Flash Lens Flare

From Garden Gnome Software

Download the Lens Flare project
Download the Lens Flare plugin
Download Video

This tip will guide you through the process of putting lens flares in your panoramas using Pano2VR version 3.x.x. The lens flare effect can be adjusted to the different light sources you may have in your panoramas, making them brighter for closer light sources or you can tone them down for light sources further a way.

Contents 1 Install the Lens Flare Plugin 2 Using the Lens Flare 3 Using the Variables 4 Note

Install the Lens Flare Plugin

1. Download the lens flare plugin from the link above. Unzip the file and in the folder you will see lensflare.swf, this is the plugin.
   
2. Open the project file with the skin, normally the opening or first panorama.
   
3. Open the Skin Editor and drag the lensflare.swf in the Skin Editor window. You may wish to change its ID as it will be seen as a local flash file and will be given an ID of “swf 1” or similar. I have used the ID, lensflare for the plugin as shown below.
   
   
4. Add a Hotspot Template to the skin, this also needs an ID, for this project I have used “lf” (lens flare), but you can give it any ID that you wish. Now save and close the Skin Editor.
   

Using the Lens Flare

1. Open the project file you wish to see the lens flare in.
   
2. Open the Hotspot Editor, then add a Point Hotspot to where you would like the lens flare to be seen.
   
3. In the hotspots ID you must use _flare (underscore and then flare in lower case) this is very important or the lens flare will not show.
   
4. In the Skin-ID set the ID of the Hotspot Template you placed in the Skin Editor earlier, remembering that for this project I used "lf" (lens flare). This will ensure that no other hotspot templates and hotspot images will be used in this location.
   
   
5. In the Title of the point hotspot you will set the variables that the lens flare will use, the first is adjusting the Alpha, or how visible the lens flare will be in the panorama. The second is the"Blinding" effect, this is how bright the panorama gets when you look at the light source. The variables are entered like this: 0.6/0.4, the first two digits are the Alpha, separated by a forward slash, / then the Blinding effect. The settings are from 0.0 to 1.0, you can go higher, but it is not recommended.
   
6. Click OK to exit out of the Hotspot Editor and then click Create All to save the information to the panorama.

Using the Variables

If your panorama has more than one light source you can adjust the Alpha and the Blinding effect so the closer light source is brighter then the ones further away.

A good setting for a close light source is 0.6/0.4, light sources further away should be below these settings.

If you do not wish to have the lens flare visible but want the blinding effect you would set the first variables to 0, so it would look like this 0/0.4, this works for the blinding affect as well, so to have the lens flare and no blinding you would have 0.6/0.

Note

Leave the Lens Flare Plugin, in the root of the Skin Editor's file tree so other Hotspot Template's can use it, if you make it a child or one of the templates the others will not work.