What It Does
YY_BitExtender converts 8-bit per channel footage into 32-bit per channel footage in After Effects. Standard conversion approaches treat overexposed areas as clipped white, losing detail. This plugin lets you define how bright pixels should behave when converted to higher bit depth, creating glows and light blooms that respond realistically to blur and other 32bpc effects.
Useful for shots with practical lights, windows, or any bright elements that should bloom naturally when you apply blur, glow, or other post-processing.
Key Features
Threshold control. Determines how bright a pixel must be before it’s treated as “superbright.” Set it high (0.98) to target only blown-out areas, or lower it to expand the effect into midtones. This gives you precise control over which parts of the image gain extended luminance information.
Intensity adjustment. Scales how much brighter the superbright areas become. Leave it at 1.0 for standard behavior, or reduce it for a subtler effect when you don’t want aggressive blooms.
Boost Color mode. When enabled (default), superbright areas become more saturated during conversion. Disable it if you want desaturated, pure-white blooms instead. This affects how light sources render when hit with blur or glow effects.
Colorize parameter. Apply a color tint to the bright areas. Set it to green for sodium vapor lamps, orange for firelight, or any color that matches your light source. Useful for stylizing shots or matching the color temperature of practical lights in your footage.
Who It’s For
Motion designers working with footage containing light sources that need natural bloom. Compositors dealing with HDR-adjacent workflows who want bloom control without full HDR footage. Anyone applying blur, glow, or lens effects to shots with bright elements and finding the results feel flat or clipped.
Works best when paired with 32bpc effects like Fast Blur, motion blur, or third-party glow plugins. The plugin itself doesn’t blur or glow, it prepares your footage so those effects behave realistically around bright areas.
Pricing
Pay-what-you-want pricing (suggested minimum $24.99). Individual users can pay any amount, but businesses and teams must pay the suggested amount for a valid license. One-time payment, no subscription.
Note: This plugin uses Adobe’s older Pixel Bender format (.pbg files) and is not compatible with CS6 or newer versions of After Effects. Only works in CS4, CS5, and CS5.5.