Knoll Light Factory 3

Element Controls

The Elements Controls panel displays the individual controls that accompany each Element, Sprite, and Element Preset.

In the Lens Designer, the Elements panel displays the gallery of Elements. You access the Elements panel by clicking the triangular Open/Close button, located along the right side. The keyboard shortcut for opening/closing the Elements panel is 'E'.

Variety in the Controls

The Element Controls will update as you select an Element in the Elements Panel. Each element has a different set of controls, so the control options will change as you highlight different Element types. If you do not select an Element, this area will be blank.

As you drag the sliders, the Preview Window will update in close to real time. The value changes made to each Element will be reflected in the Preview Window.

• Align to Source toggles whether the element automatically rotates its X-axis in line with center point of the flare, or if it's imported without any rotation.
  • Used by: Image Sprite
    
    
• Anamorphic toggles a wide elliptical element or a circular elliptical element, simulating the use of anamorphic (widescreen) lenses.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Spike Ball, Star Filter, Star Filter, Circle Spread, Elliptical Caustic, Star Caustic, Fading Ring, Poly Spike, Chroma Hoop, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Sparkle, Chroma Fan, Tilted Ellipses
    
    
• Angle adjusts the rotation of the element. High values rotate to the right. Low values rotate to the left.
  • Used by: Spike Ball, Star Filter, Star Filter, Polygon Spread, Element Strip, Random Fan, Poly Spike, Single Poly, Stripe
    
    
• Aperture Offset affects the overall diameter of the Aperture Reflection element, akin to an aperture's iris opening and closing. Typically set to mid-range values, as values that are too high or too low cancel out its effect.
  • Used by: Aperture Reflection
    
    
• Apogee Scale sets the size of the Chroma Hoop's orbit. Low values equal a smaller orbit, while high values increase it. Note that Position Control sets the baseline for the orbit's size. For a smaller orbit, move the position closer to the light source.
  • Used by: Chroma Hoop
    
    
• Arc Completeness sets how much of the Chroma Hoop's circle is filled with its effect. The effect of Arc varies depending on what Apogee Scale and Position is set to. High values create more circular Chroma Hoops. Low values lowers it down to a smaller section. At high Apogee values, Arc will compress the arc inward dependent on whether Arc is set to a low value.
  • Used by: Chroma Hoop
    
    
• Blur Amount adjusts an additional blur to the Sprite. The higher the value, the more heavily the blur will be applied.
  • Used by: Image Sprite
    
    
• Brightness controls the brightness of the element. High values make the element brighter. Low values make the element less bright and more transparent.
  • Used by: Spike Ball, Star Filter, Star Filter (new), Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Elliptical Caustic, Star Caustic, Fading Ring, Element Strip, Stripe, Random Fan, Poly Spike, Aperture Reflection, Chroma Hoop, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Sparkle, Chroma Fan, Tilted Ellipses, Barrel, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Lens Texture, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Brightness Rand Seed adjusts any variances created by the brightness effect. Useful for differentiating one flare from another.
  • Used by: Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Photon Spike, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Center Color sets the color of the center Stripe line, which is visible if Render Center Line is turned on.
  • Used by: Stripe
    
    
• Center Fade toggle for Center Fade Rate , which adjusts how the element behaves as it reaches the edge of the comp. At a value of 1, the element is at full opacity along the edges of the comp, but fades as it reaches the center. At a value of 50, the Element is at full opacity at all locations in the comp. At a value of 100, the element is at full opacity at the comp center, but fades as it reaches the comp edges.
  • Used by: Single Poly, Image Sprite
    
    
• Center Offset expands the inner circle of the element, creating a transparent hole in the center. High values make the inner circle look larger and thicker.
  • Used by: Disk, Ellipse
    
    
    
    
• Chroma Spread defines how the color spectrum is applied to the Hoop shape. Lower values desaturate the color. Higher values apply color intensity.
  • Used by: Chroma Hoop
    
    
• Clipping Random Seed produces slightly different variations of clipping patterns on the ellipses created by the Number of Ellipses control.
  • Used by: Tilted Ellipses
    
    
• Color sets the color of the element. The default varies with the element effect.
  • Used by: Spike Ball, Star Filter, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Elliptical Caustic, Star Caustic, Random Fan, Poly Spike, Photon Spike, Chroma Hoop, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Sparkle, Chroma Fan, Tilted Ellipses, Barrel, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Lens Texture, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Color Rand Seed varies the look of the effect. It sets a seed value for the randomness of the color. Different seed values produce slightly different variations.
  The fan in a Chroma Hoop is made up of many rays of color. Density sets how many rays are there and therefore how solid the Fan appears. At low values, the Fan will appear to be more faded and transparent because there are fewer rays creating it. High values create more rays and a more solid looking fan.
  • Used by: Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Cycles determines how many bands the fan breaks down into. Lower values form the appearance of a smooth band. Higher values create the appearance of separate band.
  • Used by: Chroma Fan
    
