Hotspot pivot point, any advise as to it's position?

Former user wrote on 2/14/2022, 2:10 AM

Hi, most of my lensfllare effects have a hotspot point & a pivot point,

If i put a lens flare on my media event, i can track a light or the sun etc. & put the hotspot on that light (Hotspot uses Mocha)
where would the pivot point be in reality?
in my mind the pivot would be the lens of the camera that is refracting the light on to the image sensor at the back, but is there any fundamental guides as to where to put the pivot when adding a lensflare post filming/production,
Here i've tracked a mans head & put the hotspot on 😁 the camera is fairly stationary but as he walks on to the left , where to put the pivot, 🤔
I guess this applies to any lensflare tracked or not,
Or is it just in the aesthetics 🤷‍♂️😁👍
Thanks.

I've lowered the opacity so you can see the points,

PS i looked at Vegas lens flare, that just pivots from the centre

Comments

Reyfox wrote on 2/24/2022, 6:53 AM

I would think the pivot point would be where the source of the light is coming from and where that light source hits the lens.

Certainly if everything is lit from the left, you wouldn't have the flare on the right.

Former user wrote on 2/24/2022, 7:30 AM

@Reyfox Hi i posted this on Boris's forum, i got a reply but not much input, there's a pic on there that sort of describes what i'm thinking,

https://forum.borisfx.com/t/lensflare-hotspot-pivot-point-any-advise-as-to-its-position/13294

Reyfox wrote on 2/24/2022, 8:09 AM

While the placement for lens flares is aesthetics for the person, take a camera outside and have the sun hit the lens in different positions and see where there is a possibility of where a lens flair will happen. Most modern lenses (except for the anamorphic) suppress the lens from having a flair.

Personally, I'd opt for where the light source is and center the flair near that area. But that's "me".