For many years Knoll Light Factory Pro (KLF) has been the go-to tool for lens flares for Adobe After Effects (and other applications). I’m a big fan and have used and relied on it for dozens of projects. Just recently Video Copilot announced that a new kid is moving into the neighbourhood. Well I’m here to tell you, that kid is one big dude, and his name is Optical Flares (OF).
As a tester of OF, I’m impressed with the feature set of this plug-in; Andrew Kramer has studied real-world flares in detail and invested countless hours to give us a flare generator that has KLF showing its age.
I used OF in the latest summer Campaign for Foxtel Box Office here on Australian TV. The amount of control one has over every aspect of the flare is impressive and it’s clear that Andrew has taken time designing the interface to make building, customising and saving flares simple and fun.
But Red Giant Software hasn’t run away to hide, instead it’s come out swinging with a new free addition to KLF, Knoll 3D Flare. This is a free download for owners of KLF and adds various 3D features such as linking flares to 3D Lights, intensity based on z-depth and full 3D obscuration (all available in OF).
It’s clear that Red Giant Software is taking the challenge seriously and one can only guess at what the next release of Knoll Light Factory Pro might include now there’s a new kid on the block setting the pace.
30 Responses to this post
December 18, 2009 at 2:30 am |
Knoll Light Factory Pro – $399.00 new
Optical Flares – $139.95 new
It’s a significant price difference. I’ve been working with AE for a few years now and from what I understand Andrew’s really nailed it with his plugin. Also Red Giant is a little bit faceless, despite the fact they’ve got Aharon Rabinowitz on board.
I think I know where I’ll be investing my money.
December 18, 2009 at 2:37 am |
Hi Mark, the price difference is something I’m sure Red Giant will have to address. Gotta love competition; in the end we all get better, more useful products.
December 18, 2009 at 2:54 am |
I was a bit suprised to see this announcement, just a few days before the launch of Optical Flares. You are right about the better and cheaper products due to competition, but I have one concern. AK announced this elaborate piece of software a long time ago, and it has taken so long to develop because he wants to release a full featured and bug free product. Such announcements can push a company to release at any cost at a given deadline. Eventhough the product is buggy and as not as fully featured as intended.
That set aside, I’m curious about the side by side comparisson when they are available (hint, hint
December 18, 2009 at 3:22 am |
How fast are they ? I’m considering buying one of them in early 2010, and even if my heart goes to OF now, at the end, if the feature set are identical on both products, it will all be about UI and speed.
COuld you list a quick list of cons and pros of each plug John ?
December 19, 2009 at 2:30 am |
Hey Sébastien, OF is fast and so is KLF. I love KLF but if I had to choose between the two now I would buy OF over KLF. That opinion could change when we see what KLF has to bring to the table in the next version. The only advantage that I can see that KLF has is that one can apply different parts of a flare as separate effects in After Effects. Open GL was also mentioned. I don’t have a definitive list but I’m sure it will be made clear enough soon by both companies what the benefits are of each plug-in. Best wishes, John.
December 18, 2009 at 4:19 am |
Great article John . good to see impression from such a expert like you .
i think this competition is something we need to keep developing this type of plug-ins
best wishes
December 19, 2009 at 2:31 am |
Thanks Ahmed I agree with you. Best wishes, John.
December 18, 2009 at 7:05 am |
Andrew Kramer worked on the subtitles Star Trek, and there they were magnificent. Lens Flares like Michael Bay and other cool presets. From the Red Giant Software we get a hot-fix for the old plug-in … I love the products Red Giant, but there clearly win Kramer =)
December 18, 2009 at 8:11 am |
LOL @ Flare Wars. Seems OF has a nice and Intuitive UI which is in KLF not really the best. But KLF has OpenGL Support, so it could be faster then OF. To me the price difference is a big issue, too…
December 18, 2009 at 8:26 am |
I’ve been using KLF for just over a year and although I really enjoy it and look forward to using the new 3D features, I have to say the nature of OF’s flares are really appealing – their aberrations are really stunning. OF’s intense GUI and preset sharing ability will probably tip me in its direction.
December 18, 2009 at 9:03 am |
Hi John,
I found it somewhat amusing that Knoll waited until they were “pushed” by Video Copilot to do a serious upgrade to Light Factory. I downloaded the bete version of 3D Lens Flare from Red Giant. I made sure I had the correct version of Light Factory Pro and used the installer from Red Giant. Opened up AE and presto – hey where is it? I checked the plug ins folder and the plug in is there, but in AE it didn’t appear in the effects list or the effects menu (not even under Knoll Light Factory). Not sure what’s up, but I have a support case submitted to Red Giant to find out. I realize it’s a bete version, but I expected it to at least install without a problem. It will remain to be seen if Red Giant’s price is competitive with VC’s 3D Optical Flares price. This is the best part of “Flare Wars” – lower prices for us all.
