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Filed under: Editing •Motion Graphics •

Composite Modes in Final Cut Pro

Overlay

This mode is as close as they come to an “instant cool” effect, making something interesting out of almost any two clips. Technically, parts of the image darker than 50% luminance are multiplied together (see the previous page), and the parts brighter than 50% are screened together. In plain English:

• the lighter areas of the accent clip on top will lighten the corresponding areas of the normal clip underneath, going to white
• darker areas in the accent clip will darken the corresponding areas in the normal clip, going to black
• areas that are 50% gray in the accent have no effect on the normal clip

The result is increased contrast and saturation, with the shadows and highlights still present though altered. Given the increase in saturation Overlay usually brings, you might need to back off the opacity of the accent clip. On the other hand, depending on your sources, you could also increase the intensity of the effect by duplicating the accent clip onto a third video track on top.

Once you get past the inevitable “ohh/ahh” reaction, start looking for clips that have good contrast between light colorful areas and shadows as accent candidates: Those dark areas will end up dark in the result, and the lighter areas will end up with an interesting color mix of both layers.

Hard Light

Hard Light follows the same general math rules as Overlay, but only much more so, with increased contrast and usually more saturation. Although an image can get both brighter and darker depending on the mix, in a similar fashion as Overlay the result will be more contrasty and saturated. Note that the accent clip tends to appear more prominent in the final mix than the normal clip underneath. If this is not your intention, try Overlay or Soft Light instead.

Soft Light

Soft Light often looks like a subdued version of Overlay, with less saturation shift. Areas lighter than 50% gray in the accent clip appear to lighten the underlying clip; areas darker than 50% gray appear to darken the normal clip underneath - although in neither case does black or white in the accent clip force the final mix to go completely black or white. Areas that are 50% gray in the accent clip have no effect on how the lower layer shows through.

If you are going for a dramatic effect, you will probably be disappointed with Soft Light and feel that it just looks washed out. However, if you are looking for a more subtle lighting effect without the strong contrast or tendency to go to black or white that several of the other Composite Modes have, Soft Light shines.

next page: the psychedelic modes

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