Killer lens flares depend on the details— the small things alone don’t impress, but combined make you say “wow!” The 2021 release of Sapphire LensFlare adds two of those small things: the ability to move elements off-axis and adjust their relative speeds.
This release also includes an impressive collection of 10 new flares that showcase these new and recently added features like element shading. The end result is you can now create LensFlares with brand new sophistication and elegance. Sapphire 2021 features our best collection of LensFlares to date!
Sapphire’s Emmy Award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry, has even more reasons to love it. Every flare element can now be affected by lens shadow, reflecting the real-world experience of a hot light source being shaded and reflecting around a physical lense. The result? Gorgeous natural-looking results on video and motion graphics projects. 2020.5 also features new pro flare presets and remixed old favorites. Sapphire Lens Flares are cross-host, cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) and work in 2D and 3D. And if that wasn’t enough, use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.
Dynamic, modern, and packed with presets. Sapphire 2020.5’s two new transitions — S_HyperPull and S_HyperPush — allow you to move and warp seamlessly between clips. Each transition contains a huge amount of control and variety without having to worry about messy keyframes.
Sapphire 2020.5 now offers full support for Blackmagic Design’s Fusion Studio standalone application and the integrated Fusion inside of Blackmagic Design Resolve. Faster render times, more stable comps, and increased functionality with support for the Sapphire Preset Browser, LensFlare Designer, and integrated Mocha tracking and masking* (standalone Fusion Studio only - Mocha tracking is not yet supported in the integrated Fusion inside of Resolve). Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.
Sapphire Builder now supports two new OFX hosts: Nuke by the Foundry and VEGAS Pro. Sapphire Builder lets you combine multiple Sapphire filters into one custom effect. Artists can design, save, and share their work across hosts and departments making it perfect for offline to online workflows. Sapphire 2020.5 also includes new professionally-designed Builder presets to inspire and utilize in your own projects.
Sapphire 2020.5’s integrated Mocha tracking and masking is vastly improved with updates to the area brush tool and edge-snapping technology. And Mocha’s core planar tracking now delivers even more accurate results on complex tracks where objects move around or behind the camera. Flawlessly parameter track or limit where an effect is applied.
The 2020.5 release seriously speeds up CPU and GPU render times and improves interactivity on all lighting effects featuring atmospheric noise, including favorites like S_Glow, S_LensFlare, S_EdgeRays, S_Rays, S_Clouds, and S_Zap.
Meet S_FreeLens. Inspired by the popular photography technique known as free lensing or lens whacking, FreeLens mimics shooting with a lens detached from the camera body. The end result? A dreamy, romantic element featuring a combination of light leaks, lens distortion, tilt shift, and a moving focal point linked together under one easy-to-use master lens manipulation parameter. Perfect for dream sequences, travelogue videos, flashbacks, unsteady POVs, slow-motion footage, motion graphics title treatments or abstract CG renders. S_FreeLens is included in the Blur & Sharpen effects category.
Sapphire 2020 adds support for OpenColorIO (OCIO), the open-source color management solution designed at Sony Picture Imageworks. Sapphire 2020 can apply and read a color profile to provide consistent colors across any of its internal applications such as the Preset Browser, Flare Designer, and Effect & Transition Builder. These applications now feature an OCIO panel with a default library of the most common color profiles. Facilities looking to load a custom OpenColorIO library can do so via an environment variable or by editing the S_Config file to point to a custom location.
Sapphire 2020 also features a new effect in the Adjust category called S_OCIOTransform. The effect allows Sapphire to bring OpenColorIO color management to any of its supported hosts — even if that host hasn’t adopted the OCIO standard yet!
Sapphire 2020 features new and improved Mocha tracking. You can now link Mocha tracking to Sapphire positional parameters all within a single effect. This new feature opens up tons of creative possibilities. Easily track S_LensFlare to a headlight, track S_Zap lighting bolts to the tips of your fingers or track a spotlight over a highlighted subject. Mocha parameter tracking is available in ten Sapphire 2020 effects: LensFlare, EdgeRays, Rays, Luna, Grunge, Spotlight, Aurora, Zap, MuzzleFlash, and FreeLens.
