Light Show Filter

Light Show is a linear wipe that mixes glows, light spills, glint, distortions and environmental effects to produce a huge variety of looks.

Availability in Final Cut Pro

In Final Cut Pro, the Light Show Filter is available through a collection of Title templates as well as through the Effects browser. When using one of the templates under the Light Show Layer group, the filter works as an adjustment layer, affecting all media below it. When using one of the templates under the Light Show Title group, the filter is applied to the title itself.

Compatibility

Light Show Filter is compatible with Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

Parameters

Presets

Presets contain a snapshot of your effect configuration. 118 built-in presets are available.

When you save parameter configuration to a file on disk, this file can later be loaded to recreate the same effect configuration. Presets generated in one video application can be used by the same plug-in running in a different video application.

Working with the Presets Browser

Wipe

Clip Type

The following options are available:

  • Title (default) — Effects originate from opaque pixels, i.e. those with non-zero alpha.
  • Video — Effects originate from a specific range of pixels, determined by a luminance value and a range. Both can be specified via separate parameters visible below.

Source Luminance

Set to 50% by default.

Allows you to select pixels based on a luminance value and range, as defined by the Source Range parameter below. The pixels you select are then used as the source for all effects. A luminance value of 100% corresponds to the brightest pixels in the source. A luminance value of 0% corresponds to the darkest pixels in the source.

The Source Luminance parameter is only visible when the Clip Type popup menu is set to Video.

Source Range

Set to 50% by default.

The Source Range parameter value, from 0% to 100%, determines how many pixels around the luminance value to select. For example, a Source Luminance value of 50% and Source Range value of 25% will select medium brightness pixels, in a slice that is 1/4 of the entire range:

The Source Range parameter is only visible when the Clip Type popup menu is set to Video.

Clip Visibility

The following options are available:

  • Reveal with wipe (default) — The source clip is initially hidden. The original clip is revealed by the wipe.
  • Hide with wipe — The source clip is initially visible. The original clip is hidden by the wipe.
  • Reveal momentarily — The source clip remains hidden except for the area of the frame affected by the wipe.
  • Hide momentarily — The source clip remains visible except for the area of the frame affected by the wipe.
  • Always visible — The source clip remains visible. Effects are composited over the clip.
  • Always hidden — The source clip remains hidden. Only the effects remain visible in the frame, with the option to mask out those pixels that belong to the source clip through the Mask Out Clip parameter.
The selection you make determines what happens to your source clip as the effect animates to completion.

Mask Out Clip

Off by default.

When the Clip Visibility parameter is set to Always Hidden, this parameter becomes visible and lets you control whether the opaque pixels in the source clip should mask out any effects.

Width

Set to 20% by default.

Size of the solid portion of the wipe.

Softness

Set to 100% by default.

Size of the soft portion of the wipe.

Angle

Set to 0° by default.

This parameter controls the angle of the linear wipe, i.e. the direction within the frame in which the animation progresses. A value of 0 means that the animation will progress from the left edge of the frame to the right edge. A value of 90 means that the wipe progresses from the bottom of the frame to the top.

Animation

Control how the effect progresses from beginning to end.

Animation

The following options are available:

  • Duration of the clip (default) — The animation progresses in sync with the length of the clip, beginning at its in point and ending and its out point. This behavior can be customized through the Start (% of clip) and End (% of clip) parameters, which allow you to set new in/out points for the animation within the clip.
  • Duration in seconds — The animation is driven by two parameters: Start (secs) and Duration (secs). The parameters let you specify, in seconds, when to start the animation and how long it should last.
  • Animate via keyframes — The overall progress of the animation is driven by a single Progress parameter. Add keyframes to this parameter to have the finest control over the animation's progress.

Start (% of clip)

Set to 0% by default.

Available when the Animation parameter is set to Duration of the clip.

Sets the start time of the effect specified as a percentage of the duration of the entire clip. A value of 20 means that the animation will begin 20% into the clip (for a clip that lasts 10 seconds, the animation would start 2 seconds into the clip.)

By default, the animation covers the entire clip, starting at 0% and ending at 100%.

If you prefer to use actual time units, please set the Animation parameter to Duration in seconds instead.

End (% of clip)

Set to 100% by default.

