zFlare 3 is a paid update. The upgrade discount for existing users is 40% (29€)
for users which purchased zFlare after the 31th of march 2025 it is free of charge.
flarespots and flarefilters are elements of your own flare compositions / presets
flarespots are an image hospots / visible flares
flarefilters are zFilter plugin filter effects, ie. exposure when looking into the light source note: flarefilters need an active zFilter plugin
the flarespot attributes describe the position, scale, rotate and alpha behaviour
the flarefilter alpha attribute describes the filter strength / value behaviour
edgewidth defines the border width where the flare begins to edgewidth out
(with 0.1 the fading happens within a border zone of 10% of the stage width/height)
note: the flare attribute overrides the plugin attribute!
offsetfade defines the view offset distance at which the flare fades out
(this is visible when view.ox / oy / oz is used for a dollhouse effect) note: the flare attribute overrides the plugin attribute!
distfade defines the distance at which a 3D positioned flare fades out
distfade="5000" fades the flare out at a distance of 0 to 5000
distfade="2500|5000" fades the flare out at a distance of 2500 to 5000 note: the flare attribute overrides the plugin attribute!
webvr enables zFlare in webvr modes
0 = no webvr, 1 = fake webvr, 2 = mobile webvr, 3 = true webvr
webvrfov defines the vertical fov for real webvr note: this is an internal setting and should not be changed.
fovbase defines the vertical fov as a scale base for each flarespot
fovbase_lecacy is used if fovscale is set zero. (lecacy fovscale mode) note: these are internal settings and should not be changed.
fovscale is a scale multiplier for each flarespot
setting fovscale to zero enables lecacy fovscale mode (pre zFlare 3 behaviour) note: this is an internal setting and should not be changed.
fovscalemap scales the flares depending on the vertical field of view (vfov)
if flare.fovscalemap is defined, it overrides plugin.fovscalemap.
if the first two values are omitted, vfovmin and vfovmax are used.
vfov=vfovmin scale=1.02, vfov=vfovmax scale=1; smaller fvov (zoom in) = larger scale
also see attribute mapping.
fovposmap shifts the flares position depending on the vertical field of view (vfov)
if flare.fovposmap is defined, it overrides plugin.fovposmap.
if the first two values are omitted, vfovmin and vfovmax are used.
vfov=vfovmin pos=1.06, vfov=vfovmax pos=1; smaller vfov (zoom in) = stretch position
also see attribute mapping.
mode3d enables/disables a 3d effect in real webvr.
the effect is only visible on webvr devices (gear vr, vive, oculus rift and go, etc)
mode3d=0 disables the effect
mode3d=1 enables the effect for true webvr (default)
mode3d=2 enables the 3d effect all modes note: this is an internal setting and should not be changed.
with rafloop=true (default) zFlare uses a request animation loop,
which allows to tween the plugin alpha or flare alpha, ath and atv attributes.
with rafloop=false the onviewchanged event is used and tweens are not supported note: this is an internal setting and should not be changed.
imageready defines when the flares are shown and is either
onxmlcomplete, onloadcomplete or onblendcomplete note: onxmlcomplete (default) is a safe setting but if your project
loads panos with blending onblendcomplete would be the best choice.
nl is related to the angle between the lensflare beam and the view direction.
nl is 0 when looking at the flare origin, at ca 2.5 the flare origin gets out of view
and the flare will become invisible.
this factor is used for attribute mapping and clamping.
fa is the direction of the lensflare beam.
it is 1 when the beam points upwards, -1 when the beam points downwards,
0 when the beam points exactly to the left or right.
abs(fa) is 0 for a horizontal beam and 1 for a vertical beam.
fb is the (signed) angle between the up vector and the lensflare beam.
it is 0 when the beam points upwards, 90 when the beam points to the right,
180 when the beam points downwards and -90 when the beam points to the left.
Note: these are factors used in the flare calculation.
they are exposed (read only) for debugging and flare creation.
If no flare is rendered, they are set to null.
name of the flare note: if a scene holds multiple flares, unique name must be used!
flares without keep="true" get unload on scene change.
if a flare is defined globally, outside of all scenes keep is normally true.
in this case it would stay active for the complete tour, independent of scene changes.
if a flare is defined in a scene, keep is false for most cases.
in this case the flare would be active for this scene only.
ath / atv / depth are spherical coordinates to define the flares position
tx / ty / tz are 3D coordinates to define the flares position
torigin is the translation origin - to what point the tx/ty/tz translation is relative to.
it is either world, image or view (documentation)
note: the 3D coordinates are added to the spherical coordinates!
so when you position flares in 3D using tx/ty/tz, best set depth=0.
note: for regular tours with matching view and world origin it doesn't matter,
but for tours with 3D movement, distant lights (eg. sun) should have torigin=view.
