Sapphire

The Artist’s Choice

Bring The Past Back

Sapphire VHS Damage

Sapphire

Bring Your Story To Life

Everything you need to get started

Sapphire Essentials Training

Award-winning VFX plugins

Sapphire plugins let you create stunning organic looks unmatched by any host native effect tools. Key features include over 270 effects and 3000+ presets, a powerful Effect and Transition Builder, and integrated tracking and masking with the Academy Award-winning Mocha. Sapphire’s superior image quality, control, and render speed offers massive time-savings — allowing creatives to focus on what matters most, delivering an impact that keeps audiences coming back.

It’s always about the effects

Light & Flares

Shot missing something? Add lighting effects and beautiful lens flares.

Lens flares, rays, glows, glints, bokeh effects, streaks, light leaks, flashbulbs, and more.

Blur & Distort

High-quality lens distortions and photorealistic blurs.

Camera shakes, rack defocuses, lens whacking, z-blurs, edge aware blurs, beauty effects, and more.

Render & Composite

Deep & fast tools to adjust your shots and build better comps by adding new textures and elements.

Zaps, textures, caustics, starfields, gradients, sparkles, grunges, auroras, and more.

Stylize

A wide variety of ways to add high production value to any project.

Film effects, glitches, pixel sorts, vignettes, film grains, retro TV and film looks, kaleidos, auto-paints, and more.

Transition & Time

Auto-animating transitions from classic to modern and mind bending time effects.

Many custom dissolves and wipes, film rolls, hyper pulls, swish pans, feedback effects, time averaging, trails, and more.

Do virtually anything

Create cross-platform stacks of effects that apply as a single effect, or make entirely new effects and transitions with Sapphire Builder.

Endless possibilities!

Effects showcase

Trusted by the industry’s best

Quarterbacking Sports Promos with Sapphire

Artist C.M. De La Vega shares his motion graphics/VFX playbook in After Effects.

Plug in to your favorite host

Work in your preferred OS

macOS

Windows

Linux

System requirements

Host Support
  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Autodesk Flame (OFX)
  • Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve (OFX)
  • VEGAS Pro (OFX)
  • Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Avid Media Composer
  • The Foundry’s Nuke (OFX)
  • Blackmagic Fusion Studio (OFX)
For a full list of supported host versions and OS versions, please click here.
Mac OS
OS Requirements
  • Catalina 10.15 or higher
Processor (CPU)
  • Apple M-series or Intel processors
System Memory (RAM)
  • 8 GB minimum, 16+ GB preferred
Graphics Processor (GPU)
  • METAL GPU acceleration on all supported GPUs.
Disk
  • High-speed disk array or SSD storage
Windows
OS Requirements
  • Windows 10 and Windows 11
Processor (CPU)
  • 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU with four or more cores
System Memory (RAM)
  • 8 GB minimum, 16+ GB preferred
Graphics Processor (GPU)
  • CUDA acceleration on all supported NVIDIA GPUs. More information on supported cards, CUDA versions and specific drivers here
Disk
  • High-speed disk array or SSD storage
Linux
Operating System
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7-9, or a compatible Linux distribution such as Rocky Linux
Processor (CPU)
  • 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU with four or more cores
System Memory (RAM)
  • 8 GB minimum, 16+ GB preferred
Graphics Processor (GPU)
  • CUDA acceleration on all supported NVIDIA GPUs. More information on supported cards, CUDA versions and specific drivers here
Disk
  • High-speed disk array or SSD storage

What’s New

  • Sapphire VHS Damage

    Bring the raw, imperfect charm of VHS to your footage
  • Sapphire Dissolve Light Leaks

    Add cinematic quality transitions to any cut with smooth, colorful light bursts and flares
  • New Presets

    50+ professionally designed and curated presets
  • New and Updated Lens Flares

    Includes 8 more stunning flares for 2025

Sapphire VHS Damage

Create the iconic look of VHS with unmatched authenticity. Embrace the low-fi, analog vibe with customizable modules that replicate everything from tracking errors and color shifts to downsampling and subtle tape wobble. VHS Damage allows you to craft a unique look by enabling only the effects you want. It’s completely module and procedural — no overlays, just pure VHS charm. Use it for everything from subtle nostalgia to a heavily damaged, retro aesthetic.

Modular Damage Controls

Modular Damage Controls

VHS Damage isn’t just one look. With a fully modular setup, you can enable and adjust individual components like color degradation, tape noise, fast forward, and more. This flexibility lets you achieve the exact level of vintage distortion you’re after.
Downsampling and Interlacing

Downsampling and Interlacing

VHS wasn’t made for (Ultra) HD, and neither is VHS Damage. Start by downsampling your beautiful high-res footage to standard-definition levels, with options to adjust pixel size, downsample color values, and introduce interlaced combing for true analog accuracy.
Customizable Color Artifacts

Customizable Color Artifacts

Simulate the uneven color retention of real VHS with color bloom, chromatic aberration, and color downsampling effects. Adjust these controls to bring out the classic, smeary color and faded tones that give VHS its unique warmth.
Extensive Preset Library

Extensive Preset Library

Dive right in with a library of presets designed to match different VHS tape eras, from subtle wear to full degradation. Choose a preset, make a few tweaks, and you’re ready to recreate a classic VHS masterpiece.

