by Blender Lens Flare·VFX
Images © Blender Lens Flare. Used for product review; image policy.
Flared2 earns its place for handling lens flares directly in the viewport across Eevee and Cycles, skipping the compositor entirely. It builds on six years of the earlier Flared, which reached nearly 3,000 users, and is rebuilt from scratch with geometry nodes.
Flared2 generates cinematic lens flares inside Blender, rendering directly in the viewport for both Eevee and Cycles. Because it works without a compositor, off-camera lights can influence the effect, making it responsive to scene lighting. Real-time visualization gives instant feedback in the viewport, and you can add as many flares as a scene needs through a streamlined interface.
The addon ships with over 60 default presets and exposes roughly a hundred parameters for customization. It includes 2D mode with fixed size and 3D mode where size varies based on distance, plus generators for point lights, sun beams, glow, streaks, ghosts, starbursts, halos and lens dirt. Real-time obstacle detection, a parametric anamorphic mode and advanced blinking control are also built in.
Built entirely with geometry nodes, Flared2 is fully procedural and requires no baking. Flares can render on a separate layer or be exported as separate files for compositing in other programs, and they continue to work even without the addon. You can also create and share your own presets.
Flared2 - Cinematic Lens Flares In Real-Time is best for blender artists adding cinematic lens flares in the viewport across Eevee and Cycles without a compositor.
Flared2 - Cinematic Lens Flares In Real-Time is completely free to download and use.
Flared2 operates directly in the viewport in both Eevee and Cycles. It doesn't need a compositor, which means off-camera lights can influence the effect and make it responsive to scene lighting. Real-time visualization shows the lens flare in the viewport as you work, so adjustments update immediately. This applies to both render engines, letting you place and tune flares without switching to a separate compositing step.
Flared2 requires no baking for any of its functions. Built entirely with geometry nodes, it is fully procedural, so flares update directly as you change parameters. The flares also continue to work even without the addon, and they can be rendered on a separate layer or exported as separate files for compositing in another program. Parameter copying between flare groups is simplified as well, making it easier to reuse settings.
Flared2 is listed as free in this catalog. The developer offers it under several license types — Lite, Solo, Team and Studio — which differ in included features and the number of users, with the Lite version being a reduced edition. Owners of previous versions can upgrade to Flared2 by paying the price difference. For current licensing details and what each tier includes, check the developer's page.
Flared2 includes over 60 default presets across its license types, created with input from designers and art directors. Beyond the defaults, you can create and share your own presets from scratch without coding. Customization runs through roughly a hundred parameters, and simplified parameter copying lets you move settings between flare groups. That gives you both ready-made starting points and detailed manual control over each flare.
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