Blend Modes

Effects in a composition lie on top of each other in layers. A blend mode is the rule by which the next effect combines with the picture already assembled from the effects below it: simply overlay it, add up brightness, multiply colors, or cut it out using a stencil. Together with opacity, this is the main tool for building complex animation out of several simple effects.

Not only an effect but also a layout has its own blend mode: it defines how the finished picture of the layout lies on top of the layouts below it. The mode is saved in the project and works the same way everywhere — in the preview on the Mapping field, in the 3D View, in the Art-Net signal, and in the exported cue file.

Where to Set the Mode

For an effect, the mode is chosen from a dropdown list, in one of two places:

• in the Timeline window — on the left side, in the effect's row: the list sits between the effect's name and the opacity field;
• in the Properties window — select the effect (click its row in the left part of the Timeline or its bar on the time scale); the list is at the very top, to the right of the effect's name. Right-clicking this list immediately returns the mode to Normal.

For a layout, the mode is set only in Properties: click the layout's row in the Timeline — its parameters open in Properties, and the first one is the Blend Mode.

The list is the same for all effects that draw an image. The Set Channels effect has no list at all: it doesn't draw a picture, it sets fixture channels directly. For the other effects that control fixtures (movement, position, channels), the list is shown but has no effect on anything. Audio tracks have no blend mode either.

The selected mode is saved in the project and carries over with the copy of the effect when duplicated.

Layer Order

Blending happens from bottom to top and in two passes: first the effects within each layout are combined, then the pictures of the layouts themselves.

Effects Within a Layout

• The program stacks all of the layout's effects that are currently playing, in the same order they are listed under the layout's name in the left part of the Timeline: the bottom row is the bottommost layer, the top row is the topmost.
• Each layer is blended not with a single neighbor, but with the entire picture assembled from the layers below it — but only from layers of its own layout. Effects of neighboring layouts do not take part at this step.
• The stack starts with an empty transparent frame. The bottommost effect has nothing to blend with: lightening modes and Difference behave there like Normal, while darkening, contrast, and masking modes show nothing — the fixtures stay dark. The bottom layer is almost always left as Normal.

The order is changed by dragging the effect's row in the left part of the timeline up or down, see Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами. Only the order among effects playing at the same time matters: if the effect bars don't overlap in time, there is nothing to blend.

Layouts in a Composition

• The assembled layout pictures are combined by the same rule: a layout positioned higher in the Timeline lies on top of those below it — according to its own blend mode.
• A layout only affects its own rectangular area on the Mapping field. Outside that area, the picture of the lower layouts stays untouched, and if the layouts' areas don't overlap, they work on different fixtures and don't blend at all.
• Beneath all layouts lies the composition's black background, so the bottommost layout behaves like the bottommost effect: lightening modes work like Normal, the rest extinguish the picture.

Hence a simple rule: the mode set on an effect only works within its own layout. If you need the content of one layout to lighten the content of another, or to act as a mask for it, set the mode on the layout itself, not on the effect.

Opacity

The second parameter that controls compositing is Opacity, a value from 0 to 255, 255 by default. It works together with the blend mode and defines how strongly the top layer affects the picture: at 255 the mode acts at full strength, at 0 the effect is not visible at all, intermediate values blend the result with what was underneath it.

Opacity is set in two places:

• in the Properties window — a slider with a value, right below the effect's name; right-clicking the slider returns it to the default value;
• in the Timeline window — a numeric field at the right end of the effect's row.

Next to this field in the effect's row are three keyframe buttons: jump to the previous key, set or remove a key at the playhead position, jump to the next one. The first click of the middle button turns on keyframe mode for opacity, and from then on it is shown as a separate row under the effect with its own keys on the time scale. This is how appearances, fades, and smooth transitions between effects are made (see Keyframes and Effect Parameters).

Don't confuse the effect's opacity with the Opacity Master — a shared slider in the right part of the Timelines playback panel (it is shown and hidden by right-clicking the playback buttons, the Show Opacity Master item). The master dims the entire already-assembled picture and doesn't affect layer blending.

List of Modes

The mode names below are given as they appear in the interface.

Normal

Mode	What It Does
Normal	The top effect simply overlays what's below it, wherever it is opaque. Default mode

Lightening

The picture becomes lighter, fixtures glow brighter. This is the group most familiar in lighting: light adds up instead of blocking.

