BCC+ Atmospheric Glow Dissolve

Category: BCC Transitions

Effect Name: BCC+ Atmospheric Glow Dissolve

The BCC+ Atmospheric Glow Dissolve filter, part of the BCC Transitions category, is a film glow based auto-animating transition brings instant atmospheric looks to an otherwise flat scene.

Based around a film glow, this effect includes 9 independently controlled groups, including volumetric light rays, a smoke/fog generator, light flickering, chromatic aberration, on-lens orbs, film grain and a vignette with color/blur options, each of which adds a new element to the scene. Many of the effect groups are auto-animating and the transition is capped with a full suite of color correction tools. This transition includes a number of professionally designed user modifiable presets to get you started with generating some exciting atmospheric looks.

Working with the Filter

FX Editor and Presets

• Use the FX Editor to load or save presets for reuse.
• To load a preset: Open the FX Editor, select a preset from the Presets panel, and click Apply to return to the host application.
• To save a custom preset: While in the FX Editor, click the Create Custom Preset icon in the parameter list, enter a preset name, and click Done. Additionally, a custom preset can be saved from the main menu bar by selecting File->Save Preset.
• To import custom presets from another drive: While in the FX Editor, select File->Import Preset from the main menu bar.

• Animation: Menu controlling what drives the animation of the transition.
• Auto: Automatically generates a transition based on the transition length (when used as a transition) or the clip length (when used as a filter).
• Manual: Requires the user to set keyframes to control the transition progression. Can be useful in customizing the exact timing of the transition or when applying the filter as a stylized effect as opposed to a direct NLE-style transition.
• Layer to Reveal: This layer selection popup is not relevant when you have applied the filter as a true NLE-style transition and it will be hidden or disabled in that context. When applied as a normal “effect” as opposed to a transition, however, this menu is used to select the “Incoming” or “Reveal” layer for the transition.
• Percent Done: When the Animation menu is changed to Percent Done then this slider can be manually keyframed to control the transition progression.
• Style: The size of the rendered rays, prism, vignette and orbs can be static or can animate up and down over the course of the transition
• Blend: orbs remain the same size
• Animate: orbs scale up and down

Rays Source Group

• Source Animation: The volumetric light rays can be set to animate between user defined start and end points in the frame
• Source: The light is static
• Start to End: The light animates between the start and end points
• Source Start: Sets the start point for the ray light animation
• Source End: Sets the end point for the ray light animation
• Source Ease: Determines the smoothness of the ray light animation at the start and end points

Atmospheric Glow Group

Glow Group

The glow serves as a foundation of this filter and is the basis on which the entire look is generated. As you work with the filter, you’ll find that some groups in the filter can be applied either before or after the glow stage of the effect, which can be used to generate more photorealistic or more highly stylized looks. The glow section includes over 20 different apply modes which blend the glow result back into the filtered source.

• View: Selects the view to aid in setting up the filter.
• Intensity: Sets the intensity of the glow result.
• Color: Sets the color of the glow. Default is white.
• Radius: Sets the radius over which the glow spreads to surrounding regions.
• Threshold: Sets the pixel values that are affected by the glow.
• Glow from Alpha: Generates the image glow from the alpha channel instead of or in addition to the color channels. The selection in the Glow From Alpha Mode determines how the alpha glow and the color channel glows are combined.
• Glow Under Source: Determines how the glows are composited with alpha source clips.
• Edge Mode: Determines how edges of the filtered frame are handled.
• Transparent: Sets the edge of the result to become transparent.
• >Repeat: Sets edge pixels to generate opaque pixels along the edge of the result.
• Reflect: Reflects pixels back into the result to generate opaque pixels along the edge of the result.
• Wrap: Wraps edge pixels to generate opaque pixels along the edge of the result.
• RGB Independent Glows: Enables independent scaling of the glow dimensions for Red, Green, and Blue color channels.
• Red Scale: Scales red glow uniformly.
• Green Scale: Scales green glow uniformly.
• Blue Scale: Scales blue glow uniformly.
• Blend Mode: Sets the apply mode that the filter uses to composite the glow over the input image. The default apply mode is “Screen”.

Volumetric Rays Group

The Rays option generates volumetric light rays that pull color either from the filtered source or from a user defined color. By default, the light beams will pull color from the filtered source but setting the color chip to anything other than white will override that and tint the light with the user selected color.

