WHAT’S NEW IN SAPPHIRE 2020.5

New! Improved LensFlare Designer
New! 12 professionally-designed flares and improved Sapphire Lens Flares
New! Transitions add S_HyperPull and S_HyperPush
New! Added support for Blackmagic Fusion Studio 16 and the integrated Fusion inside of Blackmagic Davinci Resolve 16
New! More OFX hosts now support Sapphire Builder
New! Improved Mocha tracking
New! Faster render times for many effects

NEW AND IMPROVED LENS FLARES

Sapphire’s Emmy Award-winning Lens Flare, renowned across the film & TV industry, has even more reasons to love it. Every flare element can now be affected by lens shadow, reflecting the real-world experience of a hot light source being shaded and reflecting around a physical lense. The result? Gorgeous natural-looking results on video and motion graphics projects. 2020.5 also features new pro flare presets and remixed old favorites. Sapphire Lens Flares are cross-host, cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) and work in 2D and 3D. And if that wasn’t enough, use the integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha technology to do fast and accurate motion tracking directly in the plugin. Perfect flares, wherever you need them.

HYPER ZOOM IN ANY DIRECTION

Dynamic, modern, and packed with presets. Sapphire 2020.5’s two new transitions — S_HyperPull and S_HyperPush — allow you to move and warp seamlessly between clips. Each transition contains a huge amount of control and variety without having to worry about messy keyframes.

SUPPORT FOR FUSION

Sapphire 2020.5 now offers full support for Blackmagic Design’s Fusion Studio standalone application and the integrated Fusion inside of Blackmagic Design Resolve. Faster render times, more stable comps, and increased functionality with support for the Sapphire Preset Browser, LensFlare Designer, and integrated Mocha tracking and masking* (standalone Fusion Studio only - Mocha tracking is not yet supported in the integrated Fusion inside of Resolve). Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

NEW HOSTS FOR BUILDER

Sapphire Builder now supports two new OFX hosts: Nuke by the Foundry and VEGAS Pro. Sapphire Builder lets you combine multiple Sapphire filters into one custom effect. Artists can design, save, and share their work across hosts and departments making it perfect for offline to online workflows. Sapphire 2020.5 also includes new professionally-designed Builder presets to inspire and utilize in your own projects.

BETTER MOCHA TRACKING

Sapphire 2020.5’s integrated Mocha tracking and masking is vastly improved with updates to the area brush tool and edge-snapping technology. And Mocha’s core planar tracking now delivers even more accurate results on complex tracks where objects move around or behind the camera. Flawlessly parameter track or limit where an effect is applied.

FASTER SAPPHIRE

The 2020.5 release seriously speeds up CPU and GPU render times and improves interactivity on all lighting effects featuring atmospheric noise, including favorites like S_Glow, S_LensFlare, S_EdgeRays, S_Rays, S_Clouds, and S_Zap.

WHAT’S NEW IN SAPPHIRE 2020

New! FreeLens effect
New! OpenColorIO color management support
New! Easier Tracking: Improved integrated Mocha tracking and masking with parameter tracking & new Area Brush for quick masking
New! Presets: 16 new LensFlares and 7 new Builder Presets
New! Functionality: Compare mode for the Sapphire Preset Browser
New! Faster Renders: Up to three times faster renders with specific effects

YOUR NEW FAVORITE SAPPHIRE EFFECT — FREELENS

Meet S_FreeLens. Inspired by the popular photography technique known as free lensing or lens whacking, FreeLens mimics shooting with a lens detached from the camera body. The end result? A dreamy, romantic element featuring a combination of light leaks, lens distortion, tilt shift, and a moving focal point linked together under one easy-to-use master lens manipulation parameter. Perfect for dream sequences, travelogue videos, flashbacks, unsteady POVs, slow-motion footage, motion graphics title treatments or abstract CG renders. S_FreeLens is included in the Blur & Sharpen effects category.

COLOR MANAGEMENT WITH OCIO SUPPORT

Sapphire 2020 adds support for OpenColorIO (OCIO), the open-source color management solution designed at Sony Picture Imageworks. Sapphire 2020 can apply and read a color profile to provide consistent colors across any of its internal applications such as the Preset Browser, Flare Designer, and Effect & Transition Builder. These applications now feature an OCIO panel with a default library of the most common color profiles. Facilities looking to load a custom OpenColorIO library can do so via an environment variable or by editing the S_Config file to point to a custom location.

