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FlareSimAE v1.0.2

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@ken-eizo ken-eizo released this 16 Oct 13:23
v1.0.2
b895bcd

A CUDA-accelerated After Effects plugin for physically-based lens flare simulation. FlareSimAE traces rays through real optical prescriptions to generate lens ghosts, diffraction starbursts, and veiling haze.

FlareSimAE is an unofficial After Effects adaptation of FlareSim for Nuke, developed by Steve Watts Kennedy, building on the original optical work of Eamonn Nugent (blackhole-rt).

Stable Windows CUDA rendering fix

The v1.0.2 release fixes the actual AE 26.3 CPU fallback caused by expanded SmartFX render requests (-192 to 2112 on a 1920-pixel solid). CUDA now accepts nonempty sensor intersections, keeps the optical sensor size independent of padded host output Worlds, and copies only valid pixels. Sources Preview is CUDA accelerated.

What's included

  • FlareLensAE.aex 窶・native Windows x64 After Effects effect, NVIDIA CUDA acceleration and CPU fallback
  • README.md / INSTALL.md 窶・overview and installation guide
  • LICENSE.txt / LICENSE_UPSTREAM.txt / NOTICE.md 窶・MIT license and original credits
  • FlareLensCatalog.tsv 窶・index of the embedded lens presets
  • lenses/lens_files/ 窶・all 1,370 upstream optical prescriptions, as optional reference copies (the AEX also embeds these)
  • lenses/convert_ob.py / convert_p2p.py 窶・upstream conversion utilities

Requirements

  • Windows x64 and a compatible Adobe After Effects installation
  • NVIDIA GPU and compatible CUDA driver for GPU acceleration, or use the CPU fallback
  • A macOS binary is not included until the separate Apple-hosted SDK build is verified. Metal acceleration, Linux and native Vulkan renderers are not provided.

Installation

  1. Download FlareSimAE_v1.0.2_Windows.zip below.
  2. Extract the archive.
  3. Close After Effects and copy FlareLensAE.aex into an After Effects Plug-ins folder (for example, Support Files/Plug-ins/FlareSimAE/).
  4. Remove duplicate older AEX copies from active plug-in paths, then restart After Effects.
  5. Search for FlareSimAE in the effects list.

The bundled lenses directory is optional reference material; all 1,370 prescriptions are already embedded in the AEX. See INSTALL.md for full details.

Features

  • Optically traced internal reflections with wavelength-dependent refraction and Fresnel weighting
  • 1,370 embedded lens presets and editable Custom Lens UI
  • AE Arbitrary Data keyframe interpolation
  • Automatic bright-source detection and manual HDR sources
  • Aperture diffraction, veiling haze, spectral sampling and selected ghost pairs
  • Diagnostic outputs, preview quality, native CUDA rendering with CPU fallback

Verification

  • Windows Release build successful; 25/25 automated tests passed.
  • The user has reported that the corrected AEX resolves the initial CPU-speed problem in their actual AE composition. Other host workflows remain unverified (interactive lens editor keyframes, save/reopen, multi-frame rendering, cancellation, different AE versions). Test with a noncritical project first.
  • CUDA benchmarks are not guaranteed After Effects timeline render times.

Source commit: b895bcd
Windows ZIP SHA-256: a71a627eb4c90cc50d0466924edc949de23b3e7858b8751bfa004c18f6dd1496

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