The brand new Mocha Area Brush tool is also included. If you don’t like working with splines, this is for you! The Area Brush lets you paint over track search areas for quick mask creation. Paint strokes are automatically converted into splines for an easy new workflow. Includes full support for Wacom tablets.
Sapphire 2020 adds 16 brand new professionally-designed Lens Flares — bringing the grand total to over 200 flares!
The Sapphire 2020 Preset Browser adds a built-in Compare Mode feature that allows users to preview the original unfiltered source with the filtered output using either side-by-side or wipe bar options. This new feature is especially useful on color correction or grading where you might want to preview adjacent clips in the timeline while working on the filtered source.
The 2020 release delivers the fastest speed results yet thanks to optimized GPU (NVIDIA only) and CPU performance. Users will experience up to a three times increase in render times on many Sapphire effects including S_EdgeRays and S_BlurMotion. Please note: speed increases may vary based upon individual effect, host application, and choice of CPU or GPU rendering. Click the link below for more detailed information.
Brand new for Sapphire 2019.5 effect: S_ParallaxStrips takes any image and divides it into strips separated apart in z space. The floating strips can seamlessly strip apart or form a complete image. Angle, size, speed, z-depth, and many more parameters can be adjusted for original and interesting looks.
S_PixelSort and S_DissolvePixelSort are a fun modern ways to add digital glitchy distortion to your image — and it’s great for music videos or preset looks. PixelSort’s deep parameter set gives you total control over your desired result. Pair it with integrated Mocha tracking and masking or combine it with other effects inside Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder for slick, highly-stylized results.
New in Sapphire 2019.5: All Sapphire applications, the Effect and Transition Builder, Flare Designer, and Preset Browser, have been redesigned from the ground up and now feature a new look perfect for HDPI/Retina monitors. All applications now support video, replacing the previous single frame. The Effect and Transition Builder and Flare Designer also support output to a broadcast monitor.
New to Sapphire 2019 is the reboot of S_LensFlare with a redesigned and reimagined Flare Designer tool. New professionally designed presets, lens objects, flare components, and integrated preset browser showcase the complexity and flexibility behind the powerful Sapphire flare engine.
S_WhipLash is a sister effect to one of the most popular Sapphire transitions — S_SwishPan. The powerful new transition blends multiple copies of an image together in order to digitally recreate the illusion of traveling a great amount of distance in a short time. Featuring a nice soft bounce stop, a smooth finish or a snapback ending. Seeing is believing.
Sapphire 2019 features major improvements to the integrated Mocha tracking and masking available within each Sapphire effect (and separately as the S_Mocha spark - Autodesk only). For further information on the differences between the integrated Mocha tracking and masking in Sapphire 2019 and Mocha Pro 2019, please click here.
• NEW SPLINE TOOLS FOR ROTO & MASKING
Sapphire 2019 features 4 new Mochas spline tools for masking and rotoscoping to speed up shape creation and save time. Includes new Magnetic Spline Tool with edge snapping, new Freehand Spline Tool for fluid drawing, and new preset circular and rectangular shape tools.
• NEW LOOK AND FEEL
Editors and artists will rejoice at the completely redesigned Mocha interface. The updated interface makes Mocha easier to learn than ever before. The Mocha Essentials Workspace brings the power of Mocha to novice level users with a simplified interface. Tracking & masking is now faster by reducing complexity and focusing the Mocha interface on the most essential icons and tools. Switch to Classic for advanced modules and customize workspaces for flexibility.
• RETINA & HIGH DPI MONITOR SUPPORT
The new Mocha interface and tools look fantastic on modern high DPI monitors.
The Effect and Transition Builder has some complimentary new improvements in Sapphire 2019 release. A new animating shape effect allows for cool new presets like multi-color shape wipes and organic transitions with a hand-drawn look. Plus PixelSort and Whiplash have also been added to create original new effects. Watch this short video for an overview of the new Builder presets in Sapphire 2019.
