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352 Chapter 19: Video Post-Production
Apply Hue Globally—
Globally applies the Hue of
theNodeSourcetotheotherFlareeffects.
Angle—Affects the amount that the f lare rotates
from its default position, as the position of the flare
changes relative to t he camera. This parameter
canbeanimated.Thelockbuttontotherightof
the Auto Key button locks the secondary flares so
they do rotate. When the button is disabled, the
secondary flares will not rotate.
Animating the Angle parameter does not animate
the m anual and automatic secondary flares unless
you turn on the L button. The default behavior
mimics a camera, in which the aperture does not
rotate.
Rays, stars, and streaks don’t animate either unless
you turn on their individual Auto Rotate toggles.
Intensity—Cont rols the overall brig htness and
opacity of the flare. Higher values produce bright,
more opaque flares, and lower values produce
dim, tr ansparent flares. This parameter can be
animated.
Sq ueeze—Squeezes the size of the lens flare,
either horizontally or vertically to compensate
for different frame aspect ratios. You can set
Squeeze f rom 100 to -100. Positive values stretch
the flare hor i zontally, and negative values stretch it
vertically. The value is a percentage of the size of
the flare. This parameter can be animated.
Forexample,ifyouconvertafilmforuseonTV,
applying Squeeze would cause the lens flare to look
correct on the smal ler screen, and not thin and
tall, although a wide-screen 35-MM fi lm image is
muchwiderthanaregularTV.
Although Squeeze is a global setting, you can
apply this effect to selected portions of your flare
through the Preferences panel (page 3–353) so that
only the flare elements you want are distorted. The
Squeeze spinner value is given as a percentage of
thesizeoftheflare.
Node S ources—Lets you select the source object
for the lens flare effect. The source of the lens flare
may be any object in the scene , but is generally
a light, such as a target spot light, or an omni
light. Clicking this button displays the Select Flare
Objectsdialog.Youmustselectasourceforthe
flare to key off.
Note: If you select a source object, then rename the
object later, you must reselect t he object to ensure
thecorrectgenerationofthelensflare.
Lens Flare Effects group
Controls specific effects for the flare, such as fades,
brightness, softening, and so on.
Brighten—Lets you set an overa l l brightness that
affects the whole image. When a bright effect,
such as a lens flare, appears in an image, the
whole image should appear brighter. This effect is
available only when the Brighten option is enabled
under the Render section of the Preferences panel.
This parameter can be animated (page 3–349).
Animating the Brighten spinner is an easy way to
create flares that "flash" the scene as they appear.
Dist Fade—Causes the e ffect of the lens flare to fade
with its d istance from t he ca mera. This option
is used only when the Dist Fade button is turned
on. The values are in 3ds Max world units. This
option is used when you want to create the effect
of flares disappearing at a certain point away from
the camera.
Cent Fade—Fadesthesecondaryflaresnearthe
center of the row of flares along the main axis of
theflare.Thisisaneffectthatcanbeseeninmany
lens flares seen through a real camera lens. This
value is in 3ds Max world units. This sett ing is
only active when the Cent Fade button is selected.
Dist B lur—Blurs the flare based on its distance from
the camera. This value is in 3ds Max world units.
This parameter can be animated.