A plug-in for making highlights more natural - controlling the flare of the white light?

Not really sure what you're going for... this sample already looks "flared" — so I amped it up a bit.

Are you going for something like this?

Or this? (Yellows subdued...)

This one utilizes Broadcast Safe. (I think you can actually tell this "scene" is from a green screen - there are faint telltale edges around the actors.)

Here's an example of ARRI Log C with the exact same added effects (no color board, no LUTs). The light flares have been enhanced via effect, particularly the lamp on the bookshelf. The effect is a lot more subtle on the larger reading lamp.

And here it is with the (most of the) yellow cast removed:

(not too bad for log + no LUT if I do have to say so myself.)

The one with the yellow cast is probably more accurate — it's just not what we "like to see" — or what we *think* we see.

BTW - no masks were used for these examples (although sometimes it could be necessary depending on how "blown out" the original media is.)

Am I on the right track?

Yes - I created the effect a few years ago. It is designed to "clean" (all) video. Every digital camera "softens" an image slightly in order to avoid moiré patterning (pixels are "hard edged"). Adding my cleaner gets rid of the "haze":

You should be able to see a diagonal separation from the original (left) to the cleaned video (right). You should be able to tell it is very slightly sharper.

Since it's able to handle a rather extreme range (thus able to handle LOG/RAW footage), it can and will blow out highlights (and crush shadows.)

Here's a wide range of the effects animated:

(animations are not really recommended for these effects — just trying to shortcut the "range").

Used with a Shape Mask to limit the light flare with shadows deepened (feel free to add more than one instance of these effects, especially if there's masking involved.)

Basically, I use these effects on *every* clip I use in projects.

I'll try this link to the video demo on youtube: https://youtu.be/qC1wrH2kgi8

If it gets deleted, you can try searching google for 'sc video cleaner' (it should appear at the top.)

It would be nice if Apple would add me to the Ecosystem — I've asked and been ignored... 300+ products and somehow I don't "fit in".

I originally wanted a sample of what you wanted to have the light bloom in — you posted the TC shot - so I "doubled down" on it.

The ARRI Log C example is just to show that the effects in question work on LOG without the need for "color correction" or LUTs.

I added the flare with very simple adjustments to the added effects.

The effects are not free, therefore I cannot provide a link to them here because I created them. Nobody else really knows anything about them, so they won't chime in either.

So... never mind. Sorry for wasting your time.

Try a Look?

Here's a thought: if Bloom does what you want for the whites, you can use Bloom and add a Color Mask to it. How does that work? Does it get you any decent results?

Could you post a frame/screenshot of what you're trying to accomplish?