WHAT'S NEW FOR 2021
Sapphire 2021
- New! Metal GPU-acceleration: The fastest render speeds on Macs
- New! S_UltraGlow: The world's best glow just got better
- New! S_UltraZap: The most electrifying results ever
- New! LensFlare Designer: More customization = More photorealistic flares
- New! 45+ presets designed by artists & 10 new lens flares
Sapphire 2021.5
- New! Native support for M1 powered Macs
- New! Support for Adobe After Effects multi-frame rendering (currently in Adobe public beta)
- New! Speed and interactivity improvements for the Sapphire preset browser
- New! Improved Sapphire PanAndZoom with added internal image cache (Avid Media Composer only)
- New! Lens Flare presets
METAL GPU ACCELERATION
Faster renders and speedier interactivity for all Mac users
Mac users with Sapphire will rejoice with the introduction of Metal GPU acceleration for over 60 Sapphire effect. Dramatic speed gains can be achieved with Metal acceleration in Sapphire; S_Rays renders over 4x faster with Metal than CPU only. Performance can vary depending on GPU specs, host application, OS version, and individual Sapphire effects, but on average Sapphire with Metal acceleration renders 20% faster than CPU only. Click here for a full list of which Sapphire effects feature Metal acceleration in the release.
ULTRAGLOW
The world’s best glow just got better
UltraGlow is the latest evolution of Sapphire’s legendary Glow, the most popular and loved glow effect in all of post-production. Sapphire’s UltraGlow brings with it all the beauty, speed, and ease of use of S_Glow, but adds many new and unique parameters which create both impressive photorealism and countless dramatic looks. Warning — once you try out Sapphire UltraGlow, you may never go back to using S_Glow again!
Beautiful diffusion with AfterGlow
UltraGlow emulates a real world optical-based glow, and features a massive amount of controls for customization. Create a primary glow first and then add a secondary “afterglow” for an extra level of photorealism. Control brightness, threshold, falloff, bias, width, primary and secondary colors, streaking, and more.
Smoky atmospheres and crisp highlights
Brand new Atmosphere and Highlights features make more dynamic glows possible. Highlights introduces auto-animating user-defined sparkles or light sweeps across your image. Atmosphere adds a smoky or misty look to your glow, giving a more diffused or realistic look to the effect.
Easy to use parameter layout
UltraGlow features an organized parameter layout structured in an order of operations. Spend less time hunting and more time creating.
Optimized for speed
UltraGlow features GPU acceleration for both Metal and CUDA enabled cards. Mac and PC users experience faster speeds and shorter render times.
ULTRAZAP
Create electrifying effects with ease
Prepare to be shocked at the new addition to Sapphire — UltraZap! A sister effect to S_Zap, used in countless films, TV shows, and commercials, UltraZap blows it out with new parameters and functionality. Featuring a secondary bolt system which wraps around the main bolt, creating photoreal electric bolts, fields, arcs, and currents has never been easier.
Built for visual effects and perfect for motion graphics
UltraZap is perfect for photorealistic lightning and electricity effects. But that is just the beginning. Create gorgeously smooth stroke effects on modern text treatments and stylistic animations that auto loop with no keyframing.
Use on custom splines, masks or type
UltraZap can stand on its own with a custom animatable spline structure or it can wrap around a native AE path or type. Easily create custom neon effects or any electrifying motion graphics look.
Secondary bolt system
UltraZap features an independently controllable secondary bolt system with custom position, animation, and color controls. Loop differently constructed bolts on top of the primary bolts for endless looks and custom effects.
Integrated UltraGlow
Sapphire’s UltraGlow is included as part of UltraZap. Having this new effect inside of UltraZap allows artists to create stunningly realistic glow effects directly inside of UltraZap.
Track with Mocha
UltraZap features the Academy Award-winning Mocha planar tracking system directly inside the effect. Artists can use Mocha to track the positional data of UltraZap native splines, allowing for the creation of complex animations without a single keyframe.
STUNNING PRESETS
Art directed presets perfect for text
Starting from a blank slate can always be difficult, that’s why UltraGlow and UItra Zap arrives with more than 40 new presets to get you up and running quickly. Perfect for full screen video treatments and designed for typography. Many fully animate with no need for keyframing. Work smarter, work faster, work better.
SAPPHIRE LENSFLARE
New Flares and New Features
Killer lens flares depend on the details— the small things alone don’t impress, but combined make you say “wow!” The release of Sapphire LensFlare adds two of those small things: the ability to move elements off-axis and adjust their relative speeds.
The 2021 and 2021.5 releases include an impressive collection of 18 new flares that showcase the new and recently added features like element shading. The end result is you can now create LensFlares with brand new sophistication and elegance. Sapphire features our best collection of LensFlares to date!
