Overview
Deep Glow exists because the glow effect built into the compositor has always looked wrong. It applies a fixed radius blur to bright pixels and stops there, so the result reads as a grey haze rather than light spilling past an edge. Deep Glow computes the spread across a wider falloff curve in linear space, which is why a title or a lens element treated with it sits in the frame instead of floating over it.
It is a single effect with a small control set, which is the point. Radius, exposure, threshold and a falloff curve cover the shape of the spread. A chromatic aberration section tints the outer ring, so the glow picks up a little colour separation at the edges the way glass does. A composite mode selector decides whether the glow adds over the source, replaces it, or renders on its own for stacking later.
The preset list is what most people load first. Neon, streetlight, screen glow, magic and lens flare style presets all start from a sensible falloff and can be dialled back. Because the effect is resolution independent, a preset built on an HD comp holds its look when the same project is rendered at 4K, which is not true of the built in glow.
It renders on the GPU where one is available and falls back cleanly on machines without. On a heavy comp the multi-frame render path keeps up, and the effect can be applied to an adjustment layer so a whole stack is treated in one pass rather than layer by layer.
What it does well
Physically weighted falloff
Light spread is computed across a curve in linear space, so bright areas bleed with a soft outer tail instead of a hard blurred disc.
Resolution independence
A look built at HD holds when the comp is rendered at 4K or higher, which makes presets portable between projects.
Chromatic aberration
Optional colour separation on the outer ring with independent red, green and blue offsets for a glass-like edge.
Composite modes
Add, screen, replace or glow-only output, so the pass can be graded on its own layer before it is mixed back in.
Preset library
A starting set covering neon, signage, screen light, lens bloom and stylised magic looks, all editable.
Changes in this build
- GPU path rewritten so multi-frame rendering no longer serialises on this effect.
- New falloff curve editor with draggable handles instead of numeric fields alone.
- Chromatic aberration gained per-channel offset control.
- Fixed a colour shift when the effect was applied inside a 32-bit linear project.
- Preset library expanded with a signage and practical light set.
What is in the package
- Deep Glow effect plug-in, 64-bit
- Preset library with editable falloff curves
- Installer for the current compositor cycle
- Sample project showing the composite modes
- Usage notes covering linear workflow setup
System requirements
| Processor | Any 64-bit multicore processor |
| Memory | 16 GB, matching the host compositor |
| Graphics | GPU with 4 GB VRAM for the accelerated path, optional |
| Storage | 200 MB free |
| Display | 1920 x 1080 minimum |
| System | Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit, with the host compositor installed |
Installation
- Close the compositor completely, including any background render engine.
- Extract the archive to a local folder.
- Run the installer and point it at the compositor version you want it registered against.
- Apply the included licence step before launching the host.
- Open the host, apply the effect to a solid, and confirm the preset list loads.
Before you start
Install it once per compositor version, a build registered against last year's cycle will not appear in this one.
Work in a 32-bit linear project for the falloff to behave as intended.
Applying it to an adjustment layer treats the whole stack below in a single pass and renders faster than per-layer copies.
Questions about this title
Does it work as a standalone?
No, it is a plug-in and needs the host compositor installed.
Which versions does it register against?
The installer lists every compatible cycle it finds on the machine.
Is a GPU required?
No, but the accelerated path is considerably faster on heavy comps.
Do presets survive a resolution change?
Yes, the effect is resolution independent by design.
About this listing
This entry was checked on a clean install of Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) before it was published, and it is rechecked whenever the package is rebuilt. The figures on this page come from the site index rather than from the publisher, so the download count is what people here have actually pulled.
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