Lens Flare adapter?

A

Andrei J.

Member
Is it possible to create anamorphic lens flares without having the glass compress or stretch the image?

The Iscorama, Kowa/Sankor, and Panasonic area great but the image degradation coupled with the limited use of focal range and other little twists like diopters, they become a pain in the rear end to use. They all arguably produce a more filmic image but nothing that many people can't replicate in post with a few tweaks, the trouble is... it takes forever to render especially elements like flares which are in my opinion one of the major benefits of any anamorphic lens/adapter.

I feel very limited when shooting anamorphic, what if someone wanted to use my footage for another project? Or as stock footage? Or any other purpose for which requires a "normal" aspect ratio, in which case... I've screwed myself. It's almost as if I'm shooting DV because it looks more filmic, I can't upgrade to HD down the road, however; the opposite is true and likewise; if I continue to shoot the way I do, I can always go back and crop it in post to recreate the aspect ratio I want.

So my question is, is it possible to produce the effect of nice long streaks of flares without having these adapters cost an arm and a leg and without any sort of image degradation (stretch/compress)? Maybe this is possible through some sort of special coating? Anyone have any ideas? Has anyone tried to manufacture anything like this before?
 
Last edited:
Streak filters can sorta get you an anamorphic flare look- Also if you could rent Vantage Blue flare filters, which seem to do a pretty good job at getting the look. Or of course you could take an optical flat or UV filter and rub some grease horizontally on it. Still I dont think any of them will get you the same flare you expect out of true anamporphic lenses.:embarasse
 
In post . . . Starglow from Trapcode (with only the left and right streaks switched on) works very well, lot's of control.

Give me a second, I will throw the filter over a random bit of footage for you . . . . . .
 
Last edited:
Here you go . . . fake anamorphic flares, not great, but this took me less than a minute - I am sure with a bit of dedication with all the parameters you could come up with something nice/convincing:

(shaky footage - some old junk footage out a car window, the horizontal blue streaks are all faked in post)


Vimeo . . . . . . . http://vimeo.com/8448476
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top