Brett
December 18, 2009 at 9:16 am |
Brett watch the tutorial. Like Holomatrix, Knoll 3D Flare is a combination Script and Plugin. Choose Window > Knoll 3D Flare (at the very bottom), and a UI pops up.
December 18, 2009 at 9:17 am |
@illd — From the quick demo Andrew gave for OF, there seems to be an “Enable GPU” option. My guess is it would run just as fast as KLF.
http://www.videocopilot.net/theblogshow/blog-show-optical-flares-bears-oh-my/
The plug in UI can be seen around 10:56 in the video.
December 18, 2009 at 1:11 pm |
I was very impressed with the use of lens flares in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (I’m sure you noticed if you saw the film). Turns out those were not digital flares, they were done using flashlights pointed at the cameras while shooting.
It seems as if OF will deliver a similar look. I still love KLF and I feel that having both will give me the edge regardless. Like John suggested, at the end we as consumers win with better and more affordable products when there is competition.
I can’t wait for OF though, it’ll be nice to have such a nice upgrade to KLF.
Leo
Kansas City
December 21, 2009 at 11:46 am |
In Star Trek, a number of the flares were created optically, specifically the scenes of the bridge and other shots on the interiors of the ships. However, Knoll Light Factory was used to generate flares and light glints you see in the space shots and battles. These were created by one of the senior compositors at ILM, Todd Vizari with supervision from John Knoll. Look for more information soon on how Light Factory was used on Star Trek, and even Avatar.
December 21, 2009 at 2:58 pm |
Thanks for that excellent behind-the-scenes information Sean. Best wishes, John.
December 18, 2009 at 2:53 pm |
It´s great that we get 2 very good flare effects for AE. I´m starting out with the KLF 3D Flare and I like it a lot!! But I will get OF aswell. I love RedGiant and VideoCopilot
They make all my stuff look so much better!!!
And thanks to you John for all the tutorials and tips, they are much appreciated.
//Klas
December 19, 2009 at 2:34 am |
You’re welcome Klas. Best wishes, John.
December 18, 2009 at 3:19 pm |
Here’s an update for those who may have downloaded 3D Flare beta from Knoll. At first I couldn’t find it as an effect, so I contacted Red Giant. It turns out that it’s a script found in the “Windows Menu” in AE. You must first have a layer with a Knoll Light Flare on it, a camera, and at least one light layer. You then apply the script. The regular Knoll Light Flare pops to the light’s position and a new filter is added to the Knoll Flare layer. It seemed a little clunky to me but it does look cool and react as advertised. It will be interesting to see how 3D Optical Flares fron Video Copilot will work.
Brett
December 19, 2009 at 2:35 am |
Thanks for keeping everyone in the loop Brett. Best wishes, John.
December 18, 2009 at 3:51 pm |
I think both have their place. OF looks cool and can’t beat the price but they really need to work on that 1998 GUI for the OF Studio.
December 18, 2009 at 9:08 pm |
I was playing around with KLF 3D on a project last night, and AE kept crashing every time I checked 3D obscuration. I really like my KLF but I have to say, I’m quite impressed with what AK talking about putting out…so put the product out already!!!
December 23, 2009 at 2:16 am |
That’s true… I’ve had a similar problem with KLF. It sometimes crashes AFX during final render and when I open it again, I have to hit spacebar or it crashes again just because the KLF layer was selected when it crashed the first time… *sigh*
December 19, 2009 at 2:26 am |
Hi Renzo, from what I’ve seen of Optical Flares it will be fully featured and stable. I have no idea when it will be released but hopefully soon
Best wishes, John.
January 18, 2010 at 7:27 am |
hi John D
Please, i am ask find Optical Flares??? please u help me DEAF work learn more…
Regard,
gopinath
January 18, 2010 at 1:23 pm |
Hi Gopinth
It’s here:
http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2010/01/optical-flares-in-action/
Not available till 25th Jan
February 4, 2010 at 3:26 am |
Hi John,
1 day back i got optical flares..n man its the best thing ever.
i hardly use flares but after this i am gonna use it a lot and i feel its far better than KLF but i dont have Pro Presets Pack…how good that is ??
February 8, 2010 at 2:51 pm |
That’s great Sandeep. I’m sure AK would be happy hearing that too! Best wishes, John.
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