Sapphire Dissolve Light Leaks

Transition between any scene with the organic beauty of light leaks. Inspired by natural light phenomena, this effect creates smooth, colorful bursts and flares that shift and fade, adding an ethereal, cinematic quality to any cut. Perfect for everything from retro vibes to high-energy sequences.

New and Improved Sapphire Lens Flares

Sapphire’s award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry for gorgeous and natural-looking results, now includes 8 more reasons to love it. Use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.

New and Improved Presets

Artists can hit the ground running with stunning looks and professionally curated transitions thanks to 50+ new and improved presets, giving users even more options and refined looks.

Sapphire PixelMosh

Glitch your art with beautifully precise imperfections using the new Sapphire PixelMosh plugin. Smear and drag pixels from one group of frames to another. Add bursting blobs of color that bloom and pulsate or digital decay with corrupted, stuck frames. Combines seamlessly with other Sapphire damage effects inside S_Effect and S_Transition.

Sapphire Dust

Breathe life into every frame with the new Sapphire Dust Effect. S_Dust is blazing-fast, replicates the look of a simple particle simulation without the complexity, and includes rich, user-friendly controls.

It’s perfect for adding a touch of photorealism to CG renders, creating a cinematic atmosphere, and enhancing motion graphics. Set the mood with a few shimmering specks or unleash a turbulent sandstorm.

Create more stunning results by pairing it with other classic Sapphire effects inside S_Effect and S_Transition.

Sapphire PrismLens

Created to replicate shooting through a physical prism, S_PrismLens reflects and refracts light to create cinematic and dreamy looks. It’s packed with a feature rich parameter set that allows editors and artists unparalleled freedom and control to create single, linear, and circular reflections. Great for music videos, travelogues, cinematic opens, social media, or even stills — anywhere you wish to create stunning images.

Sapphire UltraGrain

Created for the modern VFX artist, editor, and colorist. S_UltraGrain accurately recreates the qualities and aesthetics of film and camera grain with the needed flexibility of a digital toolset. S_UltraGrain makes the art of grain management completely natural and blazing fast thanks to native CUDA and Metal GPU-acceleration.

Previous releases

Performance Upgrades

Better stability and performance for Windows users with the latest NVIDIA cards via Sapphire’s under the hood upgrade to CUDA 12. Mac users now have 11 new effects and transitions GPU accelerated via METAL. These include BlurDirectional, BokehLights, Convolve, DefocusPrism, DissolveGlare, Flashbulbs, Glare, NightSky, RackDefocus, Whiplash, and ZDefocus.

New and Improved Sapphire Lens Flares

Sapphire’s award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry for gorgeous and natural looking results, now includes 5 more reasons to love it with the addition of new and improved flares for Sapphire 2024.5. Use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.

See the new flares in action | :65

Sapphire PixelMosh

Glitch your art with beautifully precise imperfections using the new Sapphire PixelMosh plugin. Smear and drag pixels from one group of frames to another. Add bursting blobs of color that bloom and pulsate or digital decay with corrupted, stuck frames. Combines seamlessly with other Sapphire damage effects inside S_Effect and S_Transition.

Learn more about PixelMosh | 13:12

Sapphire Dust

Breathe life into every frame with the new Sapphire Dust Effect. S_Dust is blazing-fast, replicates the look of a simple particle simulation without the complexity, and includes rich, user-friendly controls.

It’s perfect for adding a touch of photorealism to CG renders, creating a cinematic atmosphere, and enhancing motion graphics. Set the mood with a few shimmering specks or unleash a turbulent sandstorm.

Create more stunning results by pairing it with other classic Sapphire effects inside S_Effect and S_Transition.

Learn more about Dust | 16:12

Improved Time Effects

Every effect in the Sapphire Time category is re-engineered with better behavior and refined functionality. The collection features 30 effects focused on time manipulation. Each effect now renders quickly and accurately, and you can now use them within S_Effect and S_Transition.

Learn more about Sapphire Time effects | 11:03

New for 2023.5

  • Improved Effect! New Parameter Linking in Sapphire Builder allows you to create interactions between values and even different effects.
  • Improved Functionality! New Quick Access and Favorites menus in Builder create faster and more streamlined workflows.
  • Improved Functionality! Customize any parameter in Builder with a unique name.
  • New and Improved Presets! Builder ships with 25+ new presets and more than 130 updated and improved presets.
  • New Flares! Includes 12 updated Sapphire Lens Flares.