Available when the Animation parameter is set to Duration of the clip.

Sets the end time of the effect specified as a percentage of the duration of the entire clip. A value of 80 means that the animation will end 80% into the clip (for a clip that lasts 10 seconds, the animation would end 8 seconds into the clip.)

Start (secs)

Set to 0 by default. Only values between 0 and 60 are allowed.

Available when the Animation parameter is set to Duration in seconds, lets you pick the start time of the effect, expressed in seconds.

Duration (secs)

Set to 2 by default. Only values between 0 and 60 are allowed.

Available when the Animation parameter is set to Duration in seconds, lets you pick the duration of the effect, expressed in seconds.

Progress

Set to 50% by default.

Available only when the Animation parameter is set to Animate via keyframes, lets you control the overall progress of the animation. Keyframes must be used to have its value change over time

Rays

Rays

On by default.

Toggles the light rays on/off.

Ray Brightness

Set to 30% by default.

Brightness of the light rays. A value of 0 makes the rays invisible, which is equivalent to turning them off entirely.

Ray Length

Set to 50% by default.

Length of the light rays that shoot out of the effect source.

Ray Contrast

Set to 90% by default.

Sharpness of the edges of each ray. A value of 0% translates to a diffuse light, whereas a value of 100% makes each source of light distinguishable from the next (maximum contrast)

Ray Color Source

The following options are available:

  • Original media — Rays have the same color as the pixel they originate from.
  • Single color (default) — Rays have one color, to be specified via the Ray Color parameter below.
  • Two colors — Rays interpolate between two colors from beginning to end of the animation. The two colors are specified via the Ray Color and Ray Color (End) parameters below.
  • Animated color — Rays start with the given color, and animate through all possible hues at a speed controlled by the Rate of Change parameter below.

Ray Color

Set to
16% red, 29% green, 100% blue, 100% alpha in the SRGB color space by default.

This parameter lets you pick a color for the light rays. It is used for all selections of the Ray Color Source popup menu except Original media.

On Single color, the selected color is used throughout the effect.

On Two colors, the selected color represents the starting point in the interpolation that ends with the color specified by the Ray Color (End) parameter.

On Animated color, the selected color is the starting point which gets progressively changed over time, according to the Rate of Change parameter below.

Ray Color (End)

Set to
88% green, 100% blue, 100% alpha in the SRGB color space by default.
Color of light rays when the animation ends. It is only available when the Ray Color Source parameter is set to Two colors.

Rate of Change

Set to 20% by default.

Speed at which the hue of rays changes over time.

Available only when the Ray Color Source parameter is set to Animated color.

Origin

The following options are available:

  • Follows the wipe (default) — The origin of the light rays follows the wipe effect as it sweeps across the frame.
  • Opposite the wipe — The origin of the light rays is opposite the location of the wipe. The two meet when the animation is at its midpoint.
  • Custom — The origin of the light rays can be set anywhere in the frame, via the Rays Origin point parameter that appears below and on canvas.

Origin Offset

Set to 0 by default. Only values between -1 and 1 are allowed.

Offset the origin of the light rays relative to its current location in the frame. When the offset is zero, the origin stays at the center of the wipe as it travels across the frame. Positive or negative offsets let you move the origin along the line that is perpendicular to the wipe’s direction.

This parameter is only available when the Origin parameter above is set to Follows the wipe or Opposite the wipe. An offset isn’t required when setting a custom location for the origin. On that setting, you can position the origin anywhere in the frame

Rays Origin

A point parameter centered in the frame by default.

Initial location in the frame

While it is possible to change the X and Y coordinates via the inspector, it is far easier to interact with point parameters directly on-screen:

Adjusting Point Parameters in Final Cut Pro
Adjusting Point Parameters in Motion
Adjusting Point Parameters in Premiere
Layer Selection in After Effects
Location anywhere in the frame where light rays originate from. This parameter is only available when the Origin popup menu is set to Custom.

Glow

Glow

On by default.

Toggles the glow effect on/off.

Glow Brightness

Set to 25% by default.

Brightness of the glow. A value of 0 makes the glow invisible, which is equivalent to turning it off entirely.

Glow Radius

Set to 10% by default.