    
• Do Core checkbox makes the Inner Color active, which produces a multi-colored effect.
  • Used by: Aperture Reflection
    
    
• Eccentricity sets the circular shape of the ellipse. A value of 0 forms a full circle. Higher values narrow the shape into a 'flatter' ellipse.
  • Used by: Tilted Ellipses
    
    
• Element Count , Number of Elements sets the number of individual objects that form the whole element. For Rectangular Spread, this is the number of rectilinear lines that appear together. For Star Filter, this is the number of blades that form the star.
  • Used by: Star Filter, Star Filter, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Random Fan, Poly Spike, Photon Spike, Barrel, Vertical PolySpread, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Sparkle
    
    
• Fall off sets how much of the Star bands are made opaque by the gradient tint.
  • Used by: Star Filter (new)
    
    
• Grid Color sets the color of grid lines in the preview window. The default is light blue.
  • Used by: Guides
    
    
• Grid Divisions sets the number of quadrants the grid is divided into. The range is 1 - 100. The default is 20.
  • Used by: Guides
    
    
• H Spread (Horizontal) moves the Spread elements along the X plane.
  • Used by: Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread
    
    
• Horizontal Aspect lengthens or shortens the lines for Horizontal Spread and Rectangular Spread. For Vertical PolySpread, this control increases or decreases the thickness of its lines.
  • Used by: Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Horizontal Skew moves the Barrel elements along the X plane.
  • Used by: Barrel
    
    
• Hue Offset changes the color tint of the Spread lines by moving through the RGB color spectrum.
  • Used by: Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread
    
    
• Inner Color sets a tint to the inner color of the glow.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Aperture Reflection, Stripe
    
    
• Inner Scale sets a tint to the inner color of the glow.
  • Used by: Star Filter
    
    
• Inside Ramp Width defines how big this ramp is coming out from the center of the disc. The larger the value, the larger the soft area going up from center to the mid-point of the ring.
  • Used by: Disk, Ellipse
    
    
• Length increases or decreases the length of the Stripe element.
  • U sed by: Stripe
    
    
• Maintain Aspect Ratio checkbox locks the Scale X and Scale Y controls together so their aspect ratio is preserved as you change the size of your Image Sprite. If you'd like to stretch out the Sprite, uncheck this box.
  • Used by: Image Sprite
    
    
• Marker Color sets the color of the position and orientation marker on the preview window.
  • Used by: Guides
    
    
• Middle Ramp Width sets the width of the band between the Inside Ramp and Outside Ramp. If Middle Ramp is set to 0, then you will see a thin, bright band of color defining the transition of Inside to Outside. Otherwise, you’ll see a band of solid color. The larger the value of Middle Ramp, the thicker that band of solid color will be.
  • Used by: Disk, Ellipse
    
    
• Noise determines how ‘noisy’ the effect is. Do you have a soft glow or sharp streaks? Low values add a soft blend to the effect. Higher values create more visually noticeable noise.
  • Used by: Aperture Reflection, Chroma Hoop, Chroma Fan
    
    
• Noise Amount adds more or less noise pattern to the element.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Circle Spread, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Noise Position shifts the underlying fractal noise pattern, which affects the grain texture of the element. This is more noticeable if Noise Scale is set high, and depending upon which Noise Type is chosen.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Noise Scale increases or decreases the grain of the noise pattern.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Noise Type applies one of three fractal noise patterns to the element. The None option turns off the pattern.
  • Used by : Glow Ball, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Lens Grime, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Number of Ellipses sets how many objects the Tilted Ellipse is split into. A value of 1 creates a whole ellipse shape. A value of 3 creates an ellipse that is sliced into three objects.
  • Used by: Tilted Ellipses
    
    
• Offset X , Offset Y offsets the position of the Element on the X and Y axes.
  • Used by: Image Sprite, Stripe, Disc, Horizontal Spread, Ellipse
    
    
• One Way checkbox toggles how the Sparkles move out from the center. When the checkbox is active, the Sparkles move uniformly from the center. When it's inactive, they move randomly from the center with slight variances in angle.
  • Used by: Sparkle
    
    
• Outer Color sets the color of the outer area of the glow. This is the dominant color.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Element Strip, Aperture Reflection
    
