There are several Boris Continuum Complete AVX (BCC AVX) filters that were designed to produce the glow effect that is very popular for sports broadcast and commercial spots. In this tutorial, we will use BCC AVX in Avid Media Composer to give you an overview of the BCC Glow, BCC Colorize Glow, and BCC Glow Alpha Edges filters.

Apart from being a nice look when applied to just about any clip (even at its default setting), a popular example of the BCC Glow effect is to apply the filter to the tail of an outgoing clip and to the head of an incoming clip. The glow is then animated to generate a white-flash / glow effect, which acts as a very organic transition between the two clips in the timeline.

A second glow look is where objects in an image clip appear to have a glow but the glow color is not based on the pixels inherent in the original clip but rather it comes from a secondary source. We'll create this look using the BCC Colorize Glow effect and the secondary color source in the example that we are creating will be a color gradient generated using the built-in gradient editor within the filter.

The third type of glow that we are going to create is when an object that has been isolated from a background with a mask shape or key filter appears to have a contour glow that follows the edge of the mask or key. We'll create this look using the BCC Glow Alpha Edges filter effect. We'll add to that effect two additional BCC filters to complete the stylized result that we are looking for and in doing so we'll show you how to correctly stack multiple BCC AVX filters over an image with alpha.

Glow and Glow Transition Effect

Let's start by importing the clips for the glow transition effect. The clips that we are using are stock Artbeats clips of busses making their way through the city of London. The white highlights in the images are well suited to this stylization as are the colors in the reflection of the buildings on the river Thames.

By default, the effect will scale the whites in the image to which it is applied, thereby generating a glow effect. To increase or decrease the effect of the glow, you need only be concerned with two parameters in the BCC Glow filter - Glow Threshold (which determines the start point of the effect along a linear luma curve from 0-255) and Glow Intensity (which sets the intensity of the effect and works in conjunction with the Glow Threshold setting.) We'll change the default settings of these two parameters to see what effect they have on the filtered result.

* Create a new bin inside your Avid MC and give this bin the title BCC Glow Tutorial
* Import the source clips into the BCC Glow Tutorial bin
* Double click on the london_1.mov to open it in the source monitor
* Drag the source clip from the source monitor into track V1 on the timeline
* Drag through the timeline to familiarize yourself with the clip

Now we'll add the BCC Glow effect to the raw clip

In the project window click on the BCC Effects category in the left pane, which will display a list of BCC Effects filters in the right pane. Select the BCC Glow filter in the right pane and drag this onto the london_1.mov clip in the timeline.

Enter "Effect Mode" in the Avid UI to access the filter parameters Drag the Glow Threshold parameter to the left, towards the 0 value.

Observe that the Glow effect happens earlier in the image and that as we move the Threshold parameter value towards 0 the glow affects black values as well as white values. Setting this parameter value to zero almost, but not always, makes the image completely white.

Set the Glow Threshold back to the default value of 50.

Observe now that the glow is restricted more towards the white areas in the image clip. Setting this value to 100 almost, but not completely, negates the effect leaving just a slight glow in the sky.

Now we'll work with the Intensity parameter

Drag the Glow Intensity parameter toward the 0 value.

Note that lower values in the Intensity parameter reduce the apparent effect of the glow, and that a setting of zero completely eliminates any visible signs of the effect from the image. Higher values in this parameter will increase the intensity of the glow effect and setting the Intensity parameter to a value of 2 or more will blanket (cover completely) the image pixels in contained within the Threshold value in white.

Drag the Glow Intensity parameter to the right, stopping at a value of 5.

Observe that the glow has not completely obliterated the image, but that it seems to stop at the threshold value. All pixels that are within the Threshold value are now pure white. This is clearly way too much for a simple glow effect over the image and we really don't even need to push this parameter value all the way to 5, the default setting of 1.0 provides a very nice looking glow for most image clips. What we can see from the results of manipulating the values in these two parameters that if we adjust both the Glow Threshold and the Glow Intensity parameters over time that we can use the BCC Glow as a transition effect, with the outgoing clip disappearing in a white glow and the incoming effect appearing out of the glow.