edgewidth defines the border width where the flare begins to fade out
(with 0.1 the fading happens within a border zone of 10% of the stage width/height) note: the flare attribute overrides the plugin attribute!
offsetfade defines the view offset distance at which the flare fades out
(this is visible when view.ox / oy / oz is used for a dollhouse effect) note: the flare attribute overrides the plugin attribute!
distfade defines the distance at which a 3D positioned flare fades out
distfade="5000" fades the flare out at a distance of 0 to 5000
distfade="2500|5000" fades the flare out at a distance of 2500 to 5000 note: the flare attribute overrides the plugin attribute!
fovscalemap scales the flares depending on the vertical field of view (vfov)
if flare.fovscalemap is undefined, plugin.fovscalemap is used.
vfov=50 scale=1.05, vfov=100 scale=1; smaller fvov (zoom in) = larger scale
also see attribute mapping.
fovposmap shifts the flares position depending on the vertical field of view (vfov)
if flare.fovposmap is undefined, plugin.fovposmap is used
vfov=50 pos=1.1, vfov=100 pos=1; smaller vfov (zoom in) = stretch position
also see attribute mapping.
a flarespot is an image hotspot as part of a flare preset
flarespots and flarefilters are read onxmlcomplete, dynamic changes are not supported! ie. you can set or change attributes by xml, but you can't tween them in an action.
flarespots and flarefilters are normally defined globally, outside of all scenes!
like this they are accessible from all scenes.
flarespots and flarefilter do not use memory if there is no active flare using them.
the flarespot name consists of two parts separated by by a | character.
the first part defines the preset the flarespot belongs to
the second part is a name/identifier for the flarespot.
available blendmodes are "add" (default) or "normal" (detailed descripion is available here)
either url or asset can be used to set path to the flarespot image
asset overrides url and uses the root path defined in plugin[zflare].assets
flare image notes:
depending on the blendmode a flarespot image is either
a png with transparency (blendmode normal) or
a jpg with a black background (blendmode add)
best use a resolution close to the target size
and avoid extreme up/down scaling.
pos is the position on the lensbeam note: in most cases a value between 0 and 1
posmap allows to alter (map) the position depending on the viewing angle
posclamp allows to clamp the position range in defined boundaries
see flarespot mapping and clamping.
scale allows to alter the flarespots size note: it is better to avoid extreme up/down scaling and
to use image resolutions close to the target size instead
scalemap allows to alter (map) the scale depending on the viewing angle
scaleclamp allows to clamp the scale range in defined boundaries
see flarespot mapping and clamping.
widthmap allows to alter (map) the width depending on the viewing angle
widthclamp allows to clamp the width range in defined boundaries
see flarespot mapping and clamping.
heightmap allows to alter (map) the height depending on the viewing angle
heightclamp allows to clamp the height range in defined boundaries
see flarespot mapping and clamping.
if alpha90 is unset, it uses the same value as alpha
otherwise alpha90 defines the flares opacity / visibility for a horizontal beam
and alpha defines the flarespot opacity / visibility for a vertical beam
alphamap allows to alter (map) the alpha depending on the viewing angle
alphaclamp allows to clamp the alpha range in defined boundaries
see flarespot mapping and clamping.
xoff / yoff allows to alter the flarespots x/y-offset.
(detailed description here)
xoff/yoffmap allows to alter (map) the xoff/yoff depending on the viewing angle
xoff/yoffclamp allows to clamp the xoff/yoff range in defined boundaries
see flarespot mapping and clamping.
xoffmirr mirrors and multiplies xoff depending on the fb factor.
eg. xoffmirr=1 will negate xoff depending on the lensflare beam.
defines the fading behaviour when the flare origin gets close to the stage border
the default of -1.0 fades the flare out,
a value of -0.5 would not completely fade out the flarespot,
a positive value reverses the behaviour resulting in an invisible flarespot
fading in when the flare origin gets close to the stage border
a value of 0 disables th edge fading behaviour.
flarefilters are zFilter plugin filter effects as part of flare presets ie. a raising exposure when looking into the light source
note: flarefilters need an active zFilter plugin
flarespots and flarefilters are read onxmlcomplete, dynamic changes are not supported! ie. you can set or change attributes by xml, but you can't tween them in an action.
flarespots and flarefilters are normally defined globally, outside of all scenes!
like this they are accessible from all scenes.
flarespots and flarefilter do not use memory if there is no active flare using them.
the flarefilter name consists of two parts separated by a | character.
the first part defines the preset the flarefilter belongs to
the second part is a name/identifier for the zFilter attribute.