• Enable: Enables the rays effect.
• Pre/Post: Determines if the rays are generated before the glow effect has been applied, or after it has been applied.
• Pre Glow
• Post Glow
• Blend: Determines the apply mode that the filter uses to composite the rays over the input image. The default apply mode is “Screen”.
• Add
• Screen
• Length: Sets the ray length.
• Brightness: Sets the brightness of the rays.
• Color: Sets the color of the rays.
• Blur: Used to blur the rays.
• Threshold: Sets the amount of rays based on a brightness threshold.
• Rays from Alpha: Generastes the image glow from the alpha channel instead of or in addition to the color channels.
• Rays Under Source: Determines how the rays are composited with alpha source clips.

Smoke/Fog Group

• Enable: Enable the visibility to the smoke / fog group
• Configuration: Determines how the fog is composited into the effect, as well as view the matte.
• Pre Glow: Composites the smoke and fog onto the clip prior to applying the glow effect.
• Post Glow: Composites the smoke and fog onto the clip after the glow effect has been applied.
• Smoky Rays: Composites the smoke and fog texture into the volumetric rays.
• View Smoke Matte: View the smoke matte. Disable before rendering effect.
• View Rays: View the rays pixels. Disable before rendering the effect.
• View Smoky Rays: View the Smoky Rays. Disable before rendering the effect.
• Smoky Rays Tuning: Sets the black and white levels of the smoky rays.
• Add Smoke/Fog: Used to when Smoky Rays is selected. Mixes smoke/fog effect back into the clip.

Smoke Group

• Smoke Sprite: Selects the desired sprite from the list of available sprites
• Speed: Sets the speed of the smoke noise movement.
• Opacity: Sets the brightness of the smoke sprites.
• Contrast: Sets the contrast between the light and dark areas of the smoke.
• Color: Sets the color of the smoke.
• Coherence: Determines the random movements of the smoke.
• Scale: Sets the scale of the smoke effect.
• Density: Sets the intensity of the overall smoke effect.
• Sprite Softness: Softens the edges of the selected sprite

Fog Group

• Opacity: Sets the opacity of the fog effect.
• Scale: Sets the scale of the fog effect.
• Contrast: Sets the contrast between the light and dark areas of the fog.
• Color: Sets the color of the fog.
• Level: Sets the gamma of the fog effect.
• Speed: Sets the overall speed of the fog noise movement.
• Use Source Alpha: Used to apply the fog to the alpha areas of the clip.
• Blend Mode: Determines the apply mode that the filter uses to composite the fog. The default apply mode is “Screen”.
• Random Seed: Determines the randomness of the fog.

Prism Group

The Prism group offers a way to generate chromatic aberration where the RGB light is split in a way that emulates poor quality glass or plastic lenses and is great when adding that extra level of spookiness to the result.

• Enable: Enables to the prism effect.
• Amount: Determines the overall amount of the prism effect.
• Weight: Sets the smoothness of the prism with lower values generating a more visible stepped offset and higher values yielding a smooth continuous prism
• Short Color: Sets the color of the short color waves. The default is blue.
• Mid Color: Sets the color of the medium color waves. The default is green.
• Long Color: Sets the color of the long color waves. The default is red.

Grain Group

The grain generator can produce auto-animating grain or static grain and there’s a checkbox option to set the grain to be RGB or B/W. Sometimes a little static B/W grain is a nice way to add a pleasing texture to the result. The Response Position, Range and Minimum parameters allow you to control where grain is added to the shot and can be thought of as a way to matte back the grain generator.

• Enable: Enables the grain effect.
• Monochrome: When checked, the grain is monochrome. In this mode, only the Red Size, Red Amount and Red Softness sliders are active. Since the grain is monochrome, only one slider is needed.
• Size: Determines the size of the grain. The larger the Size setting, the larger the grain will be.
• Amount: Sets the red, green and blue intensities of the grain.
• Red Amount: Determines the intensity of the red grain.
• Green Amount: Determines the intensity of the green grain.
• Blue Amount: Determines the intensity of the blue grain.
• Softness: Sets the softness of the grain.
• Response Position: Determines the portions of the image where grain will be added.
• Response Range: Increases or decreases the area where grain is added to the image based on the value of the Position slider.
• Response Minimum: Sets the minimum level of grain that is always added to the image.
• Animate: Enables animation in the grain. When enabled the grain will randomly animate to create a noise effect.
• Random Seed: Dertermines the randomness of the animation.

