How to use Lens Flares & Change the Blend Mode

Lens flares are the visual equivalent of sound effects for your videos. It's that subtle detail that can really make your footage pop. It's all in the details after all! This is a quick little guide on how you can use flares on your videos. Just follow the simple steps below and you are good to go.

Feel free to roam around our website, where you can check out a variety of Lens Flares in 4K available, expertly developed by professional Filmmaking experts, simply by clicking this button:

You can find a variety of creative LUTs available, expertly developed by our professional team of videographers, simply by following this link: View Film LUTs

Mastering Blend Modes

Blend modes are crucial for using lens flares. They basically allow your footage to blend into the clip below in the timeline. Therefore you will need the flare file to be above the footage for example, Footage on track 1 and flare on track 2.

Pretty much all editing software allows blend modes due to how crucial and useful they can be. You can use blend modes to do a wide range of things. They can create some crazy cool effects when experimenting with them.

Using a video with a blending mode is one of the quickest ways to get a unique look. In simple terms, a blending mode tells the software how to interpret the colors and luminance of a video layer. For example, the 'Screen' blending mode will completely remove black pixels in your video, therefore blending the videos.

How to Use Lens Flares & Change the blend mode | Adobe Premiere Pro

• Open Premiere Pro.
• Import the unzipped Lens Flare folder into the project.
• Drag a chosen Flare Clip onto 'Track 2' of your timeline (You want to place it above your footage you want to have the Flares on). This effect will only work when the flares are placed above other footage.
• Click on the Flare Clip and go to the effects panel.
• Open up the toggle ‘Opacity’.
• Change the ‘Blend Mode’ to ‘Screen’.

How to Use Lens Flares & Change the blend mode | Final Cut Pro X

• Open Final Cut Pro X.
• Import the Lens Flares folder into the project.
• Drag a chosen Flare Clip onto 'Track 2' of your timeline (You want to place it above your footage you want to have the Flares on). This effect will only work when the flares are placed above other footage.
• Click on the Flare Clip and go to the video panel in the top right of the screen. You will see a 'Video' & 'Info' tab, please select the 'Video' tab.
  
• You will see a 'Compositing' section where you can select your blend mode.
  
• Change the ‘Blend Mode’ to ‘Screen’.

How to Use Lens Flares & Change the blend mode | Davinci Resolve

• Open Davinci Resolve.
• Import the unzipped Lens Flare folder into the project.
• Drag a chosen Flare Clip onto 'Track 2' of your timeline (You want to place it above your footage you want to have the Flares on). This effect will only work when the flares are placed above other footage.
• Click on the Flare Clip and go to the panel on the top right of your program. You will see an 'Inspector' tab, please open this.
  
• You will see a 'Composite' section where you can select your blend mode.
  
• Change the ‘Blend Mode’ to ‘Screen’.

How to Use Lens Flares & Change the blend mode | Filmora

• Open Filmora.
• Import the unzipped Lens Flare folder into the project.
• Drag a chosen Flare Clip onto 'Track 2' of your timeline (You want to place it above your footage you want to have the Flares on). This effect will only work when the flares are placed above other footage.
• Click on the Flare Clip and you will see an icon in the left-centre of Filmora that has 3 horizontal lines. Click this or type hotkey (Alt + E on Windows) (Command + E on Mac). This will open up a video panel in the top left of the program.
  
• Open up the 'Compositing' section.
  
• Change the ‘Blend Mode’ to ‘Screen’.

How to Use Lens Flares & Change the blend mode | Adobe After Effects CC

• Open After Effects.
• Import the unzipped Lens Flare folder into the project.
• Drag a chosen Flare Clip onto 'Track 2' of your timeline (You want to place it above your footage you want to have the Flares on). This effect will only work when the flares are placed above other footage.
• Click on the Flare Clip and make sure you can see a toggle button on your clip in the timeline called 'Mode'. If you do not see this then please click the 'Toggle Switches / Modes' button that is in the bottom left of your program. This will open up the options to change the blend mode on your clips.
  
• Change the ‘Blend Mode’ to ‘Screen’.

Tips & Tricks using Flares

We have a bunch of tips for using Lens Flares that could come in really handy for you. Take a look below and see if they spark any ideas!

• Using flares as luminance layers to transition titles. This means you can use the luminance of a flare and tell the software to only use the bright parts of the shots to essentially introduce the titles.

And you're done!

It's quite straight forward isn't it? This is how you set up your flares to use on your videos. Get those creative juices flowing!

Have a play! Oh yes and don’t forget to tag us using #bouncecolor on your social media when you use products hosted on our store.

Should you find yourself troubled with any of the above, fear not, we've got you! Just let us know at support@bouncecolor.com and we will get you going in no time.

Have fun!