Sun in the frame: a realistic lens flare in 3D panoramas

A good panorama catches light the way the eye does. Today VPano gains an effect that adds what 3D scenes have been missing for a full sense of presence: a living sun flare. Mark where the sun is in the frame, and viewers will feel it just as they would standing on that spot with a camera in hand.

Watch the video on Rutube (Russian narration)

What you get

When the viewer looks toward the sun, a characteristic set of optical effects appears in the frame: a bright disc, a soft halo around it, a horizontal light streak and a row of colored hexagonal ghosts running diagonally through the center of the image. Turn away and the effect fades out smoothly. Everything behaves the way a real lens does.

Another important detail: indoors, the sun disappears behind walls. If the viewer turns and the sun ends up on the other side of a partition, the flare correctly vanishes. The effect "knows" the geometry of your tour and never shines through walls.

Where to set it up

Everything happens in the 3D studio and takes less than a minute:

• Open the project and go to the Panoramas tab
• Expand the Lighting section and find the Sun / flare block
• Click Set sun position and click on the sun right in the panorama preview
• Adjust the Intensity slider, from subtle light to a bold cinematic look

The effect is switched on and off with a single toggle per project. No re-tiling, no waiting: changes are visible instantly.

What it's good for

For photographers, it conveys the mood of the shoot exactly as it was: a warm sunset over a terrace, morning light in a window, midday sun over a courtyard. For architects and designers, it shows how natural light works in a space. For real estate agents and hoteliers, it makes a property look less like a technical screenshot and more like a scene you want to step into.

No compromise on performance

We built the effect ourselves as a compact component that adds less than a millisecond per frame, even on smartphones. It runs just as smoothly in multi-room 3D tours as in single 360° projects, and adds no noticeable weight for your viewers.

Try it today

The feature is already available in all projects. Open the 3D studio, mark the sun on one of your panoramas and see how the scene changes. If you don't have an account yet, create one and try it with your own shots.