    
• Outside Ramp Width sets the radius of the Disc or Ellipse. As soon as you have anything in the center, Outside simply determines how far beyond the Middle Ramp area it takes to fade back to complete transparency. High values make the outer edge of the sphere larger and more feathered. Outside Ramp is the inverse of the Inside Ramp , as Outside goes from a solid color and ramping down to transparency. This creates a halo around the element.
  • Used by : Disk, Ellipse
    
    
• Position is always along a line that passes through both the center of the image and the light source. A value of 1 places an element at the light source. A value of 0 places an element in the center of frame. A value of -1 places an element on the opposite side of the frame from the light source.
  • Used by: Glow Ball, Spike Ball, Star Filter, Star Filter, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Elliptical Caustic, Star Caustic, Fading Ring, Element Strip, Random Fan, Poly Spike, Photon Spike, Chroma Hoop, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Sparkle, Chroma Fan, Tilted Ellipses, Barrel, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Vertical PolySpread, Image Sprite, Stripe
    
    
• Position Tracking sets how the Element moves along the X and Y axis when the Position control is adjusted.
  • X & Y: The default mode. Moves the Element's position equally along the X and Y axis.
  • Horizontal (X): Locks the X axis so the Element can only change its position on the Y axis.
  • Vertical (Y): Locks the Y axis so the Element can only change its position on the X axis.
  • Used by: Ellipse, Sprite Image, Stripe, Disc, Horizontal Spread, Ellipse
    
    
• Radial Offset acts as fine tuning for the pattern scale, making it easy to get the precise size you are looking for. High values makes the two halves of the rainbow pattern larger while also moving them further apart. Low values make the rainbow pattern halves smaller and closer together.
  • Used by: Sparkle, Chroma Fan

At left, Scale and Radial Offset set low. At left, Scale and Radial Offset set high.

• Ramp Gamma adjusts the black point of the Glow Ball. As Ramp Gamma is increased, the edge of the sphere is darkened and pulled inwards, making the entire Glow Ball appear smaller.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• Ramp Scale increases or decreases the size of the Glow Ball sphere.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• Random Seed 1, Random Seed 2 varies the look of the element. It sets a seed value for the randomness of the attributes. When there are two Random Seeds, Random Seed 1 will alter the look of the Element's size and position and Random Seed 2 will alter the angle of those elements.
  • Seed 1: Poly Spike, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Sparkle, Spike Ball, Random Fan, Photon Spike, Barrel
  • Seed 2: Poly Spike, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Sparkle
    
    
• Render Center Line turns on/off the characteristic bright blue line at the center of the stripe.
  • Used by: Stripe
    
    
• Ring Brightness increases or decreases the brightness of the Glow Ball inner ring.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• Ring Size increases or decreases the width of the Glow Ball inner ring.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• Ring Softness adds a feathered appearance to the Glow Ball inner ring, which affects the spread and thickness of the ring.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• Rotation rotates the imported bitmap.
  • Used by: Image Sprite
    
    
• Scale, Scale X, Scale Y sets the size of the element. High values make the element larger.
  • If an element has both Scale and Brightness, these controls can be combined to set the overall strength of the effect. Low settings will make the effect fade off quickly. High settings will add sharp white streaks of light.
  • Used by: Spike Ball, Star Filter, Star Filter, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Elliptical Caustic, Star Caustic, Fading Ring, Random Fan, Poly Spike, Photon Spike, Aperture Reflection, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Sparkle, Chroma Fan, Tilted Ellipses, Barrel, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Vertical PolySpread
  • X and Y used by: Image Sprite
    
    
• Show Grid checkbox toggles grid visibility in the flare preview. The default is On.
  • Used by: Guides
    
    
• Show Markers checkbox toggles position/orientation marker visibility in the flare preview. The default is On.
  • Used by: Guides
    
    
• Show Mask checkbox shows the area that is affected by the light effect. The default is Off. For Lens Texture, the checkbox shows you the area that is illuminated by the digital texture.
  • Used by: Guides, Lens Texture
    
    
• Show Ring hides the characteristic red ring, which is associated with a bright light source at the center of the Glow Ball.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• Sides sets the number of element sides. The minimum is 3 sides and the maximum is 16.
  • Used by: Polygon Spread, Single Poly
    
    
• Side Rand Seed varies the look of the Polygon Spread by setting a seed value for the randomness of its number of sides. Different seed values produce slightly different variations.
  • Used by: Polygon Spread
    
    
• Size sets the overall size of the effect. Low values make it narrower. High values make it thicker. Size and Width work in conjunction to set the size of the effect.
  • Used by: Aperture Reflection
    
