#images
Ray,
I'm not 100% sure what type of starburst you are after, but I have created
effects similar to what you've described with the aid of two IXP's in the IPAS
Disk #1 package. The two I used was HILIGHT and FLARE. The HILIGHT can be set
so that the "starpoints" turn a number of degrees with each frame, and the
FLARE will follow the size of the object, ie, make a very small sphere, have it
scale up and down over 30 frames or so, run FLARE on it, (you'll need to
experiment with the settings) and use two or three instances of HILIGHT. (I
think HILIGHT will need to be first in the video post que). You can get
astounding effects layering the HILIGHT with different settings.. I just got
the IPAS package a couple of weeks ago and have been having a ball with it. It
took me a couple of hours to figure out some constant settings but its not
difficult, just time consuming because you have to render the image to see the
result. The package also contains GLOW and BLUR which can all be layered on the
same image. I only mention this because I myself was after a similar image, and
came very close but no cigar, (or cupid doll) but then I splurged on the IPAS
and wha-lah!
oh, as far as the sparkeles at the end of the rays, get your star the way you
want it with FLARE/HILIGHT, and render a TGA. Run the TGA in the background in
the editor and create teenie weenie spheres at the endpoints where the rays
would end. Then run it all back thru video post, using more instances of
HILIGHT and or FLARE on the teenie weenie spheres for the sparkles. There would
be a bit more to it than that but this should give you an idea if buying the
IPAS would warrant the effect you're after.
Merlin G.
Farmer