Mode	What It Does
Linear Dodge	Simple addition of brightness — like two spotlights shining on the same point. The most predictable way to show two effects at once; quickly clips to white in bright areas
Screen	Soft addition: the black areas of the top effect change nothing, the bright areas lighten the picture. Unlike simple addition, it doesn't produce harsh blowouts
Lighten	At each point, the lighter of the two layers is taken. The top effect is only visible where it is brighter than the layer below
Color Dodge	Sharply brightens the layer below wherever the top layer is light. Produces harsh flares and blowouts

Darkening

The picture becomes darker — these modes are used to dim and tint what lies below.

Mode	What It Does
Multiply	Colors are multiplied: white in the top effect changes nothing, black extinguishes, colored tints. Handy for toning or dimming the animation below. Where there's nothing underneath, nothing appears
Linear Burn	Darkens more than Multiply: the brightness of the layers is added together, and the white level is subtracted from the sum, so dark areas quickly drop to zero
Color Burn	Darkens the layer below and also increases its contrast — midtones disappear, shadows get deeper

Contrast

These modes lighten and darken at the same time, depending on the brightness of the layers. Good for "livening up" a flat fill or for punchy graphics.

Mode	What It Does
Overlay	Multiplies the dark areas of the layer below and lightens the bright ones: contrast and saturation increase while overall brightness is preserved
Vivid Light	The same, but harsher: bright areas of the top effect strongly lighten the picture, dark areas strongly darken it
Linear Light	An even harsher version of the same: brightness is added and subtracted linearly, almost no midtones remain
Hard Mix	Reduces colors to the extreme values of the channels: the result is a few pure colors with no gradients, a "poster" look
Difference	The difference between colors is taken: identical colors give black, opposite colors give bright. Produces unexpected inversions where effects overlap

Masks

In these modes the effect itself isn't drawn, but serves as a stencil for what lies below it in its layout. The same mode set on a layout turns the whole layout into a stencil — then it masks the layouts below it, within its own area.

Mode	What It Does
Alpha Mask	The layers below are visible only where this effect has an image; elsewhere the fixtures go dark
Alpha Mask Inv	The opposite: where the effect has an image, the layers below go dark, and they stay visible around it
Luma Mask	The effect's brightness serves as the stencil: where it's light, the layers below are fully visible; where it's dark, they go dark. The transition is smooth, through midtones
Luma Mask Inv	The opposite: the layers below are visible where the mask effect is dark

A masking effect is convenient to make from simple effects with a clear shape — text, a rectangle, an ellipse, a gradient, an image with a transparent background.

Common Techniques

Show two effects at once. Set the top one to Linear Dodge or Screen — instead of covering the one below, it will add to it. If the picture becomes overexposed, lower the top effect's opacity.

Tint or dim an animation. Place a solid fill or gradient effect on top of it and set it to Multiply: the animation below will be tinted this color, and its dark areas will stay dark.

Constrain an animation to a shape. In the same layout, place an effect with the desired shape on top of it — text, a figure, an image — and set it to Alpha Mask: the effects below will only glow inside that shape. To cut the shape out of the animation instead, use Alpha Mask Inv.

A smooth transition between effects. Lay out the effect bars with an overlap in time, leave the top one as Normal, and in the overlap zone animate its opacity from 0 to 255 with keyframes. See Arranging Effects in Time.

A revealing wave. Place an effect with a smooth gradient or noise on top of a finished animation and set it to Luma Mask: the picture below will appear and fade following the movement of the gradient.

Highlight a part of an object. Build the fill in a separate layout, set that layout's mode to Linear Dodge and move it above the main one in the Timeline — it will brighten the overall animation only on its own fixtures.

If the Result Isn't What You Expected

• Nothing changed. The effect is most likely already the bottommost one in its layout — there's nothing for it to blend with. Check that something is actually playing below it at that point in time: the effect bars need to overlap in time.
• The screen went black. A darkening, contrast, or masking mode is set on the bottommost effect, or there's nothing underneath it. Set it back to Normal and put the blend mode on the effect that's above it instead.
• The top effect covers everything. Many effects fill their entire layout opaquely — with Normal mode, nothing shows through such a layer. Switch the mode to a lightening one or lower the opacity.
• Effects from different layouts don't blend. That's by design: an effect's mode only works within its own layout. Set the mode you need on the layout itself and check that the layouts' areas overlap on the Mapping field — see Создание и изменение лейаутов.
• The effect isn't visible at all. The checkbox next to its name is unchecked, its opacity is set to zero, or the effect's bar doesn't fall under the playhead.

See Also

• Arranging Effects in Time
• Перемещение эффектов между лейаутами
• Keyframes and Effect Parameters
• Effect Settings
• Создание и изменение лейаутов
• Compositions
• Терминология