RGBurst - RGB Channel Split & Chromatic Aberration OFX Plugin for Vegas Pro & DaVinci Resolve

One Knob for CA. One Preset for Glitch. Neither Is Enough.

RGBurst does two distinct things: it simulates optical chromatic aberration, and it separates RGB channels for creative glitch and prism effects. Most plugins that claim to do either of these give you inadequate control over both.

On the CA side: most tools in video software offer a single offset slider. Some split it into horizontal and vertical. A few let you pick a direction angle. That's typically where it ends. The result is an effect that either looks correct at one specific intensity or doesn't look correct at all. Real lens aberration behaves differently in the center of the frame than at the edges, varies per channel, and often involves channel-specific softness - the blue channel really does resolve slightly softer on older glass. When you put a face in the center of the frame, you generally don't want the effect crossing it.

On the RGB split side: most glitch tools give you a single offset direction, or at best a horizontal and vertical pair that applies equally to all three channels. That produces an effect that reads as "filter" rather than something considered. Genuine RGB channel work - the kind that appears in music videos, title sequences, or intentional retro aesthetics - requires independent control per channel so the displacement looks specific rather than generic.

RGBurst has per-channel X and Y controls for all three colors, independent Gaussian blur per channel, an opacity slider per channel, a Center Protection mask, and both linear and radial displacement modes. There's also a Quick CA radial control (Pixel Offset) that spreads two selected channels outward from the center without touching the fine channel settings. It's a more complete tool than anything else at this price point.

One Plugin, a Lot of Different Workflows

The plugin works at different scales of subtlety, which means it genuinely serves different kinds of editors.

• Wedding and event videographers. The Lens preset at Amount 0.25–0.35 with Center Protection active adds warmth and optical character to clean digital footage. It's the kind of thing that reads as "filmed on nice glass" rather than "effect added in post." Clients notice the look without being able to name it.
• YouTubers and content creators. Retro-VHS and Glitch-Light are one-click presets. Drop the plugin on a clip, pick a preset, and you're done. Both work identically from 480p to 8K - normalized offsets scale automatically with resolution.
• Music video editors. Dreamscape and Prism-Soft use blur and radial spread to create color diffusion that cuts differently from typical camera-style CA. Prism-Soft in radial mode with a high Amount value produces the kind of full-frame color separation that's difficult to achieve with other tools.
• Indie filmmakers and narrative editors. CineScope and Anamorphic give you horizontal channel spread that reads as wide-format optics. Pair with Center Protection and keep Amount under 0.50 for something that strengthens the image without announcing itself.
• Colorists in DaVinci Resolve Studio. RGBurst loads as an OFX node on the Color page. Full 32-bit float processing means it's safe to use in ACES and HDR pipelines - values above 1.0 come through untouched. All parameters are keyframeable via Resolve's native keyframe system.
• Vegas Pro editors. Apply in the FX chain, before or after a LUT node. All parameters keyframeable via Vegas's envelope system.

What This Has That Others Don’t

Most CA plugins in the OFX world are one-dimensional: a horizontal offset that pushes red one way and blue the other. A few add a vertical component. That covers the basics, but it doesn't cover the full range of what chromatic aberration can actually look like.

The combination that makes RGBurst different is Center Protection plus per-channel blur plus radial mode. Center Protection is what separates "looks like glass" from "looks like a filter." Per-channel blur lets you simulate the real optical difference in how different wavelengths resolve. Radial mode produces the physically correct pattern of aberration that increases toward the frame edges and disappears at the optical center.

Add 32-bit float support and you have a CA plugin that's safe to use in professional HDR and ACES pipelines - something most alternatives either don't offer or have never tested. DaVinci Resolve Studio colorists working in ACES scene-linear can apply RGBurst without worrying about highlight clipping in the CA calculation.

It's also the only tool with these controls at this price. Most comparable feature sets are bundled into multi-hundred-dollar plugin suites. RGBurst is a dedicated, affordable, single-purpose plugin.