Adobe Premiere Pro CC makes it very easy for beginners to add lens glare effects, as they have some specific effects already created to help achieve it. Using these effects as a base, you can alter them in the Effect Controls panel and make them look like you want. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use the lens glare effects and how to edit them to your desire. 

How to Add a Sun Glare Effect

You’ll first need to place the clip you want to have a sun glare effect on the timeline in the spot you want. Then, you can follow the steps below to add your sun glare.  Once applied, you’ll see that it’s just a static optical flare image, and you’ll want to make a few changes, so it looks natural. 

Editing the Sun Glare Effect

Select the clip you applied the Lens Flare effect to, and look in the Effect Controls panel. Under Lens Flare, there will be quite a few options for you to tweak so that it fits your video. You can preview the changes in the video playback panel.  Knowing these options will come in handy as we will animate the lens flare. You rarely see a static lens flare in a video since it comes about through the actual movement of the lens and an external light source. Read on to learn how to animate the lens flare effect in a way that looks natural. 

Animating the Lens Flare Effect

If you’re not familiar with using keyframes in Adobe Premiere Pro, read our article on keyframes first, so you have a good handle on the basics. Then, follow these steps to animate your lens flare light effect.  Animating the lens flare is a time-consuming task. You’ll need to keep a lot of the environmental factors of the shot in mind to create the most natural sun flare.  Tip: When any object passes over your light source, turn down the Flare Brightness when it does so and turn it back up once it’s passed. 

Creating a Sun Glare Effect in Adobe Premiere Pro

Sun glare can be a great addition to a video or intro. It can be a big help, for example, if you want to create the illusion of sun or sunlight. It adds depth to the environment and increases the visual allure.  You can also create a lens glare effect in Adobe After Effects or download overlay templates or preset packs to use in Premiere. However, if you need a quicker option that gets the job done, using Adobe Premiere Pro’s lens flare effect can create one that’s just as good.  Have you run into any trouble creating a lens glare effect in Premiere? Let us know in the comments.