Parameter Linking in Builder

The new parameter linking feature in S_Effect and S_Transition allows editors and artists to create dynamic and complex effects by connecting parameters and values across different Sapphire effects. Users can set a "driver" parameter and then link other parameters to it, including adding offsets and multipliers.

Parameter linking gives users control over an entire effect's animation with a single slider. This makes it easier to create advanced animations and effects without having to manually adjust multiple parameters!

Watch how the new parameter linking works in Builder

Quick Access and Favorites

The new Quick Access feature provides users with a fast option to find and add effects to Builder. Simply add effects directly into the node graph with just a few clicks rather than navigating Sapphire’s expansive list of effects. Users can also star frequently used effects and add them to the new Favorites category, making them easily accessible.

Custom Parameter Naming

The 2023.5 update to Sapphire introduces a highly-requested feature: the ability to customize effect parameter names in Builder. Users can now create their own names for any parameter inside any Sapphire effect. By choosing more intuitive and user-friendly parameter names, Builder artists can quickly identify key parameters in an effect and adjust accordingly.

New and Improved Presets

Artists can hit the ground running with stunning looks and professionally-curated transitions thanks to 15 new S_Effect presets and 12 new S_Transition presets — all built out with custom expressions. Plus, 130+ existing S_Effect and S_Transition presets are updated and improved, giving users even more options and refined looks.

New and Improved Sapphire Lens Flares

Sapphire’s award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry for gorgeous and natural looking results, now includes 12 more reasons to love it with the addition of new and improved flares for Sapphire 2023.5. Use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.

See the new Sapphire 2023.5 flares in action.

New for 2023

  • New Effect! Easily create beautifully cinematic looks, add dreamy light refractions and reflections, build on uniquely characteristic flares and more with Sapphire PrismLens.
  • New Effect! Bring your footage to life with elegant and accurate film and camera grain with Sapphire UltraGrain.
  • New Transition! Connect shots with a real world optical-based glow featuring atmospheric noise and highlights with Sapphire DissolveUltraGlow.
  • New Presets! Includes 18 updated Sapphire Lens Flares and more.

New in 2023! Sapphire PrismLens

Created to replicate shooting through a physical prism, S_PrismLens reflects and refracts light to create cinematic and dreamy looks. It’s packed with a feature rich parameter set that allows editors and artists unparalleled freedom and control to create single, linear, and circular reflections. Great for music videos, travelogues, cinematic opens, social media, or even stills — anywhere you wish to create stunning images.

Build Your Glass

S_PrismLens includes a deep parameter set to create countless prismatic looks. Start in one of three different reflection modes — single, linear, or radial. Modify the lens shape into any type of sphere or polygon, draw with Mocha, or link to any external layer for a custom glass look.

Add Finishing Polishes

Work with different blending modes for reflection transparency. Add in beautiful chromatic aberration. Apply subtle softening glows, dancing flares, light leaks, or a colorized gradient overlay for a more stylized and cinematic effect. Keyframe the outer shape or inner source material for a handheld look and work with pre-animating glints and lights to add final gloss. Or use Academy Award-winning Mocha tracking to animate your lens shape, isolate and stick the effect to a specific region of interest, or use masking tools to create custom lens shapes.

Preset for Power

S_PrismLens features a wide range of starting presets that show off the versatility and breadth of the multifaceted effect. Perfect for applying a quick look or kickstarting your creativity.

New in 2023! Sapphire UltraGrain

Created for the modern VFX artist, editor, and colorist. S_UltraGrain accurately recreates the qualities and aesthetics of film and camera grain with the needed flexibility of a digital toolset. S_UltraGrain makes the art of grain management completely natural and blazing fast thanks to native CUDA and Metal GPU-acceleration.

Camera and Film Stock Presets

Take the pain out of accurately reproducing grain profiles. S_UltraGrain includes a library of 80 professionally designed presets featuring the most popular film stocks and digital cameras such as Arri Alexa, Red, Canon, Sony, and more.

New in 2023! Sapphire DissolveUltraGlow

Get ready for your favorite new transition based on Sapphire’s most popular transition! S_DissolveUltraGlow adds new features and capabilities with an optical-based glow alongside new parameters for highlights and atmospheric noise. Includes 14 new presets.

New in 2023! Updated Sapphire LensFlares

Sapphire’s award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry for gorgeous and natural looking results, now includes 18 more reasons to love it with the addition of new and improved flares for Sapphire 2023. Use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.

