Selecting & Sorting
Selecting and Identifying Ghosts
Section titled “Selecting and Identifying Ghosts”Before modifying a ghost, you first need to identify which ghost you want to adjust. Since a lens system can generate many ghosts, Flares OFX provides tools to help you find them easily.
Ghost Isolation
Section titled “Ghost Isolation”The Isolate Ghost feature renders only the currently selected ghost and temporarily hides all others.
This allows you to:
- Clearly see the shape and position of a single ghost
- Confirm that you are editing the correct one
- Avoid visual clutter from overlapping artifacts
Ghost Highlighting
Section titled “Ghost Highlighting”The Highlight Ghost feature colors the selected ghost using a distinctive, stand-out color.
This makes it easier to:
- Locate a ghost within a dense flare
- Step through multiple ghosts visually
- Compare ghosts without hiding the rest of the flare
By combining isolation and highlighting, you can quickly cycle through the ghost list and identify the exact ghost you want to modify.
Sorting the Ghosts - Why Sorting Matters
Section titled “Sorting the Ghosts - Why Sorting Matters”Ghosts are relatively expensive to render, especially in complex lens systems where hundreds of ghosts may be generated. In most cases, only a small subset of those ghosts contributes meaningfully to the final image.
To improve performance and focus on what matters visually, Flares OFX provides a Sort Ghosts feature.
Sorting by Intensity
Section titled “Sorting by Intensity”When you click the Sort Ghosts button, ghosts are reordered based on their intensity, from brightest to dimmest.
This allows you to:
- Identify the most visually important ghosts
- Limit rendering to only the most noticeable artifacts
- Reduce render cost significantly
For example, after sorting, you might choose to render only the first 10 ghosts, which are typically the brightest and most visible, instead of rendering hundreds of low-impact ghosts.