BCC+ Ice Halos

Category: BCC Lights

Effect Name: BCC+ Ice Halos

The BCC+ Ice Halos filter, part of the BCC Lights category, generates atmospheric halos. Ice halos are created when small ice crystals in the atmosphere generate halos by reflecting and refracting light. Most notably, circles form around the sun or moon as well as rare occurrences when the entire sky is painted with a web of arcing halos.

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.

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.

• View Sets the viewer to display different aspects of the filter.
  • Output: Displays the final result of the effect.
  • Matte: Displays the matte used to generate the ice halo.
  • Halo: Displays the ice halo effect.

The Light Group

• Blend: Determines the blend mode to be used to add the ice halo effect.
• Add: The ice halo is added to your image.
• Screen: The ice halo is combined with the image using a Screen blend mode. This looks kind of like the Add blend mode, but highlights are retained.
• Brightness: Sets the intensity of the ice halo.
• Displacement: Displaces the ice halo by the luminance values of the image. This “fakes” the effect of the ice halo wrapping over objects in the image.
• Blur: Sets the softness of the ice halo.

The Halo Group

• Blend: Selects the blending mode for the ice halo, which can be added to the entire image or limited to a matte.
• Halo Only: The ice halo is added to the entire image.
• Matte: The ice halo is added only in areas of the matte.
• Sun Altitude: Selects the appropriate ice halo pattern based on the sun’s altitude.
• Position: Sets the position of the ice halo along the x/y axis.
• Scale X: Sets the horizontal scale of the ice halo.
• Scale Y: Sets the vertical scale of the ice halo.
• Gang Scale: The Scale X and Scale Y slider values can be ganged together.

The Matte Group

A matte can be used to limit where the ice halo will be placed. Wherever there is white in the matte is where the ice halo will be added.

• Extract On: Allows for the selection of the type of matte. Select whichever type isolates the desired values. A matte is created based on one of the following:
• Luminance: A matte is created based on the luminance of the image.
• Hue: A matte is created based on the hue of the image. When adjusting the Position parameter, you are selecting different hues.
• Saturation: A matte is created based on the saturation of the image.
• Average: A matte is created based on the average of the image’s RGB values.
• Red: A matte is created based on the image’s red values.
• Green: A matte is created based on the image’s green values.
• Blue: A matte is created based on the image’s blue values.
• Cyan: A matte is created based on the image’s cyan values.
• Magenta: A matte is created based on the image’s magenta values.
• Yellow: A matte is created based on the image’s yellow values.
• Position: Pinpoints the color values to be used in the matte.
• Range:Increases or decreases the range of values in the matte.
• Blur: The matte is blurred by a quality blur.

The Alpha Group

• Halo Under Source:Determines how much of the halo effect is generated from behind the source image.
• 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.