* Double click on the london_2.mov to open it in the source monitor
* Create a second video track (V2)
* Drag the source clip from the source monitor into track V2 on the timeline, with the head of the clip at 2:15
* Drag through the timeline to familiarize yourself with the clip
* Select the BCC Glow filter in the right pane and drag this onto the london_2.mov clip in the timeline

So we now have the BCC Glow filter effect applied to both the outgoing and the incoming clips. Next step is to animate both the Glow Threshold and the Glow Intensity parameters on both clips to generate the glow wipe transition. The outgoing clip will glow up to pure white and the incoming clip will glow down from pure white to normal. First we'll set up the outgoing clip.

* Go to the start of the timeline
* Click on the outgoing clip (V1) to bring the BCC Glow filter parameters for that clip into the Effect Editor
* Twirl down the disclosure triangle to reveal the graph view for both the Threshold and Intensity parameters

* Set the value of the Glow Intensity to zero
* Set the value of the Glow Threshold to zero
* Move to the 1:15 mark in the timeline
* Click on Add Keyframe button to add keyframes for the open parameter graphs
* Set the Glow Threshold parameter to a value of 50
* Move to the 2:15 mark in the timeline
* Click on Add Keyframe button to add keyframes for the open parameter graphs
* Set the Glow Threshold parameter to a value of 0
* Set the Glow Intensity parameter to a value of 1.00
* Scrub the timeline to see the effect

Now we'll animate the BCC Glow effect on the incoming clip.

* Move to the middle of the timeline, which is 2:15
* Click on the incoming clip to bring the BCC Glow filter parameters into the Effect Editor
* Twirl down the disclosure triangle to reveal the graph view for both the Threshold and Intensity parameters
* Set the value of the Glow Intensity to 1.2
* Set the value of the Glow Threshold to 0
* Move to the 3:15 mark in the timeline
* Click on Add Keyframe button to add keyframes for the open parameter graphs
* Set the Glow Threshold parameter to a value of 50
* Move to the end of the timeline
* Click on Add Keyframe button to add keyframes for the open parameter graphs
* Set the Glow intensity to a value of 0
* Play through the timeline to see the completed effect

Colorize Glow Effect

The BCC Colorize Glow effect is a little bit different to the BCC Glow. This effect gives more of a soft look with a color push, more of a "mood" look rather than the traditional white glow that we see in broadcast sports events. We'll use the BCC Colorize Glow effect to enhance the natural colors in the clip while adding a 5 step colorized tint. Once we complete the glow we'll add an instance of the BCC Film Process filter to lend a more organic film look to the result.

We'll start by importing the clip to which we are going to apply the effect. The clip that we are using is again a stock Artbeats clip of a timelapse sunrise sequence.

* Delete any existing tracks in the timeline and create a new video track (V1)
* Import the source clip TL202.mov into the BCC Glow Tutorial bin
* Double click on the TL202.mov clip to open it in the source monitor
* Drag the source clip from the source monitor into track V1 on the timeline
* Drag through the timeline to familiarize yourself with the clip

Now we'll add the BCC Colorize Glow effect to the raw clip

* In the project window click on the BCC Effects category in the left pane, which will display a list of BCC Effects filters in the right pane
* Select the BCC Colorize Glow filter in the right pane and drag this onto the TL202.mov clip in the timeline
* Enter "Effect Mode" in the Avid UI to access the filter parameters

The default effect uses a red-orange-yellow gradient tint, which is applied over the image as well as adding a nice soft diffuse glow look to the clip. Next we'll customize the look to better suit the mood look that we are trying to achieve.

