BCC+ Rays

Category: BCC Lights

Effect Name: BCC+ Rays

The BCC+ Rays filter, part of the BCC Lights category, creates realistic volumetric light ray images. Rays are only added to highlight areas, and as such, they have the effect of passing through objects and add a third dimensional quality.

Working with the Filter

FX Editor and Presets

• Use the FX Editor to load or save presets for reuse.
• To load a preset: Open the FX Editor, select a preset from the Presets panel, and click Apply to return to the host application.
• To save a custom preset: While in the FX Editor, click the Create Custom Preset icon in the parameter list, enter a preset name, and click Done. Additionally, a custom preset can be saved from the main menu bar by selecting File->Save Preset.
• To import custom presets from another drive: While in the FX Editor, select File->Import Preset from the main menu bar.

Effect Controls

Effect Controls

Mocha Mask and Track

Continuum effects include integrated masking and matte tools that allow you to restrict the effect to specific regions of the image.

• Mocha masks: used to create custom spline masks. Mocha also includes Matte Assist ML and Matte Refine ML, which use machine learning to generate and track masks.
• Pixel Chooser: used to generate geometric shapes, gradients, or mattes based on channel, luma, or color-based selections. Additionally, an AI depth map generator, and an AI-powered face detection model allow for precise control of masks and mattes.

For more information, see Mocha and Pixel Chooser.

Compare Mode

The Compare Mode is used to view the filtered result alongside the original source layer. Several split-screen and side-by-side display options are available.

For more information, see Compare Mode.

Beat Reactor

The Beat Reactor is an audio-driven animation system that links effect parameters to an audio track. This allows visual effects to react dynamically to sound without manual key-framing.

For more information, see Beat Reactor Documentation.

Rays Group

• Position: Sets the source point from which the rays will emanate.
• Length: Sets the ray length.
• Brightness: Sets the brightness of the rays.
• Color: Sets the color of the rays.
• Blur: Sets the amount of blur applied to the rays.
• Threshold: Controls the amount of rays based on a brightness threshold. Fewer rays with more definition are generated at higher threshold values.

Light Source Group

A circular light source can be used to enhance the generation of the light rays. It is particularly useful when the image does not have strong highlights.

• Brightness: Sets the brightness of the light source.
• Size: Sets the size of the light source.

Texture Group

Adds texture to the rays.

• Amount: Sets the amount of texture.
• Size: Sets the size of the texture.
• Phase: Sets the randomness of the texture.

Shimmer Group

• Amount: Sets the amount of shimmering.
• Phase: Sets the randomness of the shimmering.

Opacity Group

• Rays: Sets the opacity of the rays.
• Source: Sets the opacity of your image.

Alpha Group

• Rays From Alpha: The Rays From Alpha option generates the image rays from the alpha channel instead of or in addition to the color channels. The selection in the Rays From Alpha Mode determines how the alpha rays and the color channel rays are combined.
• Rays Under Source: Use this function to control how the rays are composited with alpha source clips – a setting of zero composites the rays on top of the source and disregards the source alpha channel, while a setting of 100 composites the rays behind opaque regions in the source but allowing them to extend out into the transparent regions.

• Default: Uses product-wide default of 16 bit half-float GPU rendering.
• 16 Bit Float: Manually force 16 bit half-float GPU rendering.
• 32 Bit Float: Manually force 32 bit full-float GPU rendering.
• Disabled: Forces CPU rendering.