Sapphire 2020 also features a new effect in the Adjust category called S_OCIOTransform. The effect allows Sapphire to bring OpenColorIO color management to any of its supported hosts — even if that host hasn’t adopted the OCIO standard yet!

TRACK EVERYTHING WITH THE NEW & IMPROVED MOCHA

Sapphire 2020 features new and improved Mocha tracking. You can now link Mocha tracking to Sapphire positional parameters all within a single effect. This new feature opens up tons of creative possibilities. Easily track S_LensFlare to a headlight, track S_Zap lighting bolts to the tips of your fingers or track a spotlight over a highlighted subject. Mocha parameter tracking is available in ten Sapphire 2020 effects: LensFlare, EdgeRays, Rays, Luna, Grunge, Spotlight, Aurora, Zap, MuzzleFlash, and FreeLens.

The brand new Mocha Area Brush tool is also included. If you don’t like working with splines, this is for you! The Area Brush lets you paint over track search areas for quick mask creation. Paint strokes are automatically converted into splines for an easy new workflow. Includes full support for Wacom tablets.

NEW LENS FLARES FOR SAPPHIRE 2020

Sapphire 2020 adds 16 brand new professionally-designed Lens Flares — bringing the grand total to over 200 flares!

NEW COMPARE MODE IN PRESET BROWSER

The Sapphire 2020 Preset Browser adds a built-in Compare Mode feature that allows users to preview the original unfiltered source with the filtered output using either side-by-side or wipe bar options. This new feature is especially useful on color correction or grading where you might want to preview adjacent clips in the timeline while working on the filtered source.

FASTER RENDERS WITH SAPPHIRE 2020

The 2020 release delivers the fastest speed results yet thanks to optimized GPU (NVIDIA only) and CPU performance. Users will experience up to a three times increase in render times on many Sapphire effects including S_EdgeRays and S_BlurMotion. Please note: speed increases may vary based upon individual effect, host application, and choice of CPU or GPU rendering. Click the link below for more detailed information.

WHAT’S NEW IN SAPPHIRE 2019.5

NEW EFFECTS. IMPROVED FUNCTIONALITY. FASTER SPEEDS.

New Sapphire effect! ParallaxStrips
New Sapphire transitions! DissolvePixelSort, Dissolve DigitalDamage, ParallaxStripsTransition
Video inside of Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder, Preset Browser, and Flare Designer
New look and feel for Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder, Preset Browser, and Flare Designer
Retina/High DPI monitor resolution support for Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder, Preset Browser, and Flare Designer
Broadcast monitor output support Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder and Flare Designer
OFX support for Autodesk Flame

Sapphire 2019 is the latest major upgrade for the legendary suite of VFX plug-ins. Key features include a totally revamped and enhanced LensFlare and Flare Designer, new effects like PixelSort and ParallaxStrips, new transitions like WhipLash and DigitalDamageDissolve, video working inside of the Builder, FlareDesigner, and Preset Browser, as well as revamped user interface, new Mocha Essentials workspace with new spline tools like magnetic edge-snapping, and it’s optimized for maximum CPU and GPU performance.

A NEW WAY TO DISTORT WITH PARALLAX STRIPS

Brand new for Sapphire 2019.5 effect: S_ParallaxStrips takes any image and divides it into strips separated apart in z space. The floating strips can seamlessly strip apart or form a complete image. Angle, size, speed, z-depth, and many more parameters can be adjusted for original and interesting looks.

GLITCH IT UP WITH PIXELSORT

S_PixelSort and S_DissolvePixelSort are a fun modern ways to add digital glitchy distortion to your image — and it’s great for music videos or preset looks. PixelSort’s deep parameter set gives you total control over your desired result. Pair it with integrated Mocha tracking and masking or combine it with other effects inside Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder for slick, highly-stylized results.

OPTIMIZED FOR HDPI/4K MONITORS

New in Sapphire 2019.5: All Sapphire applications, the Effect and Transition Builder, Flare Designer, and Preset Browser, have been redesigned from the ground up and now feature a new look perfect for HDPI/Retina monitors. All applications now support video, replacing the previous single frame. The Effect and Transition Builder and Flare Designer also support output to a broadcast monitor.

SAPPHIRE OFX IN FLAME

Sapphire 2019.5 OFX now supports Autodesk Flame, Flare, and Flame Assist 2020. Sapphire OFX replaces Sapphire Sparks and features many improvements and performance gains, including support for the Sapphire Effect and Transition Builder.