Scroll down through the Effect Editor and notice the Color Preset load / save mechanism. This is similar to the main preset load / save mechanism which is found at the top of every BCC filter and enables us to load into the filter any of the factory presets as well as providing the option to create our own custom presets, which can be retrieved and used on any project within any host that has this filter installed. We're going to change the color gradient that we are applying over the clip.

Click on the preset pop-up and you will see a list of factory installed gradient presets

Select the preset titled blues

Observe the change in the colors in the image.

Click back on the preset pop-up and select the preset titled red-yellow Go to the Colorize control group in the Effects Controls window Click on the color chip that defines the color 2 section of the gradient In the color picker that appears, set a value of 38 red, 14 green, 87 blue

Observe the color change in the image. Shadow areas in the water now appear to have a warm purple tinge, while the sunset has a warm orange glow that blends well with the purple at the outer edges.

We're finished with the Colorize Glow portion of this effect but not with the overall image treatment.

To lend a film look o this video source clip, we'll add the BCC Film Process filter on top of the BCC Colorize Glow filter.

* Go to the project window
* Drag the BCC Film Process filter from the Effects list onto the treated clip in the timeline
* Click on the preset loader and select the preset titled "bleach bypass" to load this into the filter

Set the Mix with Original parameter in the BCC Film Process filter to 50 percent to blend the effect with the treated clip Play through the timeline to see the effect.

Glow Alpha Edges Effect

The BCC Glow Alpha Edges effect will enable the generation of a halo style glow based upon the alpha channel of the image to which it is applied. We are going to combine this effect with a BCC Spin Blur and also a BCC Light Rays filter to generate a faux logo image without leaving the editing interface.

* Delete any existing tracks in the sequence
* Add a new V1 track
* Import the image wheel_sm.psd into the Glow Tutorial project bin - this image includes an alpha channel.
* Double click the image and set the in and out points to generate 5 seconds of video
* Drag the 5 second clip onto V1 in the timeline

* Select the image clip in the timeline
* Go to the project window
* Click on the Effects tab
* Twirl down the BCC Effects group
* Drag the BCC Glow Alpha Edges filter onto the source clip in the composition

* Immediately you can see that the filter has created a glow effect around the alpha portions of the image.
* Enter "Effect Mode" in the Avid UI to access the filter parameters
* Observe that the Apply to Title Matte option is enabled by default - if it's off though, you must enable this function
* In the Effect Editor window, set the Width parameter to 20

Observe that this parameter controls the width of the glow effect that is applied to the image

Set the Smoothness parameter to a value of 100.

Observe that the resulting glow is much smoother and that although the glow does not have the same level of detail that it did at its default setting, the glow is still soft and smooth

Set the Smoothness parameter to a value of 0.

Now the glow has a high level of detail and matches the contour of the alpha channel exactly.

Set the Softness parameter to a value of 100

Observe that the glow has become less noticeable and that the edges of the glow appear to taper off in a soft gradient.

Set the value of the Softness parameter back to its default setting of 20

Set the value of the Smoothness parameter to 30

Now we have a nice soft alpha glow. Let's change the color of the glow from white to green.

Click on the color chip to bring up the color picker

Set the color to green using these values - r=9, g=219, b=39

The wheel now has a good glow around the edges of the alpha channel, but we're not finished yet. To make the image that we have at the top of this section, we'll add two more filters from the BCC set.

Because we are stacking filters onto an image with alpha, we need to instruct the filters to work with the alpha channel through all of the filters in the chain. Start by enabling the Multi-Filter start option. Do this by clicking on the checkbox with the same name in the filters parameter list within the Effect Editor.

Now we'll add the BCC Spiral Blur filter

* Go to the BCC Color and Blurs group in the Effects tab of the Project Window
* While holding down the Alt key, drag the BCC Spiral Blur filter onto the image in the comp window
* Enter "Effect Mode" in the Avid UI to access the filter parameters
* Click on the "Multi-Filter End button in the filter controls in the Effect Editor

By default, the spiral center is offset from the center of this size comp

Drag the Spiral Center on-screen control to position the spiral center position at the center of the comp

Now we want the spokes of the wheel image to push out from the center of the image, slightly twisting as they do so.