New for 2022.5

  • Faster speeds! Big speed gains for Resolve with support for multi-GPU systems
  • Enhanced effects! 15 LUTs added to S_ColorFuse
  • Improved workflows! Alpha support and interactive widgets for Sapphire Photoshop
  • Tons of presets! 150+ presets added including Lens Flares, Light Leaks, and more

New in 2022.5! Multi-GPU Support for Resolve

Sapphire 2022 introduced faster speeds in Adobe After Effects with up to 1.8 times faster render times with multi-frame rendering. The 2022.5 mid-year update continues the speed improvements with new blazing fast speeds in Resolve, along with new support for multi-GPU workstations. When comparing Sapphire 2022.5 to Sapphire 2022 on systems with matched GPUs, Resolve users can see averages of 2.3 times speed boosts with some multi-effect combos rendering up to 6 times faster.

New for 2022

  • New Host! Sapphire for Photoshop
  • New Effect! Sapphire ColorFuse
  • New Functionality! Mocha Splines in UltraZap
  • New Presets! 350+ new and curated presets for 2022
  • Improved LensFlare Designer! Featuring 5 brand new and over 40 revitalized flares
  • Faster Renders! NVIDIA CUDA 11 support for Ampere cards, improved support for Adobe After Effects Multi-Frame Rendering, and optimized performance for native processing on Apple M1 hardware

Sapphire for Photoshop

Sapphire 2022 adds new host support for Adobe Photoshop — and it’s FREE to all Sapphire 2022 users! Featuring 270+ resolution independent and non-destructive effects built into a one-of-a-kind nodal based effects compositor. Photoshop artists will delight at 3000+ easily searchable presets organized by name, type, or intended use. Sapphire Photoshop has the same extensive parameter set as Sapphire plugins, giving artists complete control over every aspect of an effect. Anything created with Sapphire Photoshop can be shared with Sapphire supported hosts including Adobe Premiere Pro, Blackmagic Resolve, Avid Media Composer, Foundry’s Nuke, and many others. Sapphire Photoshop is fully GPU-accelerated with CUDA and Metal support and features native support for Apple M1 processors.

Sapphire ColorFuse

Meet the brand new Sapphire effect: S_ColorFuse! Create cinematic color grades with ease using the one-of-a-kind Sapphire LUT effect. Combine up to three LUTs in different combinations and opacities for limitless choices or choose from one of 50 included presets. Transfer looks between host applications, no LUTs needed — all the info is stored in the S_ColorFuse preset. Maintain accurate color representation by setting the host application colorspace and LUT colorspace (produced in accordance with OCIO standards). S_ColorFuse is fully GPU-accelerated with CUDA and Metal support and renders natively on Apple M1 processors.

Mocha Splines in UltraZap

S_UltraZap now takes advantage of Sapphire's built-in Mocha planar tracking and spline-based tools. Easily drive electrifying animations by creating tracked splines inside Sapphire’s Mocha interface or importing projects created in Mocha Pro or Mocha AE. All supported hosts now have access to the many advanced UltraZap features previously only available in Adobe After Effects. Whether you’re enhancing a simple logo or diving into a complex VFX shot, the combo of Mocha splines with UltraZap opens up a world of creative possibilities.

New Presets and Faster Speeds

The 2022 release features 300+ new curated presets across all Sapphire effects. Each new preset is designed with today’s artists in mind and delivers excellence in form and function. Many older presets have been deprecated and replaced by new modern versions.

Sapphire 2022 features faster speeds and shorter render times in Adobe After Effects with improved support for multi-frame rendering. On average, Sapphire renders are more than 20% quicker with MFR. Individual results can vary based on many factors (CPU, comp size, bit depth, etc). Check out our benchmark results here.

Sapphire 2021.5

  • New! Native support for M1-powered Macs
  • New! Support for Adobe After Effects multi-frame rendering (currently in Adobe public beta)
  • New! Speed and interactivity improvements for the Sapphire preset browser
  • New! Improved Sapphire PanAndZoom with added internal image cache (Avid Media Composer only)
  • New! Lens Flare presets

Sapphire 2021

  • New! Metal GPU-acceleration: The fastest render speeds on Macs
  • New! S_UltraGlow: The world's best glow just got better
  • New! S_UltraZap: The most electrifying results ever
  • New! LensFlare Designer: More customization = More photorealistic flares
  • New! 45+ presets designed by artists & 10 new lens flares

Faster renders and speedier interactivity for all Mac users

Sapphire 2021 introduces Metal GPU-acceleration with dramatic speed gains on over 60 effects. Metal accelerated effects average 20% faster renders than CPU-only — S_Rays renders over 4x faster. Performance varies depending on GPU specs, host application, OS version, and individual Sapphire effects. Click here for a full list of which Sapphire effects feature Metal acceleration. Click here for a full list of which Sapphire effects feature Metal acceleration in the 2021 release.

