. Additionally, light leaks can be used to creatively filter images similar to Instagram.

software_ultraflares_lightleaks_amsterdam
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_aurora
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_beamer
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_bluelagoon
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_bokeh
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_burnout
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_cascade
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_cellular
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_cerebral
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_confetti
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_covenant
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_deliverance
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_firestorm
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_hammerhead
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_hazel
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_immersion
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_kepler
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_kunzite
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_melancholy
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_miramax
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_moongaze
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_neptune
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_paradigm
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_plastine
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_popcolor
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_primer
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_prism
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_quarantine
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_recursive
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_spark
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_speckle
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_sunny
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_tesla
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_toxicity
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_uncannyvalley
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_valley
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_velveteen
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_vernacular
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_warmestday
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_wilbur
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_x-files
software_ultraflares_lightleaks_yellowsubmarine

This section focuses on user-submitted imagery developed developed with Ultraflares. Got any high-quality work created with Ultraflares? We are currently updating the galleries so please email us your work to have it featured!

Lee Henshall

Lee Henshall

Lee Henshall

Lee Henshall

The following videos provide tutorials for Ultraflares.

Installing this software is easy and only requires three simple steps:

1 – Download the software by clicking on the Download Demo button located above on the software page. This will prompt you to save a .zip file on your computer.

2 – Extract the contents from the .zip file and place the .8bf file into your host’s plugin folder. For instance, to install for Adobe Photoshop CS6, place the .8bf file into the location shown below. You can make a sub-folder to keep your plugins organized, such as the one below. Please make sure 64 bit plugins such as these are placed in the corresponding 64 bit Adobe Photoshop plugin folder.

software_installation_freeware

If you’re using Photoshop CC (eg. version 2013 – 2019 or later), your Photoshop plug-ins are stored in a folder shared between all Photoshop CC versions shown below.

software_installation_cc_freeware

3 – Launch Adobe Photoshop, open an image and click on Filter > Richard Rosenman > Filter Name. If the filter is grayed out, it may not support your current image color depth.

software_run

If you have purchased a commercial license, please review the activation section.

If you have purchased a commercial license, you must activate your software. You can manually activate your software at any time by logging into your account. Activating this software is easy and only requires five simple steps:

1 – Log into your account by clicking on the Account button in the top menu.

software_account

2 – Click on VIEW to display the order details containing the product you wish to activate.

software_recent_orders

3 – Enter your request code and click GENERATE LICENSE. Please see below for info on how to retrieve your request code.

software_order_details

Your request code can be found by clicking on the help button of the installed software.

software_req_code

4 – A file prompt will ask you to save the license file. You must save this license file in the same folder the plugin resides in. Below is an example for Photoshop CS6.

software_installation_commercial

If you’re using Photoshop CC (eg. version 2013 – 2019 or later), your Photoshop plug-ins are stored in a folder shared between all Photoshop CC versions shown below.

software_installation_cc_commercial

5 – Relaunch Adobe Photoshop, open an image and click on Filter > Richard Rosenman > Filter Name. If the filter is grayed out, it may not support your current image color depth.

software_run

In the titlebar, your software should now display REGISTERED. It is now unlocked and ready for use.

software_registered

This software is compatible with the following OS:

  • Windows 10 Home 64 bit
  • Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
  • Windows 10 Enterprise 64 bit
  • Windows 10 Education 64 bit
  • Windows 8 64 bit
  • Windows 8 Pro 64 bit
  • Windows 8 Enterprise 64 bit
  • Windows 7 Home Basic 64 bit
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
  • Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
  • Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
  • Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
  • Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit
  • Windows Vista Business 64 bit
  • Windows Vista Enterprise 64 bit
  • Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit
  • Windows XP 64 bit
  • Windows XP Professional 64 bit

This software is compatible with the following hosts:

  • Any host capable of running Adobe Photoshop 64 bit compliant plugins
  • Adobe Photoshop (Version CS5 or higher, including CC) 64 bit
  • Adobe Photoshop Elements (Version 13 or higher, including CC) 64 bit
  • Adobe Illustrator (Version CS6 or higher, including CC) 64 bit
  • Computerinsel Photoline 64 (Version 16 or higher) 64 bit
  • CorelDRAW (Version X6 or higher) 64 bit
  • Corel Painter (Version 12.1 or higher) 64 bit
  • Corel Paint Shop Pro (Version X6 or higher) 64 bit
  • Corel Photo-Paint (Version X6 or higher) 64 bit
  • Paint.NET (with the PSFilterPdn plugin) 64 bit
  • Serif PhotoPlus (Version X6 or higher) 64 bit