    
• Size Rand Seed One of three random seeds that vary the look of the element. Sets a seed value for the randomness of the element's color. Different seed values produce slightly different variations.
  • Used by: Circle Spread, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Smoothing checkbox is a toggle that, when enabled, adjusts whether the Softness parameter is active and the Disc will take on a softer, blurred look. The amount of blurring that is applied is controlled by Softness control.
  • Used by: Disk, Ellipse
    
    
• Softness adds a feathered appearance to the element, which often adds a blurring as well.
  • Used by: Barrel, Ellipse, Element Stripe, Stripe, Star Filter, Titled Ellipses, Vertical PolySpread, Rectangular Spread, Single Poly, Chroma Hoop, Chroma Fan
    
    
• Spike Count adjusts the number of random lines that emanate from the center of the Spike Ball.
  • Used by: Spike Ball
    
    
• Spread sets how much the effect fans out. This is basically an angle setting. High values cause the streaks to fan out wider from a single point. You can hand-type a value that is higher than the 50 slider maximum. Low values tighten the fan. A value of 0 turns off the effect completely.
  • Used by: Aperture Reflection, Tilted Ellipses, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Chroma Fan
    
    
• Spread Tracking shifts the entire Horizontal Spread shape along the Y axis.
  • Used by: Horizontal Spread
    
    
• Spread Width sets the spacing between circles. Low values will bunch the circles together. As you increase Spread Width, the polygons will stretch out in both directions as if they’re in 3D space. This is a critical parameter for properly setting up the look of your flare when using this element.
  • Used by: Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Barrel, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Sprite Image pop-up adds your own image as the source. A pop-up window lets you choose any bitmap file, like JPG or PNG. You can manipulate the new image using the same parameters available for pre-built Sprites.
  • Used by: Image Sprite
    
    
• Softness adjusts the softness of the appearance of the element. The element itself does not get softened, but the regions of color bordering it get stretched out and enlarged. High values have the effect of making the element much thicker. Low values make the element look tighter and thinner.
  • Used by: Star Filter, Element Strip, Chroma Hoop, Single Poly, Disk, Ellipse, Chroma Fan, Tilted Ellipses, Barrel, Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Taper checkbox adds a soft gradation to the fan shape when toggled.
  • Used by: Chroma Fan
    
    
• Taper Angle adds a gradual transition between the inner, middle and outer ramps that make up Disc or Ellipse.
  • Used by: Disc, Ellipse
    
    
• Texture pop-up sets the kind of grime texture simulation that is used by Lens Texture. Options include dirt, soap and salt particles.
  • Used by: Lens Texture
    
    
• Texture Density adds more particles of texture to the Lens Texture by repeating the tile that is used. Ideal range is 1 to 5. Once the value gets higher, you will start to see the repetition and seams of the tile that is used.
  • Used by: Lens Texture
    
    
• Thick toggled off by default. When this is turned on, the arms of the star effect are significantly wider than the default.
  • Used by: Star Filter
    
    
• Tint Amount adjusts the color of the imported image. A setting of 0% keeps the full original color. A setting of 100% fully desaturates the image color.
  • Used by: Lens Texture, Image Sprite
    
    
• Total Scale: Increases or decreases the size of the entire Glow Ball. All of the ramps are scaled together.
  • Used by: Glow Ball
    
    
• V Spread (Vertical) moves the Spread elements along the Y plane
  • Used by: Rectangular Spread, Polygon Spread, Circle Spread, Horizontal Spread
    
    
• Vertical Aspect increases or decreases the thickness of the lines for Horizontal Spread and Rectangular Spread. For Vertical PolySpread, this control lengthens or shortens the lines.
  • Used by: Horizontal Spread, Rectangular Spread, Vertical PolySpread
    
    
• Vertical Skew tilts the Barrel elements along the Y plane.
  • Used by: Barrel
    
    
• Width sets the size of the central point. Low values narrow the point, with a value of 1 creating a very sharp point. High values make the point thicker.
  
  For Star Filter, the rays will not overlap at standard Width values. However, you can manually set Width to high values by typing a value into the numeric field. This will cause the rays to overlap and create interesting looks. Also for Star Filter, if the Thick checkbox is selected, then Thickness works in conjunction with Width to set how wide the rays of light are. You also want to look at how many rays have been set with Count. The Count value will affect how wide a ray has to be to start overlapping.
  • Used by: Star Filter, Aperture Reflection

Aperture Reflection. At left, Spread set high, Noise at 3, Width at 1. At right, Spread set medium, Noise at 10, Width at 80.