The world’s best glow just got better

UltraGlow is the latest evolution of Sapphire’s legendary Glow, the most popular and loved glow effect in all of post-production. Sapphire 2021’s UltraGlow brings with it all the beauty, speed, and ease of use of S_Glow, but adds many new and unique parameters which create both impressive photorealism and countless dramatic looks. Warning — once you try out Sapphire UltraGlow, you may never go back to using S_Glow again!

Beautiful diffusion with AfterGlow

UltraGlow emulates a real world optical-based glow, and features a massive amount of controls for customization. Create a primary glow first and then add a secondary “afterglow” for an extra level of photorealism. Control brightness, threshold, falloff, bias, width, primary and secondary colors, streaking, and more.

Smoky atmospheres and crisp highlights

Brand new Atmosphere and Highlights features make more dynamic glows possible. Highlights introduces auto-animating user-defined sparkles or light sweeps across your image. Atmosphere adds a smoky or misty look to your glow, giving a more diffused or realistic look to the effect.

Easy to use parameter layout

UltraGlow features an organized parameter layout structured in an order of operations. Spend less time hunting and more time creating.

Optimized for speed

UltraGlow features GPU acceleration for both Metal and CUDA enabled cards. Mac and PC users experience faster speeds and shorter render times.

Create electrifying effects with ease

Prepare to be shocked at the new addition to 2021— Sapphire UltraZap! A sister effect to S_Zap, used in countless films, TV shows, and commercials, UltraZap blows it out with new parameters and functionality. Featuring a secondary bolt system which wraps around the main bolt, creating photoreal electric bolts, fields, arcs, and currents has never been easier.

Built for visual effects and perfect for motion graphics

UltraZap is perfect for photorealistic lightning and electricity effects. But that is just the beginning. Create gorgeously smooth stroke effects on modern text treatments and stylistic animations that auto loop with no keyframing.

Use on custom splines, masks or type

UltraZap can stand on its own with a custom animatable spline structure or it can wrap around a native AE path or type. Easily create custom neon effects or any electrifying motion graphics look.

Secondary bolt system

UltraZap features an independently controllable secondary bolt system with custom position, animation, and color controls. Loop differently constructed bolts on top of the primary bolts for endless looks and custom effects.

Integrated UltraGlow

Sapphire’s UltraGlow is included as part of UltraZap. Having this new effect inside of UltraZap allows artists to create stunningly realistic glow effects directly inside of UltraZap.

Track with Mocha

UltraZap features the Academy Award-winning Mocha planar tracking system directly inside the effect. Artists can use Mocha to track the positional data of UltraZap native splines, allowing for the creation of complex animations without a single keyframe.

Art directed presets perfect for text

Starting from a blank slate can always be difficult, that’s why UltraGlow and UItra Zap arrives with more than 40 new presets to get you up and running quickly. Perfect for full screen video treatments and designed for typography. Many fully animate with no need for keyframing. Work smarter, work faster, work better.

Adding flare for 2021

Killer lens flares depend on the details— the small things alone don’t impress, but combined make you say “wow!” The 2021 release of Sapphire LensFlare adds two of those small things: the ability to move elements off-axis and adjust their relative speeds.

This release also includes an impressive collection of 10 new flares that showcase these new and recently added features like element shading. The end result is you can now create LensFlares with brand new sophistication and elegance. Sapphire 2021 features our best collection of LensFlares to date!

Sapphire 2020.5

  • New! Improved LensFlare Designer
  • New! 12 professionally-designed flares and improved Sapphire Lens Flares
  • New! Transitions add S_HyperPull and S_HyperPush
  • New! Added support for Blackmagic Fusion Studio 16 and the integrated Fusion inside of Blackmagic Davinci Resolve 16
  • New! More OFX hosts now support Sapphire Builder
  • New! Improved Mocha tracking
  • New! Faster render times for many effects

NEW AND IMPROVED LENS FLARES

Sapphire’s Emmy Award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry, has even more reasons to love it. Every flare element can now be affected by lens shadow, reflecting the real-world experience of a hot light source being shaded and reflecting around a physical lense. The result? Gorgeous natural-looking results on video and motion graphics projects. 2020.5 also features new pro flare presets and remixed old favorites. Sapphire Lens Flares are cross-host, cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) and work in 2D and 3D. And if that wasn’t enough, use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.

HYPER ZOOM IN ANY DIRECTION

Dynamic, modern, and packed with presets. Sapphire 2020.5’s two new transitions — S_HyperPull and S_HyperPush — allow you to move and warp seamlessly between clips. Each transition contains a huge amount of control and variety without having to worry about messy keyframes.