In the Effect Editor, set the value of the Zoom parameter to 100

Observe that the spokes seem to push out from the center of the image, which now bears little resemblance to the original artwork. To complete the effect, we'll add some lighting and contrast with one of the filters from the BCC Lights group but before we add another filter to this stack, we need to set the filter so that it knows it is in the middle of the stack (and you can have as many filters in the stack as you like.)

In the Effect editor, enable the Multi-Filter Mid function (the effect will look a little different (per the image below) but don't worry about hat right now - this will look correct when we add the next filter and set it to Multi-Filter End.

Go to the BCC Lights group in the Effects and Presets window While holding down the Alt key, drag the Light Zoom filter onto the image in the comp window

Turn on the Multi-Filter End function by clicking the button with the same name in the Effect Editor

Set the Intensity parameter to a value of 200

* Set the Attenuation type to Exp Distance by selecting this from the pop-up menu
* Play through the timeline to see the effect

Now we've completed the treatment for this image and have used a few filters from the BCC package to change a simple image of a wheel, which was originally generated using Adobe Illustrator, into a much more interesting image, while retaining the alpha channel of the imported file.

So over the course of this tutorial, we have managed to go through using the various BCC Glow filters on video clips and images with alpha channels. We have also learned how to keyframe filter effects in the Effects Control window and stack multiple filters on top of an image with an alpha channel. I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and remember that there is a built-in electronic help system, which is available at the top level of every filter in the BCC AVX product.

Thank you for sharing..............

And it would be much better if you can have a video demo which will easy most of us.

All the best.

Which version of BCC are you using?

I have BCC 4.2, installed it but it does not show up in MC3.1.

Thanks, I am really trying to get my hands around BCC and this helps. I hope you have more to share.

dew

tikboy:

Which version of BCC are you using?

I have BCC 4.2, installed it but it does not show up in MC3.1.

 

If you are using an Intel Mac, make sure you have BCC 4.2.2 AVX.  The BCC 4.2.2 AVX Updater may be downloaded at: http://www.borisfx.com/download_files/BCC422AVXCDPatch.app.zip

Please let me know if this helps.

Thanks.

I'm downloading now.

Do I need to reinstall the plugin before I apply theis patch?

ervz

Yes, please make sure v4.2 is installed first.  If you have the v4.2 installer disc, please also mount the disc into the Mac before launching the update.

It worked, I can see them!

I just have to try it.

Hi there Sir ,

                 Great info . . .  thanks very much. But in relation to this effect there is a similar one in which the BCC effect is to apply the filter to the tail of an outgoing clip and to the head of an incoming clip .  The effect is a " ROLL OUT OF FOCUS " and is used mostly in news magazine shows and news reports.

To explain it much better : the tail of the outgoing clip has the " roll out of focus " effect white the incoming clip has the " roll into focus " effect .

 It will be greatly appreciated if you can kindly explain how ( just like you did with Glow and Glow Transition Effect )   this effect is accomplished.

Thanks very much..

For a transition effect, I would just put it on top of the transition/splice as a filler.

1. On V1, edit clips as normal. For best result, apply a normal quick dissolve (10f)

2. On V2 put an edit mark, say 10 frames before and 10 frames after the V1 edit point, then drop in your filter.You can actualy use anythig like color, blur, etc...

3. Animate effect. Add a third keyframe in the middle then just animate the intensity from 0 to full, then back to 0.

4. Additionally, you can stack another effect like a blur and season to taste. Use your creative license.

(SCREEN SHOT SAMPLE)

Thank you very much Sir.

One more thing , why do you have to make an edit 10 frames before and  10 frames after on V2 ?

Thanks.

One more thing , why do you have to make an edit 10 frames before and 10 frames after on V2 ?