if alpha90 is unset, it uses the same value as alpha
otherwise alpha90 defines the flares opacity / visibility for a horizontal beam
and alpha defines the flarefilter opacity / visibility for a vertical beam
alphamap allows to alter (map) the alpha depending on the viewing angle
alphaclamp allows to clamp the alpha range in defined boundaries
see flarefilter mapping and clamping. note: zFilter attributes have misc value ranges and alphaclamp defaults to "0|1",
therefore sometimes alphaclamp must be adjusted to the zFilter attribute
reset is the reset / default value for the filter strength note: zFilter attributes have different default values and alpha defaults to 0,
therefore the reset attribute depends on the zFilter attribute
color is the color value needed for some zFilter plugin attributes
blendmode is the zFilter plugin blendmode note: this is a special case where the alpha attribute is not used note: this is not the image mode / hotspot blendmode
Mapping attributes take 4 numerical values in a format like "a|b|c|d"
The posmap, scalemap, widthmap, heightmap, alphamap, xoffmap
and yoffmap attributes allow to alter (map) the attribute values depending
on the viewing angle. ie. a flarespot can scale up or get more visible
when looking directly into the sun.
here a and b are two values of the internal nl factor which is 0 when looking
directly into the flare origin and ca 2.5 when the flare origin gets out of view.
c and d are the multipicators at the points a and b.
Note: If a mapping parameter is omitted, the responding attribute value is used.
eg with alpha="0.83", alphamap="1|2||0.3" is the same as alphamap="1|2|0.83|0.3"
The fovscalemap and fovposmap attributes allow to alter (map) the
flarespot scale and position depending on the vertical field of view (fvov).
in this case a and b are two vfov values,
c and d are the multipicators at the points a and b.
Note: If the first two parameter are omitted, vfovmin and vfovmax are used.
Examples:
scalemap="0|0.3|2|0" results in a scale of 2 when looking directly into the flare origin
and quite fast a value of 0 (invisible) when looking away from the flare.
such a setup allows flares only shown when looking at the flare origin.
alphamap="0.5|1|0|1" results in an alpha of 0 when looking close to the flare origin
and a value of 1 when looking a bit further away from the flare origin.
such a setup allows flares only shown when looking away from the flare origin.
Mathematics Example:
alpha="0.5" alphamap="0.0|2.5|1.0|0.5'"
at nl = 0.0 alpha = 0.5 * 1.0 = 0.5,
at nl = 2.5 alpha = 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25
note: the behaviour is linear, so
at nl = 1.25 alpha = 0.5 * 0.75 = 0.375
note: alpha is multiplied with the mapping values!
note: if alpha isn't specified, its default of 1.0 is used.
Easing:
Starting with zFlare 3 attribute mapping also supports easing by simply
addding the easing type to the mapping attribute, eg. a|b|c|d|e.
The posclamp, scaleclamp, widthclamp, heightclamp and alphaclamp attributes
allow to clamp the attribute values in the given boundaries. clamping can be used
in conjunction with mapping to keep the attribute value in a desired range.
Clamping attributes take 2 numerical values in a format like "min|max"
Examples:
alphaclamp="0|1" clamps alpha to a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 1.
scaleclamp="0.5|1" clamps scale to a minimum of 0.5 and a maximum of 1.
This is a commercial plugin - to use it, it must be purchased.
Before you buy, please check the Compatibility / Requirements / Limitations!
Compatibility / Requirements / Limitations
krpano 1.20 or newer, html5 + webgl only! (Flash is not supported)
support for all features requires krpano 1.20.11 or higher
zFlare is tied to your krpano license (needs a registered version of krpano)
zFilter is a separate plugin
(not included in this purchase)
License
All copyrights to zFlare are exclusively owned by indexofrefraction.
This plugin is offered as a commercial plugin. It is provided "As Is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including any warranty of quality, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the author of the plugin be liable for loss of data, costs of procurement of substitute goods or services or any special, consequential or incidental damages, under any cause of action and regardless of whether or not the plugin author have been advised of the possibility of such damage. This limitation will apply notwithstanding any failure of essential purpose of any limited remedy provided herein. In any event the plugin author will have no liability arising out of this agreement.
Third parties are not allowed not use your licensed plugin to create
new projects, including modified versions of your projects.
You are not allowed to rent, lease, lend or sublicense your plugin.
Offering your licensed plugin to third parties on a hosting
platform is not allowed without a separate hosting license.
In such cases (e.g. integration in content management services)
please contact: support@refraction.ch
Withdrawal period
For any digital content purchased online, you agree upon checkout that the withdrawal period will expire 14 days after you purchase such digital content or when you start downloading the content for the first time, whichever is sooner.
zFlare Example use right-click to enable fullscreen
CLICK TO VIEW EXAMPLE
WebVR / vtourskin Example use right-click to enable fullscreen
CLICK TO VIEW EXAMPLE
3D Example
Click on the floor to move and look around to explore the distant and positioned lights.
also notice the fading on dollhouse enter/ exit. use right-click to enable fullscreen
CLICK TO VIEW EXAMPLE
zFlare with / without zFilter Comparison
To see the extra effect of zFilter, zoom out and look directly into the sun (L-key). use right-click to enable fullscreen