SUPPORT FOR FUSION

Sapphire 2020.5 now offers full support for Blackmagic Design’s Fusion Studio standalone application and the integrated Fusion inside of Blackmagic Design Resolve. Faster render times, more stable comps, and increased functionality with support for the Sapphire Preset Browser, LensFlare Designer, and integrated Mocha tracking and masking* (standalone Fusion Studio only - Mocha tracking is not yet supported in the integrated Fusion inside of Resolve). Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

NEW HOSTS FOR BUILDER

Sapphire Builder now supports two new OFX hosts: Nuke by the Foundry and VEGAS Pro. Sapphire Builder lets you combine multiple Sapphire filters into one custom effect. Artists can design, save, and share their work across hosts and departments making it perfect for offline to online workflows. Sapphire 2020.5 also includes new professionally-designed Builder presets to inspire and utilize in your own projects.

BETTER MOCHA TRACKING

Sapphire 2020.5’s integrated Mocha tracking and masking is vastly improved with updates to the area brush tool and edge-snapping technology. And Mocha’s core planar tracking now delivers even more accurate results on complex tracks where objects move around or behind the camera. Flawlessly parameter track or limit where an effect is applied.

FASTER SAPPHIRE

The 2020.5 release seriously speeds up CPU and GPU render times and improves interactivity on all lighting effects featuring atmospheric noise, including favorites like S_Glow, S_LensFlare, S_EdgeRays, S_Rays, S_Clouds, and S_Zap.

Sapphire 2020

  • New! FreeLens effect
  • New! OpenColorIO color management support
  • New! Easier Tracking: Improved integrated Mocha tracking and masking with parameter tracking & new Area Brush for quick masking
  • New! Presets: 16 new LensFlares and 7 new Builder Presets
  • New! Functionality: Compare mode for the Sapphire Preset Browser
  • New! Faster Renders: Up to three times faster renders with specific effects

YOUR NEW FAVORITE SAPPHIRE EFFECT — FREELENS

Meet S_FreeLens. Inspired by the popular photography technique known as free lensing or lens whacking, FreeLens mimics shooting with a lens detached from the camera body. The end result? A dreamy, romantic element featuring a combination of light leaks, lens distortion, tilt shift, and a moving focal point linked together under one easy-to-use master lens manipulation parameter. Perfect for dream sequences, travelogue videos, flashbacks, unsteady POVs, slow-motion footage, motion graphics title treatments or abstract CG renders. S_FreeLens is included in the Blur & Sharpen effects category.

COLOR MANAGEMENT WITH OCIO SUPPORT

Sapphire 2020 adds support for OpenColorIO (OCIO), the open-source color management solution designed at Sony Picture Imageworks. Sapphire 2020 can apply and read a color profile to provide consistent colors across any of its internal applications such as the Preset Browser, Flare Designer, and Effect & Transition Builder. These applications now feature an OCIO panel with a default library of the most common color profiles. Facilities looking to load a custom OpenColorIO library can do so via an environment variable or by editing the S_Config file to point to a custom location.

Sapphire 2020 also features a new effect in the Adjust category called S_OCIOTransform. The effect allows Sapphire to bring OpenColorIO color management to any of its supported hosts — even if that host hasn’t adopted the OCIO standard yet!

TRACK EVERYTHING WITH THE NEW & IMPROVED MOCHA

Sapphire 2020 features new and improved Mocha tracking. You can now link Mocha tracking to Sapphire positional parameters all within a single effect. This new feature opens up tons of creative possibilities. Easily track S_LensFlare to a headlight, track S_Zap lighting bolts to the tips of your fingers or track a spotlight over a highlighted subject. Mocha parameter tracking is available in ten Sapphire 2020 effects: LensFlare, EdgeRays, Rays, Luna, Grunge, Spotlight, Aurora, Zap, MuzzleFlash, and FreeLens.

The brand new Mocha Area Brush tool is also included. If you don’t like working with splines, this is for you! The Area Brush lets you paint over track search areas for quick mask creation. Paint strokes are automatically converted into splines for an easy new workflow. Includes full support for Wacom tablets.

NEW LENS FLARES FOR SAPPHIRE 2020

Sapphire 2020 adds 16 brand new professionally-designed Lens Flares — bringing the grand total to over 200 flares!

NEW COMPARE MODE IN PRESET BROWSER

The Sapphire 2020 Preset Browser adds a built-in Compare Mode feature that allows users to preview the original unfiltered source with the filtered output using either side-by-side or wipe bar options. This new feature is especially useful on color correction or grading where you might want to preview adjacent clips in the timeline while working on the filtered source.

FASTER RENDERS WITH SAPPHIRE 2020

The 2020 release delivers the fastest speed results yet thanks to optimized GPU (NVIDIA only) and CPU performance. Users will experience up to a three times increase in render times on many Sapphire effects including S_EdgeRays and S_BlurMotion. Please note: speed increases may vary based upon individual effect, host application, and choice of CPU or GPU rendering. Click the link below for more detailed information.

NEW EFFECTS. IMPROVED FUNCTIONALITY. FASTER SPEEDS.

