Light! ver. 2

[Andrew B.]

Light! is a light effect plugin from Digital Film Tools. I was first attracted to it when I realized it can do light casting (such as light passing through windows and projecting the window shape on the subject). But the first time I tested it, I found the controls to be lacking, and the interface confusing.

Recently, I noticed a better implementation of Light! bundled into Digital Film Tools' 55mm plugin set. And today I downloaded the standalone version, to see if they had changed that too. They have. It is the same one that I found in the 55mm collection.

One thing still bothers me about this plugin. It can blur the light, but it cannot add a diffusion glow. And interestingly, the 55mm plugin set contains a filter that can do this, using the same light-casting patterns as Light!. So now that I'm spoiled by seeing both, it would be difficult to buy only the Light! plugin. But if you are interested, here is the link:

http://www.digitalfilmtools.com/light-2/light2.htm

[Andrew B.]

One thing still bothers me about this plugin. It can blur the light, but it cannot add a diffusion glow. And interestingly, the 55mm plugin set contains a filter that can do this, using the same light-casting patterns as Light!. So now that I'm spoiled by seeing both, it would be difficult to buy only the Light! plugin.

Update: I contacted Digital Film Tools and told them my thoughts on the diffusion issue. The response I got explained that the same kind of diffusion is possible with the Light! plugin by adjusting the blur settings in the light group. A quick test seemed to support this, as long as I was careful to find the right range within the blur settings to hit a diffused look.