BRAND NEW LENS FLARES FOR 2019.5

New to Sapphire 2019 is the reboot of S_LensFlare with a redesigned and reimagined Flare Designer tool. New professionally designed presets, lens objects, flare components, and integrated preset browser showcase the complexity and flexibility behind the powerful Sapphire flare engine.

SWISH PAN ON STEROIDS: WHIPLASH TRANSITION

S_WhipLash is a sister effect to one of the most popular Sapphire transitions — S_SwishPan. The powerful new transition blends multiple copies of an image together in order to digitally recreate the illusion of traveling a great amount of distance in a short time. Featuring a nice soft bounce stop, a smooth finish or a snapback ending. Seeing is believing.

ENHANCED MOCHA TRACKING AND MASKING

The integrated Mocha tracking and masking inside of Sapphire 2019 features some major improvements including a brand new Essentials interface, a new magnetic spline tool, new preset vector shapes for circular and rectangular masks, and new High DPI support for Retina and 4K monitors.

PRODUCT HISTORY: SAPPHIRE 2019

SAPPHIRE LENSFLARE 2019

LensFlare and the Flare Designer are redesigned and reimagined. The Flare Designer is greatly improved and enhanced to increase the ease of use and expand its functionality. The preset browser is now integrated directly inside the Flare Designer, making accessing and modifying lens flare presets a breeze. A new lens flare “component” workflow allows artists to easily and intuitively build a complex flare from scratch and helps reveal the power and flexibility of Sapphire’s flare engine. Finally, 27 new professionally designed presets have been added. Watch this introductory video to get up to speed on how to use this amazing new tool.

SAPPHIRE PIXELSORT

PixelSort is a fantastic new Sapphire effect that grew up in the modern digital “glitch art” movement. It’s a fun new way to distort your image in a multitude of different ways and features many deep parameters to produce some stunning results. PixelSort is also available inside Sapphire Effect and Transition builder. Combine it with other Sapphire effects for a truly original effect, and use it as a transition to up production value in any edit. Watch this short video to learn more about Sapphire PixelSort.

SAPPHIRE WHIPLASH TRANSITION

Sapphire WhipLash is a “sister effect” to one of the most popular Sapphire transitions, S_SwishPan. It has some amazing new functionality and features that will undoubtedly make it the Sapphire transition of choice. At its core S_Whiplash is a brand new transition that mimics a lighting quick camera pan, blending multiple copies of an image together so it appears as if a great distance is traveled in a short amount of time. S_WhipLash also features a nice soft bounce stop, a smooth finish or a snapback at the end of the transition. RGB separation blurs can be added for a different look and S_Whiplash can travel in any direction or angle as well as scaling up or down. Watch this short video to see what this new and extremely powerful Sapphire transition can accomplish.

ENHANCED MOCHA TRACKING AND MASKING

Sapphire 2019 features major improvements to the integrated Mocha tracking and masking available within each Sapphire effect (and separately as the S_Mocha spark - Autodesk only). For further information on the differences between the integrated Mocha tracking and masking in Sapphire 2019 and Mocha Pro 2019, please click here.

• NEW SPLINE TOOLS FOR ROTO & MASKING
Sapphire 2019 features 4 new Mochas spline tools for masking and rotoscoping to speed up shape creation and save time. Includes new Magnetic Spline Tool with edge snapping, new Freehand Spline Tool for fluid drawing, and new preset circular and rectangular shape tools.

• NEW LOOK AND FEEL
Editors and artists will rejoice at the completely redesigned Mocha interface. The updated interface makes Mocha easier to learn than ever before. The Mocha Essentials Workspace brings the power of Mocha to novice level users with a simplified interface. Tracking & masking is now faster by reducing complexity and focusing the Mocha interface on the most essential icons and tools. Switch to Classic for advanced modules and customize workspaces for flexibility.

• RETINA & HIGH DPI MONITOR SUPPORT
The new Mocha interface and tools look fantastic on modern high DPI monitors.

IMPROVED EFFECT AND TRANSITION BUILDER

The Effect and Transition Builder has some complimentary new improvements in Sapphire 2019 release. A new animating shape effect allows for cool new presets like multi-color shape wipes and organic transitions with a hand-drawn look. Plus PixelSort and Whiplash have also been added to create original new effects. Watch this short video for an overview of the new Builder presets in Sapphire 2019.

Learn more about Sapphire Builder here

GPU SPEED IMPROVEMENTS

Optimized for peak GPU acceleration for CUDA enabled NVIDIA cards. Blackmagic Resolve colorists and Adobe Premiere Pro CC editors will see the greatest benefit from this across the board performance increase.