  • New Sapphire effect! ParallaxStrips
  • New Sapphire transitions! DissolvePixelSort, Dissolve DigitalDamage, ParallaxStripsTransition
  • Video inside of Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder, Preset Browser, and Flare Designer
  • New look and feel for Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder, Preset Browser, and Flare Designer
  • Retina/High DPI monitor resolution support for Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder, Preset Browser, and Flare Designer
  • Broadcast monitor output support Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder and Flare Designer
  • OFX support for Autodesk Flame

A NEW WAY TO DISTORT WITH PARALLAX STRIPS

Brand new for Sapphire 2019.5 effect: S_ParallaxStrips takes any image and divides it into strips separated apart in z space. The floating strips can seamlessly strip apart or form a complete image. Angle, size, speed, z-depth, and many more parameters can be adjusted for original and interesting looks.

GLITCH IT UP WITH PIXELSORT

S_PixelSort and S_DissolvePixelSort are a fun modern ways to add digital glitchy distortion to your image — and it’s great for music videos or preset looks. PixelSort’s deep parameter set gives you total control over your desired result. Pair it with integrated Mocha tracking and masking or combine it with other effects inside Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder for slick, highly-stylized results.

OPTIMIZED FOR HDPI/4K MONITORS

New in Sapphire 2019.5: All Sapphire applications, the Effect and Transition Builder, Flare Designer, and Preset Browser, have been redesigned from the ground up and now feature a new look perfect for HDPI/Retina monitors. All applications now support video, replacing the previous single frame. The Effect and Transition Builder and Flare Designer also support output to a broadcast monitor.

BRAND NEW LENS FLARES FOR 2019.5

New to Sapphire 2019 is the reboot of S_LensFlare with a redesigned and reimagined Flare Designer tool. New professionally designed presets, lens objects, flare components, and integrated preset browser showcase the complexity and flexibility behind the powerful Sapphire flare engine.

SAPPHIRE LENSFLARE 2019

LensFlare and the Flare Designer are redesigned and reimagined. The Flare Designer is greatly improved and enhanced to increase the ease of use and expand its functionality. The preset browser is now integrated directly inside the Flare Designer, making accessing and modifying lens flare presets a breeze. A new lens flare “component” workflow allows artists to easily and intuitively build a complex flare from scratch and helps reveal the power and flexibility of Sapphire’s flare engine. Finally, 27 new professionally designed presets have been added. Watch this introductory video to get up to speed on how to use this amazing new tool.

SAPPHIRE PIXELSORT

PixelSort is a fantastic new Sapphire effect that grew up in the modern digital "glitch art" movement. It’s a fun new way to distort your image in a multitude of different ways and features many deep parameters to produce some stunning results. PixelSort is also available inside Sapphire Effect and Transition builder. Combine it with other Sapphire effects for a truly original effect, and use it as a transition to up production value in any edit. Watch this short video to learn more about Sapphire PixelSort.

SAPPHIRE WHIPLASH TRANSITION

Sapphire WhipLash is a "sister effect" to one of the most popular Sapphire transitions, S_SwishPan. It has some amazing new functionality and features that will undoubtedly make it the Sapphire transition of choice. At its core S_Whiplash is a brand new transition that mimics a lighting quick camera pan, blending multiple copies of an image together so it appears as if a great distance is traveled in a short amount of time. S_WhipLash also features a nice soft bounce stop, a smooth finish or a snapback at the end of the transition. RGB separation blurs can be added for a different look and S_Whiplash can travel in any direction or angle as well as scaling up or down. Watch this short video to see what this new and extremely powerful Sapphire transition can accomplish.

ENHANCED MOCHA TRACKING AND MASKING

Sapphire 2019 features major improvements to the integrated Mocha tracking and masking available within each Sapphire effect (and separately as the S_Mocha spark - Autodesk only). For further information on the differences between the integrated Mocha tracking and masking in Sapphire 2019 and Mocha Pro 2019, NEW SPLINE TOOLS FOR ROTO & MASKING Sapphire 2019 features 4 new Mochas spline tools for masking and rotoscoping to speed up shape creation and save time. Includes new Magnetic Spline Tool with edge snapping, new Freehand Spline Tool for fluid drawing, and new preset circular and rectangular shape tools.

IMPROVED EFFECT AND TRANSITION BUILDER

The Effect and Transition Builder has some complimentary new improvements in Sapphire 2019 release. A new animating shape effect allows for cool new presets like multi-color shape wipes and organic transitions with a hand-drawn look. Plus PixelSort and Whiplash have also been added to create original new effects. Watch this short video for an overview of the new Builder presets in Sapphire 2019.

GPU SPEED IMPROVEMENTS

Optimized for peak GPU acceleration for CUDA enabled NVIDIA cards. Blackmagic Resolve colorists and Adobe Premiere Pro CC editors will see the greatest benefit from this across the board performance increase.

