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Red Giant Knoll Light Factory

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The Stats

Compatibility

Developer: Red Giant Software
Version: 2.5.2
Platforms: Mac OS X 10.4.11 and later, 10.5.2 and later; Windows XP SP1 or later (32-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit)
Host Applications: Adobe After Effects CS3, 7, 6.5, Digital Fusion, Autodesk Combustion, Apple Final Cut Pro 6, 5.1.4, Apple Final Cut Pro 3.02, Adobe Premiere CS3, 2.0, Adobe Photoshop (CS), Avid Xpress Pro/Media Composer 5.6+,2.6+
Compatibility with After Effects 7, Compatibility with After Effects CS3, Mac Universal Binary, Mac OSX Leopard Compatibility and Microsoft Vista Compatibility

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Purchase Knoll Light Factory

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Free Updates of Knoll Light Factory

Note: If you have previously installed KLF 2.5 before this update, you must uninstall KLF 2.5 before proceeding with this update installation.

Before installing, please read the uninstall and install instructions for the KLF 2.5 for AE 8.

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Download Demo and Manual

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Description

Created by John Knoll, Photoshop co-creator and Star Wars effects guru, Knoll Light Factory is one of the industry's most popular motion graphics tools. It is most famous for its high-fidelity simulations of light effects called flares, which simulate reflections from a very bright light source as seen through a camera's lens. Knoll Light Factory is Hollywood's go-to tool for adding interest to text or logos or extra pop to FX explosions.

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Highlights

Custom Lens Editor - Build your own flares or edit a preset with the custom lens editor. Choose from elements such as StarFilter, Ellipse, or PhotonSpikeBall, and control each element's position, color, scale, thickness, angle, and width. You also get pinpoint control over brightness, scale and color of the lens as a whole.

70 powerful presets - Use the same presets that the pros turn to every day for sports events and major motion pictures. Presets include Desert Sun, Arc Welder, Generic Panavision, Spikey Glow, Pv1 (for exploding stars), RedLaser, RockConcert, Omnimax (a flare seen on IMAX projection), or Distant Quantum (the original photon torpedo).

Auto-obscuration tools - Flares can be obscured by objects (cars, enemy spacecraft) that come between them and the viewer. The auto-track feature tracks specific points in an existing alpha channel, making flare location a snap. The integrated Knoll Unmult tool generates alphas, making it easier to include lights and flares in complex composites.

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Features

Customizable Presets - Choose from 70 presets or customize them to suit your needs.

Lens Editor - Use the custom lens editor to create and save your own unique effects for future use.

Custom Light Effects - 19 lens elements in the main plug-in create custom light effects. Each element is also included as a separate plug-in for creating complex motion graphics.

Automatic Tracking - The auto track feature tracks multiple points and adds multiple identical lighting points to a scene.

GPU Support - Offers up to 10x render speed improvements, compared to a single CPU.

Auto Obscuration - Automatically hides or reveals a light effect as the light source moves behind another object, automatically adjusting the light's brightness as it is obscured.

Light Factory EZ Plug-in - Included with the package, Light Factory EZ gives you access to all 70 flares with a single click.

Alpha Generation - Generate integrated alpha channels automatically with Knoll Unmult.

Preset Table: Real-world descriptions of how each flare style are typically used (not all flare presets listed)

