3D Compositing with Action > Action: Lights and Lighting Effects > Relighting: Lens Flares >
Using a Lens Flare

You must add flare components to the lens flare object to see a result. Flare components are textures that are attached to a Lens Flare or Rays object node. The Lens Flare Object menu has global settings for the complete lens flare, but each component texture has its own menu to control settings particular to it.

Each type of component can be added multiple times to a lens flare object, each with its own settings. The following are the types of texture components you can add to a lens flare:

Component: | Description: | Example:
--- | --- | ---
Glint Texture | Star-like texture. |
Glow Texture | Glowing loops of different colours. |
Iris Texture | Multiple shapes, such as polygons, discs, orbs, or caustics. |
Lens Texture | Lens "defects" such as hair, scratches, or fingerprints. |
Ring Texture | Rings with multi-coloured loops. |
Streak Texture | Lines streaking across the image. |

Re-Texturing Components

Since the flare components are textures, you can use also re-texture a component using a Diffuse Map with your own texture media applied. To do so, select the component in the schematic, then select the media you want to use from the media list, and double-click the Diffuse Map node in the node bin. In this case, the Pattern settings in the component menu are not applicable, though you can still use the settings in the Basics and Border FX tabs of the component menu, as well as the Diffuse menu settings.

You can also use lens flare components on their own as Substance Texture presets, as a LENSFLARE subfolder is available in the preset browser. See Substance Textures for more information.