Built For Speed And Excellence

Sapphire is built for the pros. Its suite of over 270 effects features image processing algorithms that produce Hollywood’s highest-quality results. Each Sapphire effect is GPU-accelerated for faster rendering with NVIDIA CUDA technology for Windows and Linux, and Apple’s Metal technology for macOS, along with native support for M1-powered Macs. Look no further if you’re a professional artist looking to create an array of stunning visuals with blazing speeds.

Thousands Of Presets

You’ll always find something to suit your taste and needs with over 3000 preset effects crafted by top-notch artists. Every Sapphire release includes brand new presets. There’s always something fresh to play with!

Learn The Language Of Sapphire

Sapphire effects are loved for a beautifully designed and carefully laid out top-down parameter workflow often structured with a guided order of operations. The user-friendly experience — paired with a uniform naming structure and speedy workflow — makes it easy for editors and artists to start creating gorgeous effects. Sapphire also features a large online library of tutorials to teach you about the effects or provide you with inspiration on what to create next!

Track Everything With Mocha

Say goodbye to keyframing with Academy Award-winning integrated Mocha tracking. Mocha’s rock-solid planar tracking is included within every Sapphire effect. Drive effect parameters like Sapphire Lens Flare position data or isolate an area with a tracked mask on an effect like Sapphire Glow or Sapphire Blur.

Ready For Any Pipeline

Work faster and smarter with Sapphire — a powerful and proven VFX solution that seamlessly integrates into any pipeline. Easily scale up your rendering output when needed with Sapphire background renders with identical CPU fallbacks. Choose how your facility licenses with flexible options including floating virtual machine licensing servers or monthly subscriptions. Access personalized customer support 7 days a week or browse an online library of help documentation for any technical needs.

Sapphire Essentials is the ultimate beginner’s guide to our award-winning visual effects and motion graphics plugin collection. Learn at your own pace with Ian Robinson, a popular LinkedIn Learning trainer and creative director.

4.5 hours of lessons, 11 videos organized by categories.

The techniques are shown in an Adobe After Effects workflow but apply to all Sapphire-supported host applications.

Watch it for free or purchase here for downloadable projects and assets.

Tutorials

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Sapphire Forum

A place for Sapphire users to discuss tips, tricks, product feature requests, and best practices.

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Join our Sapphire Discord to exchange tips, get quick help, and connect with fellow VFX artists.

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Sapphire Help Center

Search technical questions or open a ticket with our knowledgeable support team.

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Frequently asked questions

How to uninstall Sapphire plugins?
In Windows, right-click the Start button and search for the Control Panel. Go to Programs and Features (if your Control Panel is in Category view, go to Uninstall a Program). Find Boris FX Sapphire, click to select it, and then click Uninstall. For macOS, go to Applications, and select the Boris FX folder. Find the installation of Sapphire you wish to uninstall and click the “Uninstall Sapphire” application.
How to install Sapphire plugins in After Effects?
Sapphire can be easily installed for Adobe After Effects with a few easy steps. First off, make sure you have downloaded the correct Sapphire for Adobe installer, which can be found here. We made a short video to guide you through the rest of the process installing Sapphire for After Effects. Mac users can click here, and Windows users can click here.
How much are Sapphire plugins?
We offer many different pricing options for all different types of customers. Sapphire plugins for Adobe, OFX or Avid are $62 per month and $495 per year. If you would like a perpetual license, that would cost $1695 and come with a free year of Upgrades and support. If you would like to use Sapphire in multiple different hosts on the same workstation, you would need to purchase a multi-host license. A Sapphire multi-host license is $75 per month and $895 per year. A perpetual multi-host license for Sapphire costs $2795. For floating license and enterprise pricing, please contact sales.
How to install Sapphire plugins in Davinci Resolve?
Sapphire can be easily installed for Davinci Resolve with a few easy steps. First off, make sure you have downloaded the correct Sapphire for OFX installer, which can be found here. We made a short video to guide you through the rest of the process installing Sapphire for Resolve. Mac users can click here, and Windows users can click here.
How to install Sapphire plugins in Sony Vegas?
Sapphire can be easily installed for Vegas with a few easy steps. First off, make sure you have downloaded the correct Sapphire for OFX installer, which can be found here. We made a short video to guide you through the rest of the process installing Sapphire for Resolve. Mac users can click here, and Windows users can click here.
What is a Machine ID?
Your Machine ID is your Ethernet ID/MAC address. It consists of 6 pairs of numbers and letters A-F. You may see these pairs un-separated (d312a930bc7f), separated by colons (d3:12:a9:30:bc:7f) or separated by dashes (d3-12-a9-30-bc-7f). To find your Machine ID, please follow the steps below:
On Windows - Go to the Sta