Size of the glow that originates from the effect source.

Glow Color Source

The following options are available:

  • Original media — The glow has the same color as the pixel it originates from.
  • Single color (default) — The glow has one color, to be specified via a color parameter below.
  • Two colors — The glow interpolates between two colors from beginning to end of the animation. The two colors are specified via color parameters below.
  • Animated color — The glow start with the given color, and animates through all possible hues at a speed controlled by the Rate of Change parameter below.

Glow Color

Set to
100% red, 68% green, 93% blue, 100% alpha in the SRGB color space by default.

This parameter lets you pick a color for the glow. It is used for all selections of the Glow Color Source popup menu except Original media.

On Single color, the selected color is used throughout the effect.

On Two colors, the selected color represents the starting point in the interpolation that ends with the color specified by the Glow Color (End) parameter.

On Animated color, the selected color is the starting point which gets progressively changed over time, according to the Rate of Change parameter below

Glow Color (End)

Set to
100% green, 24% blue, 100% alpha in the SRGB color space by default.
Glow color when the animation ends. It is only available when the Glow Color Source parameter is set to Two colors.

Rate of Change

Set to 20% by default.

Speed at which the hue of the glow changes over time.

Available only when the Glow Color Source parameter is set to Animated color.

Glint

Glint

Off by default.

Toggle the glint effect on/off.

Glint Brightness

Set to 25% by default.

Brightness of the light streaks. A value of 0 makes the glint invisible, which is equivalent to turning it off entirely.

Glint Length

Set to 25% by default.

Length of the light streak that originates from the effect source.

Glint Size

Set to 10% by default.

Width of each light streak that originates from the effect source.

Glint Density

Set to 50% by default.

Controls the total number of light streaks in the output.

Glint Shimmer

Set to 0% by default.

Decides whether the light streak locations shift over time. The higher the parameter value, the faster the change. When the value is 0%, the light sources remain steady throughout the effect.

Glint Angle

Set to 0° by default.

Direction of the light streaks.

Animate Angle

Set to 0 by default. Only values between -1 and 1 are allowed.

Animates the light streak angle over time.

At 0, the angle does not change over time. On positive values, the angle spins clockwise. On negative values, the angle spins counterclockwise. The higher the value, the faster the spin.

Glint Streaks

The following options are available:

  • One direction
  • Two directions — default
Decides how many directions light should shine in.

Glint Color Source

The following options are available:

  • Original media — Light streaks have the same color as the pixels they originate from.
  • Single color (default) — Light streaks have a single color.
  • Two colors — Light streaks interpolate between two colors between the start and end of the animation.
  • Animated color — Light streaks start at the given color, and animate through all possible hues at the speed controlled by the Rate of change parmaeter below.

Glint Color

Set to
100% red, 35% green, 18% blue, 100% alpha in the SRGB color space by default.

This parameter lets you pick a color for the light streaks. It is used for all selections of the Glint Color Source popup menu except Original media.

On Single color, the selected color is used throughout the effect.

On Two colors, the selected color represents the starting point in the interpolation that ends with the color specified by the Glint Color (End) parameter.

On Animated color, the selected color is the starting point which gets progressively changed over time, according to the Rate of Change parameter below.

Glint Color (End)

Set to
100% red, 36% green, 99% blue, 100% alpha in the SRGB color space by default.
Light streak color when the animation ends. It is only available when the Glint Color Source parameter is set to Two colors.

Rate of Change

Set to 20% by default.

Speed at which the hue of light streaks changes over time.

Available only when the Glint Color Source parameter is set to Animated color.

Glint Emitter

The following options are available:

  • Contours only (default) — Light streaks shine only from the contours of the effect source, and immediately surrounding areas.
  • All pixels — Lights streaks shine from all pixels in the effect source.

Distortion

Apply a geometry distortion during the effect, which coincides with the overall animation’s progress and location within the frame.

Distortion

The following options are available:

  • None (default) — The original clip is left as is.
  • Bulge — The original clip bulges out at the current location of the wipe as it travels across the frame.
  • Shrink — The original clip is shrunk along the direction of the wipe as it travels across the frame.

Distortion Amount

Set to 50% by default.

Amount of distortion applied to the source clip. Available when a distortion is active.

