Boris FX ships Optics 2024
Boris FX has released Optics 2024, the latest version of its software for applying cinematic effects to still images.
The update adds eight new filters from Sapphire and Continuum, Boris FX’s collections of effects plugins for compositing and editing software, plus the option to mask particles.
Making VFX-style effects available to Photoshop and Lightroom users
First released in 2020, Optics is pitched as providing “visual effects for photographers”.
The product is a renamed version of Digital Film Tools’ DFT, which Boris FX acquired in 2019, expanded with filters from Sapphire. Boris FX discontinued DFT itself in 2021.
It is available as a standalone application, and a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom.
Optics 2024: particle masking, plus filters from Sapphire and Continuum
Optics is the first update to the software in almost a year, Boris FX having skipped from Optics 2022.5 to Optics 2024 in the version numbering: there was no Optics 2023.
The update builds on one of the new features from the 2022 releases, the integration of Boris FX’s particle generation tool Particle Illusion, with Optics 2024 adding the option to control the visibility of animated particles using Optics masks.
Boris FX has also ported over filters from its other products, with Optics now getting the new S_PrismLens and S_UltraGrain filters from Sapphire, along with sharpening filter Magic Sharp and five stylistic filters from Continuum.
There are also over 100 new presets for Optics’ existing filters.
Price and system requirements
Optics 2024 is available as a plugin for Photoshop CC+, Photoshop Elements 2018+ and Lightroom Classic, and as a standalone application for Windows 10 and macOS 10.14+.
A new perpetual licence costs $149; rental costs $9/month or $99/year. A single licence provides access to both the plugins and the standalone editions.
Read an overview of the new features in Optics 2024 on Boris FX’s blog
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