BCC Colorize Glow

Category: BCC Stylize

Effect Name: BCC Colorize Glow

The BCC Colorize Glow filter, part of the BCC Stylize category, generates the glow from a single channel and then applies a gradient to the glow. The Colorized Glow can be composited with the original image or viewed by itself.

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

Mocha Mask and Track

Continuum effects include integrated masking and matte tools that allow you to restrict the effect to specific regions of the image.

• Mocha masks: used to create custom spline masks. Mocha also includes Matte Assist ML and Matte Refine ML, which use machine learning to generate and track masks.
• Pixel Chooser: used to generate geometric shapes, gradients, or mattes based on channel, luma, or color-based selections. Additionally, an AI depth map generator, and an AI-powered face detection model allow for precise control of masks and mattes.

For more information, see Mocha and Pixel Chooser.

Compare Mode

The Compare Mode is used to view the filtered result alongside the original source layer. Several split-screen and side-by-side display options are available.

For more information, see Compare Mode.

Beat Reactor

The Beat Reactor is an audio-driven animation system that links effect parameters to an audio track. This allows visual effects to react dynamically to sound without manual key-framing.

For more information, see Beat Reactor Documentation.

• Avoid Clipping: When enabled, the glow expands outside the borders of the original source. The Pixel Chooser is disabled if Avoid Clipping is selected.
• Glow Channel: Selects the channel in the source image from which the glow is derived. Pixels with higher values in the selected channel have higher intensities.
• Luma, Red, Green, and Blue: Uses the corresponding color channel and multiply it by the source alpha channel.
• Luma Inverse: Uses the inverted luma channel.
• Unmultiplied Luma and Alpha: Uses the unmodified corresponding source channels.
• Luma Cartoon Edges and Alpha Cartoon Edges: Finds edges in the corresponding source channel, apply outlines to the edges, and use the resulting image. When Luma Cartoon Edges or Alpha Cartoon Edges is selected, the Source Edges parameter group is available; Cartoon Thickness adjusts the width of the outlined edges, and Cartoon Threshold sets the value in the threshold above which pixels are considered fully on.
• Luma Edges and Alpha Edges: Finds edges in the corresponding source channel and use the resulting image. When Luma Cartoon Edges or Alpha Cartoon Edges is selected, the Source Edges parameter group is available; Edge Intensity adjusts the width of the outlined edges.
• Pixel Chooser Uses the region defined by the PixelChooser parameter group.

Source Edges Group

The Source Edges group provides additional control if either Alpha Edges, Luma Edges, Alpha Cartoon Edge or Luma Cartoon Edges is selected in the Glow From Channel menu.

• Edge Intensity: Sets the width of the outlined edges
• Smooth Details: Blurs the source image before the filter searches for edges. This blur does not appear in the output; it is used only in edge detection.
• Edge Bloom: Blurs the edges before they are used to create the applied glow.
• Cartoon Threshold: Sets the value in the threshold above which pixels are considered fully on. This parameter is only available when Luma Cartoon Edges or Alpha Cartoon Edges is selected in the Glow From channel menu.
• Blur Amount: Sets the amount of blur applied to the image to produce the glow effect.
• Spread: Increasing Spread causes each point in the rendered output to be affected more by points farther away in the blur. Animating Spread can cause visible jumps in the animated effect.
• Blur Quality: The Blur Quality menu controls the quality of the post blur applied to the glow. Choose Low, Medium, High, Higher or Highest. Low and Medium are adequate for simple matte smoothing, but to blur the edges of a high-contrast image or animate the blur, you may need to use Highest. There is a significant rendering cost to using High, and considerably more for using Highest.
• Threshold: Sets the sensitivity of the filter to edges in the image.

Note: Reducing this value to 0 tends to add noise to the image. For best results, use Threshold settings of 1 or above.

• Overdrive Amount: Sets the intensity of the glow created by the blur.
• Overdrive Soften: Softens the glow produced by the Overdrive parameter and pulls its edges in.
• Overdrive: Determines how the glow portion of the effect composites over the blurred portion of the effect. The resulting filtered image is then composited with the source image using the chosen Apply Mode.
• Softness: Sets a blur that is applied to the glow after the first blur and the overdrive mix.
• Intensity: Sets the scale of the intensity of the glow.
• Glow Offset: Offsets the glow. A positive value pushes some of the negative values positive and makes them visible in the output. A negative value reduces all the glow values, causing only the most glowing pixels to appear in the output.
• Color Preset: Selects a Colorize preset gradient of up to six colors to tone the effect. If the Mode menu is not set to Colorize, the presets have no affect.

Gradient Group

The BCC Gradient group enables complex, multi-color gradients for use in a variety of effect settings such as colorizing light sources.

For more information on the BCC Gradient tool, Click Here.

Composite Group

The Composite group contains controls that select the output of the effect and how it is composited with the source.

• Output: Sets the output of the effect.
• Colorize: Displays the colorized glow effect composited with the source layer.
• Glow Map: Displays the glow map in black and white.
• Matte with Glow: Creates an alpha channel from the glow. Transparent and semi-transparent areas display a checkerboard image.
• Mask Outside Glow: Displays the source with a ruby mask over the pixels that are not affect by the colorize glow effect.
• View Source: Displays the channel from which the glow is derived.
• Opaque Glow: When disabled, the glow is composited with its own intensity before it is composited with the source. This makes colors at the left end of the gradient preview ramp more transparent. When this is enabled, the glow itself is opaque. Leave Opaque Glow deselected when the filter is applied to a layer with an alpha channel.
• Glow Opacity: Sets the opacity of the glow.
• Apply Mode: Determines how the filter is composited over the source image. For information on the available apply modes, Click Here.
• Apply Mix: Determines 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.
• Reduce Flicker: Reduces the flicker in the rendered image. The only way to evaluate a deflicker setting is to render and play back the effect on an NTSC monitor.
• 1-2-1: Mixes each pixel with the pixels above and below it, with the input pixel getting twice the weight as the ones above and below. For After Effects users, this works the same as applying the AE Reduce Flicker filter at a setting of 0.5.
• 2-3-2: Provides more softening than 1-2-1.
• 1-1-1: Provides the most softening for effects that still contain flicker with the above options.
• Off: No deflickering will be done.
• Mix with Original: Blends the source and filtered images. Use this parameter to animate the effect from the unfiltered to the filtered image without adjusting other settings, or to reduce the effect of the filter by mixing it with the source image.