The Orbs Group

The Orbs group emulates the look of moisture on the surface of a camera lens and includes a slew of controls.

• Enable: Enables the orbs group parameters.
• Count: Sets the number of orbs in the effect
• Illumination Radius: Determines the area that is covered with orbs. Higher values will result in orbs covering more of the image.
• Invert Illumination: Inverts the illumination and alters the area in which the orbs will appear.
• Falloff: Sets the feathering of the orb edge.
• Depth Blur: Sets the apparent depth blur of the Orbs in z space.
• Depth Blur Randomness: Randomizes the depth blur sorting of the Orbs in z space.
• Intensity: Sets the opacity of the orb.
• Intensity Randomness: Adds more variability to the intensity of the individual orbs. Higher values result in more random intensity between orbs. Lower values result in more uniform intensity between orbs.
• Light Source: Sets the XY position of the light source in relation to the orbs.
• Scale: Sets the scale of the orb.
• Scale Randomness: Randomizes the scale of the orbs across the image.
• Color: Sets color that will be used for the orbs.
• Color Randomness: Randomizes the color of the orbs.
• Speed: Determines the speed of the orb movement.
• Coherence: Sets the random movements of the orbs.
• Flicker Amount: Sets the intensity of the flicker present in the orbs.
• Flicker Speed: Sets the speed at which the orbs flicker.
• Flicker Randomness: Determines the randomized timing of orb flicker effects.
• Flicker Smoothness: Sets the curve animation of the flickering orbs.
• Blend Mode: Determines how the orbs are composited into the scene.
• Random Seed: Sets the random seed starting point of the orb position on the lens.

Vignette Group

• Enable: Enables to vignette effect.
• Color: Sets the color of the vignette through the use of a standard color picker. The default color is black.
• Opacity: Sets the opacity of the colored vignette.
• Blur: Sets the softness of the image in the area of the vignette.
• Blur X: Sets the softness of the image in the area along the X axis.
• Blur Y: Sets the softness of the image in the area along the Y axis.
• Roundness: Sets the roundness of the vignette.
• Size: Sets the size of the vignette.
• Aspect Ratio: Determines the aspect ratio of the vignette.
• Softness: Determines the softness of the vignette edge.
• Softness X: Sets the edge softness along the X axis.
• Softness Y: Sets the edge softness along the Y axis.

Post Color Correct group

A suite of color correction tools are available in this group which allow for incredible control over the final color of the effect. Bear in mind that these controls will control the final result, including the filtered source. Every stage of the effect that is before this stage will be subject to color changes made in this section.

• Enable: Enables the Post Color Correct effect.
• Hue: Rotates the hue of the image.
• Saturation: Sets the saturation of the image.
• Brightness: Sets the brightness of the image.
• Contrast: Sets the contrast of the image.
• Gamma: Sets the gamma of the image.
• Temperature: Sets the color of the image to be either warmer or cooler.
• Cyan/Magenta: Adds either Cyan or Magenta to the image. Dragging the slider to the right makes the image more magenta and dragging the slider to the left makes the image more cyan.
• Red: Adds or subtracts red from the image.
• Green: Adds or subtracts green from the image.
• Blue: Adds or subtracts blue from the image.

Animation Tuning group

These parameters control the overall timing of the transition. On hosts which permit on-screen heads up display widgets (such as AE, Premiere, and Avid) you should never need to modify these sliders directly since they can be configured in a more convenient and intuitive manner by manipulating the widgets directly in your comp/preview pane. On hosts without heads up display widgets you can use these sliders directly to fine tune your animation timing, taking advantage of the View Ease Curve option to help visualize the animation rates.

• Ease In: Controls how quickly or slowly the line advances at the beginning of the transition.
• Ease Mid: Controls how quickly or slowly the middle of the animation progresses.
• Ease Out: Controls how quickly or slowly the line advances at the end of the transition.
• OSC Enable: Only visible in hosts that support heads up display widgets for manipulating these controls directly on screen. Enables/Disables on screen controls.
• GPU Rendering:Specifies how the effect is rendered.
  • Default: Uses product-wide default of 16 bit half-float GPU rendering.
  • 16 Bit Float: Manually force 16 bit half-float GPU rendering.
  • 32 Bit Float: Manually force 32 bit full-float GPU rendering.
  • Disabled: Forces CPU rendering.