Step 1 Launch FCP and Import a Clip
Start by launching Final Cut Pro, and import a clip. We’re using the Artbeats stock clip “lake.mov.” Scrub the clip to familiarize yourself with the motion that is generated by the slow right-to-left pan of the camera.
Step 2 Capture Your Camera Motion
What we are looking for in the clip, ideally, is an area that remains visible throughout the shot. In this particular clip we can see what appears to be the top of a building just on the edge of the tree line in the center of the image; this remains visible from the start to the end of the clip and is not obstructed by another element in the scene. This is the spot we will use to capture the camera motion.
Step 3 Apply BCC Lens Flare
Apply the BCC Lens Flare filter to the clip by dragging it from the filter list directly onto the clip in the timeline. Double-click the clip in the timeline to bring the filter controls into the filters tab, where they can be accessed.
Step 4 Track Your Camera Movement
Before you set up the look of the lens flare you want to add to the image, you need to first track the camera movement. It is important to set the play head at the start of the clip in the timeline so that the motion tracker can track the clip in its entirety. Next, scroll down through the filters’parameter list until you see the Motion Tracker group. Click on the arrow beside the Motion Tracker to reveal the motion tracking parameters. Click on the Track On-the-Fly check box to enable the motion tracker.
Step 5 Fine-Tune Your Tracking Target Boxes for More Control
When you track on the fly, the filter displays a box within a box over the image clip. The inner box is the target region and the outer box is the search region. These two boxes instruct the filter to search for a targeted group of pixels, which are in the inner box, within the outer search box on the next frame in the clip. You can control the size of both of these boxes. The smaller that you make the box, the faster the tracking process will run. However, there is a limit as to how small you should make these boxes, which is dependent on the detail in the clip and how fast the pixels in the image move from frame to frame. A simple rule to follow is the target area must be found within the search area on the next frame; if the target group of pixels is not within the search region on the next frame, the tracker will fail and generate an erroneous result.
Step 6 Position and Set the Tracker in Motion
Click on the button next to the Tracker Center KF parameter to enable the on-screen point picker widget. Click on the image in the Canvas to position the Tracker Center on the object that we identified earlier as a good tracker location. Set the value of the Target Width parameter to 3; set the value of the Search Width parameter to 10. Click on the Canvas Window to make that the current window selection. From the FCP pull-down menu select: Mark>Play>Every Frame. This action will set the tracker in motion.
Step 7 Apply the Recovered Camera Motion to the Lens Flare Source
When tracking is complete the playback will stop. You should see a line drawn across the image indicating the path that the camera took as it panned from right to left. Disable the Tracker by clicking the Track On-the-Fly checkbox. The Motion Tracker on-screen display will disappear from the Canvas Window. Now you can apply the recovered camera motion to the Lens Flare source light position.
Scroll down the filter parameter listing until you find the Apply parameter. Change the pop-up from None to Light Source. Now the light source will move along with the camera and remained locked down in the scene.
Step 8 Offset the Light Source
Although the Light Source for the Lens Flare is being tracked and is locked to the tracking target, we can offset the position of the Light Source from the original group of pixels that we tracked. Set the value of the parameter Offset X to -0.45. Set the value of the parameter Offset Y to -0.13. The Light Source is now positioned in the upper left quadrant of the image instead of the original position in the middle right of the clip.
Step 9 Finesse Your Flare for Realistic Results
Next, you can adjust some of the parameters of the Lens Flare to make it look just the way you want. The factory-installed presets will give you a look that is based on a real-world lens flare. Click on the preset pop-up at the top of the filter and take a look at the various lens types and the flares that each one will generate by selecting them, and, in turn, observing the image result in the Canvas.
Step 10 Modify to the End, then Render
Remember, you can modify all of the parameters in the Lens Flare, even after you’ve selected a preset. Select the preset Standard50-300Zoom. Set the value of the parameter labeled Global Intensity to 80. Set the value in the parameter labeled Global Scale to 1.25. Click on the button next to the Pivot Point parameter to enable the on-screen point-position widget. Set the position of the pivot point in the upper center of the image by clicking on the Canvas window right where you want to position the pivot. Alternately, you can enter these numeric values: -11.25 (x) -92 (y). That’s it. You are now ready to render the finished effect.
Tools Used: Boris Continuum Complete Lens Flare FxPlug, Apple Final Cut Pro
Your Guide
Peter McAuley
Product Manager
Boris FX
Peter McAuley has been involved in the development of state-of-the-art graphics technology for print, video and film since the mid-1990s. Since 1999, he’s been a part of the Boris FX team, managing Boris Continuum Complete and other Boris FX product lines. Prior to working in technology development, he created high-end imagery for print advertising as a production artist in the US and Europe and studied Offset Lithography and Color Theory at Bolton Street College of Technology in Dublin, Ireland. He has worked with filmmaker Hisham Bizri as a colorist, effects artist and consultant on several films and installations shown in the US, Europe and the Middle East. He also enjoys torturing his neighbors with an electric bass, listening to punk, indie, classical and jazz recordings, and watching independent movies.
Peter Says Keep in Mind…
Boris Continuum Complete’s Lens Flare filter simulates the streaks and spots of light on film caused by light bouncing inside a camera lens. What makes BCC Lens Flare unique is its ability to track a camera pan in the source footage, producing a more natural flare animation to match the original in-camera effect. A wide range of preset lens flares is included for quick application or as a starting point for a custom effect.
Boris FX
260 Cedar Hill St.
Marlborough, MA 01752
p. 888.772.6747
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