35mm - Bright light as seen through a 35mm lens
85mm - Bright light as seen through a 85mm lens
Arc Welder - Typical flare seen associated with sparks and welding
Basic Lens - A basic lens flare
Basic Spotlight - Six-point flare associated with a typical spotlight
Blimp Flare - Blimp flares are associated with bright lights reflecting off of metallic objects
Bright Blue Light - Bright blue light
Chroma Lens2 - Great flare with lots of flexibility.
Chroma Lens - Great flare with lots of flexibility.
Cool Lens - A lens useful for distant suns in sci-fi universe settings - anamorphic
Desert Sun - Sun-like flare associated wit a hot, dry desert region
Diffraction1 - Glint associated with 70's-style stage lights - think Kiss or Journey album cover
Diffraction2 - Slight variation of Diffraction1
Diffraction3 - Slight variation of Diffraction1
Distant Quantum - Photon torpedo style flare
Drydockspikeball - An orange light that is locked off
Generic Panavision - The typical flare associated with Panavision lenses
Green Refls - A green reflection flare
Maple Tree - Flare as seen looking through leaves on a tree
Monkey Planet - Flare used in Planet of the Apes to create a dramatic sun over the desert
New Blue Lens - A bright blue anamorphic light
Nifty Pink Lens - A Panavision-style anamorphic pink lens flare
Omnimax - Flare associated with lenses used for IMAX projection
Orange Spike - An orange spike
Pv1 - Star exploding or object exploding
Quantum5 - Photon torpedo style flare
Quicktake200 - Flare associated with the Apple QuickTake camera
RedLaser - A 'laser' flare used in sci-fi scenarios
RockConcert - Flares associated with multiple light sources at a rock concert
Scatch1 - A scratch-type effect used for glints
6 Point Star - A six point star reflection/glint
6 Point Star2 - A six point star reflection/glint
6 Point Star3 - A six point star reflection/glint
Spikey Glow - A glow used behind text effects or objects in a tunnel - anamorphic version
Spikey Glow2 - A glow used behind text effects or objects in a tunnel
Sunset - Flare typically associated with a sunset
105mm - Another original lens flare developed for Photoshop
300mm Zoom - The original flare developed for Photoshop
Warm Sunflare - Flare used predominantly for warm sunlight shots - used in Day After Tomorrow
Vortex Bright - Flare used to enhance or create explosions

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Tools Included in Knoll Light Factory

Light Factory is comprised of four main tools that you can use depending upon the desired effect and the time you want to put into lens flare design. Please see the Pro vs Editors comparison for a list of what tools are included in each edition.

Light Factory (Pro version only)
Light Factory EZ (Pro & Editors version)
Light Factory Spectacular (Pro version only)
Light Factory Elements (Pro version only)

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Light Factory

(Knoll Light Factory Pro version only) Light Factory is the base plug-in. It contains all of the controls and a custom flare editor for building or applying the included flares, allowing you to create and edit your own custom unique effects then save them for later use. Controls include

Brightness
Scale
Light Source Location
Color
Angle
Tracking
Obscuration Layer(Making it appear to pass behind objects in another layer)

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Light Factory EZ

Light Factory EZ has the same animatable controls as Light Factory, but lacks advanced custom flare editor. Instead, you can choose from one of the 70 Preset flares that are included in the program. This is the quickest way to add a lens flare.

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Light Factory Spectacular

(Knoll Light Factory Pro version only)

Light Factory Spectacular is similar to Light Factory but instead of tracking only a single point in a clip for location, it can be used to track an unlimited number of points. This is a great way to add shimmering particle effects to your work.

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Light Factory Elements

(Knoll Light Factory Pro version only)

Create light effects beyond flares! Light Factory also includes 19 individual light effect elements as separate plug-ins. By using these separate plug-ins you have keyframable control over the elements, allowing you unlimited motion graphic effects. This feature really sets Knoll apart from any other lens flare light effect program, allowing the user to have full control to create unique animated effects.

Includes the following effects

GlowBall
Circle Spread
StarFilter
Polygon Spread
Faded Ring
Elliptical Caustic
Star Caustic
PolySpikeBall
Stripe
RandomFan
Chroma Hoop
PhotonSpikeBall
Aperture
Reflection
Ellipse
Single Polygon
Disc
SpikeBall
Sparkle
Chroma Fan

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Go beyond the lens flares inside your host application

Many of you know that your host application includes basic lens flare effects, so why buy an additional lens flare generator?

It comes down to three main factors

How much control you have over the flare to adjust, color, size, intensity, animation, obscuration, and detail? - Your host application lens flares tool has very basic controls, where as, Knoll gives you the ability to change every macro and micro aspect of the flare.
Natural apprearance(how the lens flare effect actually appears in nature) - In the world of computer generated graphics there is nothing worse than unnatural or fake/cheap looking effects. If you've ever read anything about John Knoll (co-creator of Photoshop and Star Wars/Pirates of the Caribbean Special Effects Supervisor, Read Interview), you know that he is a fanatic about creating natural looking effects. John's Knoll Light Factory is no exception, the level of detail and digital simulation of natural light responding to a camera lens is astounding.
How many presets are available? - Most lens flare effect tools in host applications offer only a limited number of flare types, sometimes only two or three. Where as, Knoll gives you 70 preset flares. Whether you're trying to create a sun that you wish was there during a shoot, or want to choose just the right light effects for your show opener, Knoll Light Factory has the preset to get your started and complete the project quickly. (See Flare Preset Guide)

Here is a great demonstration of the difference between a standard host application flare and Knoll Light Factory.