BCC Alpha Spotlight

Category: OBSOLETE

Effect Name: BCC Alpha Spotlight

The BCC Alpha Spotlight filter, part of the BCC Obsolete category, uses a spotlight to create or add transparency to the source image. The Alpha Spotlight can be used to create an effect in which the lit areas become transparent while the background is left opaque, or vice versa.

Working with the Filter

Presets and Common Controls

• BCC filters come with a library of factory installed presets plus the ability to create your own custom presets and preview them with the BCC FX Browser™.
• BCC filters also include common controls that configure global effect preferences and other host-specific effect settings.

For more information about working with presets and other common controls, Click Here.

Effect Controls

Motion Tracker

The BCC Motion Tracker allows you to track the motion of an object, then use the motion path to drive other geometric properties of the effect without the need for keyframing.

For more information on the Motion Tracker, Click Here.

• Near Corner: Sets the point in the lit region that is closest to the light source.
• Far Corner: Sets the point in the lit region that is farthest from the light source.
• Displace Light: Displaces the light source and target point by the same amount.
• Light Elevation: Controls the height of the light source above the image plane. The lit area is either an ellipse or a hyperbola, depending on the angle at which the light strikes the image. The shape of the lit region is determined by the Light Elevation and the distance between the Near and Far Corner points. Reducing Light Elevation produces an increasingly stretched ellipse. Increasing Light Elevation produces an increasingly circular lit region.
• Light Squeeze: Sets the shape of the lit region. A value of 100 creates a circular lit region (by putting the source directly above the center of the region). As Light Squeeze is reduced, the lit region narrows. Decreasing Light Squeeze moves the source away from the lit region, making the light weaker.
• Intensity: Sets the intensity of the light.
• Center Falloff: Controls the falloff in the center of the lit region. Increase Center Falloff to create a light that is brighter in the center than at the edges. Use a negative Center Falloff value to create a ring-shaped spotlight.
• Edge Falloff: Controls the softness of the edges of the lit region. Increase Edge Falloff to soften the transition between the lit and unlit regions.
• Apply Mode: Determines how the filter composites the applied light with the image. For descriptions of all the possible Apply Modes, Click Here.
• Apply Mix: Controls the mix of the specified Apply Mode with the Normal apply mode. If the Apply Mode is Normal, Apply Mix has no affect. If Apply Mix is 0, Apply Mode has no affect. Increase Apply Mix to blend the Apply Mode setting with the Normal apply mode.
• Shadow Transparent: When enabled unlit regions of the image are transparent.
• Gel-Matte Layer: Selects any layer in the composition to use as either a gel or a matte.
• Gel-Matte: Determines how the Gel-Matte layer is used.

• None: No gel or matte is used.
• Gel: Uses the Gel-Matte layer for color information to create a gel.
• Matte: Uses the Gel-Matte layer for color information to create a matte.

• Best Quality Gel: Improves the quality of the spotlight when using a gel, particularly if the spotlight moves, but increases render and preview time. Deselecting this option improves speed, and the resulting image quality is often adequate.