Preview Controls

The Preview Controls are visual settings that affect the entire lens flare effect within the Lens Designer. However, these changes are NOT reflected in the main Knoll interface. Preview Controls are a time-saving device that let you experiment with basic edits to your lens effect without leaving the Lens Designer interface.

Note about Preview Window

Wherever you click or click-drag in the Preview Window, the flare effect will center at that click. It's the equivalent of changing the Position control for all Elements and Sprites in that effect.

Background Image button

This button turns on/off a preview of the layer that Knoll Light Factory is applied to. This is useful for matching the flare position to an image.

Background Clipboard button

If you have an image in memory from doing a Copy or Cut function, then the Clipboard button will display that image in the Preview Window. The image will display only while you click and hold the mouse on the button. This is useful for matching the flare position to an image.

Brightness

The Brightness slider controls the brightness of the lens flare effect in the Preview Window. It globally changes the brightness of all light objects in the Preview Window. Brightness causes the center of the flare to increase in size as it blooms or pushes towards white.

The range is 0 to 2, with a default value of 1. At a value of 0, the Knoll effect will be hidden in complete darkness. At a value of 2, the flare will reach its maximum brightness. To make adjustments, drag the value to the left or right, or click down to type in a numeric value.

Scale

The Scale slider adjusts the size of the lens flare by resizing of all light objects in the Preview Window. The range is 0 to 4, measured in percentage. The default is 1. High values increase the lens flare size. To make adjustments, drag the value to the left or right, or click down to type in a numeric value.

Scale will increase the overall size of the flare elements without brightening the flare. Scale does not change the position of the flare elements. You can animate Scale to simulate the adjustment of the focal length of a zoom lens.

Color

The Color button globally sets a color tint for the lens flare in the Preview Window. Click it to open a standard color picker for the lens flare effect.

Center

The two Center sliders set the horizontal and vertical positions of the flare in the Preview Window. It globally changes the position of all light objects in the Preview Window.

To make adjustments, drag the value to the left or right, or click down to type in a numeric value. Alternately, you can click a location in the Preview Window, and the center of the flare will jump to that location.

Reset All button

If you need to restart your design, this button resets all Preview Controls to their default values. Reset doesn't affect settings of the Element or Sprite Controls, or any values outside the Lens Designer.