* Built-in Flare Editor: The Flare Editor is available from within the normal interface, and does not require a separate application as in version 2.0. The workflow is more efficient, integrated, and stable. Read more

* Animatable Flare Elements: The elements that make up a flare can be animated individually for flexible and interesting animations.

* 64-bit SGI and 32/64-bit Linux support: The sparks take advantage of AutoDesk's newest systems.

* Auto-Obscuration: Turn on and off a light based on the luminance values of another clip.

* Multi-Track: Track flares to multiple luminance points, like a particle system or track points, based on luminance. This makes it easy to composite multiple lens flares and use them with other filters.

* Auto-Track: Set a light source to follow another layer's center of luminance. This can be used to control the size of the flare.

* Use Obscuration Layer: Use a grayscale matte to turn the lighting effect off when the light source enters the white area. This adds believability to the composite.

* 12 and 16-bit Color Support: The flares render out to higher bit depths. This makes for less banding and better looking flares.

* Undo Functionality: An improved workflow from version 2.0 makes designing flares even easier.

A basic particle effect can be used as the luminance source for the Multi-Tracker. [play]

Knoll renders out small white circles and tracks a flare to each. [play]

The Obscuration Layer affects the flare’s alpha channel for the plane. [play]