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— Select Output: Lets you preview the image with different stages of the Lightray effect applied, viewing the Final Image, Lightrays Alone, and Source Regions.
— Source of Rays: Lets you choose the emitter of the rays, using Bright Regions or Edges.
— Source Threshold: A slider that lets you choose the limit at which bright areas of the image emit rays.
— Alpha Masks Light Sources: Check this box to use the input Alpha channel to exclude sources in those areas from casting light rays.
— Alpha Limits Effect: Check this box to use the input Alpha channel for compositing purposes. Unchecking means the input Alpha is ignored.
Position
Position parameters let you define the direction rays take.
— Ray Directions: A pop-up menu that lets you choose either “From A Location,” which exposes controls to let you choose an X or Y position to define a point of origin that defines the angle of the light beams, or “At an Angle,” which exposes controls to let you choose an overall orientation for the rays.
Appearance
Appearance parameters let you customize the ray effect.
— Ray Dropoff: A pop-up with four options.
— Default (soft): Produces soft, indistinct rays of light that appear to fade away as they stream out.
— Keep Shape of Source: The edge of the light rays are defined by the shape that emitted them.
— CCD Bloom Harsh: Severely raises the brightness of the part of the image that’s emitting rays as Length is raised, resulting in harsh glow or bloom in the image.
— CCD Bloom Soft: Gently raises the brightness of the part of the image that’s emitting rays as Length is raised, resulting in a very gentle lightning of the image.
— Length: Lets you make the rays longer or shorter.
— Soften: Lets you blur the rays being emitted.
— Brightness: Lets you adjust how bright the rays are.
— Color: A color picker and eyedropper let you define a color with which to tint the rays.
— Composite Type: Lets you choose a composite mode to use to blend the glow effect with the image. Defaults to Add, which is good for hotter, more intense rays. Screen lets you create more gentle rays, while other composite modes let you create other varied effects.
— Bright Region Recovery: Adjust this slider to reclaim some image detail in areas that are blown out by the rays.