Scatter

Selectively scatter the output of the three main lighting effects employed by Light Show: rays, glow and glint.

Scatter Rays

Off by default.

Toggles scattering of rays on/off.

Scatter Glow

Off by default.

Toggles scattering of the glow on/off.

Scatter Glint

Off by default.

Toggles scattering of the glint on/off.

Amount

Set to 50% by default.

Amount of scattering applied to the output.

This parameter is only available when scattering rays, glow or glint.

Scale X

Set to 100% by default.

Maximum distance that pixels are scattered along the horizontal axis.

This parameter is only available when scattering rays, glow or glint.

Scale Y

Set to 0% by default.

Maximum distance that pixels are scattered along the vertical axis.

This parameter is only available when scattering rays, glow or glint.

Environment

Customize one of three environmental effects composited with the output of the effect.

Environment

The following options are available:

  • None (default) — The output is left as is, with no additional effect applied.
  • Force Field — The output is composited with a procedurally generated pattern reminiscent of wave patterns, caustics and simulated force fields.
  • Clouds — The output is composited with procedurally generated clouds.
  • Laser Beams — The output is composited with a pattern consisting of light rays emanating from the current location of the effect within the frame.

Intensity

Set to 100% by default.

Strength of each stream of light visible in the Force Field pattern.

Available only when Force Field is selected.

Speed

Set to 25% by default.

Speed at which the Force Field pattern changes over time.

Available only when Force Field is selected.

Direction

The following options are available:

  • Custom (default) — Specify direction of the clouds through a separate Angle parameter below.
  • Same as wipe angle — Clouds move in the same direction as the wipe as it travels across the frame.
  • Opposite the wipe angle — Clouds move in the opposite direction of the wipe as it travels across the frame.
Available only when Clouds are selected.

Angle

Set to 90° by default.

Direction clouds travel over time, when the Direction popup is set to Custom.

Available only when Clouds are selected.

Coverage

Set to 50% by default.

Controls how much of the output is covered by clouds.

Available only when Clouds are selected.

Contrast

Set to 50% by default.

Controls the visibility of clouds against their background.

Available only when Clouds are selected.

Scale

Set to 50% by default.

Controls the overall size of the clouds.

Available only when Clouds are selected.

Speed

Set to 20% by default.

Speed at which clouds are moving.

Available only when Clouds are selected.

Pattern Seed

A number that controls random aspects of the effect.

Click the New button to assign a new seed value. When the seed value is changed, the effect uses a different random sequence to produce a different output.

Edit the existing value to manually assign a seed number. This may help you replicate a particular sequence of random events. In Final Cut Pro and Motion, hold down the Option ⌥ key to access the Edit button in the inspector.

Drives the randomize shape of the clouds rendered by the plug-in.

Assign a new seed when you wish to vary the look of the output.

Available only when Clouds are selected.

Density

Set to 50% by default.

Number of laser beams visible in the output. Higher density means that more regions of the frame will have a light beam traveling through it.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Length

Set to 100% by default.

Maximum length of a laser beam.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Thickness

Set to 75% by default.

Thickness of all laser beams.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Twirl

Set to 0 by default. Only values between -1 and 1 are allowed.

Decides if the laser beams twist clockwise or counter-clockwise in relation to their origin, as they move away from it.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Winding Speed

Set to 0.25 by default. Only values between -1 and 1 are allowed.

Controls how fast laser beams are rotating around the origin.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Beam Speed

Set to 50% by default.

Controls how fast laser beams are traveling away from the origin, in bursts.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Center Fade

Set to 10% by default.

Fades the light beams as they are closer to the origin. It is useful to do so in order to avoid Moiré patterns that are otherwise visible when narrow, adjacent light beams concentrate around the origin.

Available only when Laser Beams is selected.

Environment Mix

Set to 75% by default.

Opacity of the current environmental effect, relative to the opacity of the original output.

Timeline color space

Allows you to match the working color space used by the plugin to the current Timeline color space set for the project and/or individual timelines in DaVinci Resolve.

Matching the Timeline Color Space in DaVinci Resolve

This parameter is neither available nor necessary in Apple and Adobe video apps, since our plugins can be automatically matched to the working color space.