User Manual

Table Of Contents
Merge Tab
The Merge tab contains most of the controls necessary for customizing most merge operations.
Foreground Sizing Controls
These controls let you adjust the sizing of the image connected to the foreground input, making
it unnecessary to use a separate Transform node to fit the foreground layer to match the
background layer in simple compositions.
Center X and Y: This control determines the position of the foreground image in the
composite. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which centers the foreground image in the exact
center of the background image. The value shown is always the actual position in
normalized coordinates, multiplied by the reference size. See below for a description of
the reference size controls.
Size: Use this control to increase or decrease the size of the foreground image before it
is composited over the background. The range of values for this slider is 0.0 to 5.0, but
any value greater than 0 can be entered manually. A size of 1.0 gives a pixel-for-pixel
composition, where a single pixel in the foreground is the same size as a single pixel in
the background.
Angle: Use this control to rotate the foreground image before it is combined with the
background.
Compositing Mode and Adjustment Controls
The next six parameters control how the background and foreground input images are
combined to create a single output image.
Apply Modes: The Apply Mode setting determines the math used when blending or
combining the foreground and background pixels.
Normal: The default Normal merge mode uses the foreground’s Alpha channel as
a mask to determine which pixels are transparent and which are not. When this is
active, another menu shows possible operations, including Over, In, Held Out, Atop,
and XOr.
Screen: Screen merges the images based on a multiplication of their color values.
The Alpha channel is ignored, and layer order becomes irrelevant. The resulting
color is always lighter. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged, whereas
screening with white will always produce white. This effect creates a similar look to
projecting several film frames onto the same surface. When this is active, another
menu shows possible operations, including Over, In, Held Out, Atop, and XOr.
Dissolve: Dissolve mixes two image sequences together. It uses a calculated
average of the two images to perform the mixture.
Multiply: Multiplies the values of a color channel. This will give the appearance of
darkening the image as the values are scaled from 0 to 1. White has a value of 1,
so the result would be the same. Gray has a value of 0.5, so the result would be a
darker image, or an image half as bright.
Overlay: Overlay multiplies or screens the color values of the foreground image,
depending on the color values of the background image. Patterns or colors overlay
the existing pixels while preserving the highlights and shadows of the color values
of the background image. The background image is not replaced but is mixed with
the foreground image to reflect the original lightness or darkness of the background
image.
Soft Light: Soft Light darkens or lightens the foreground image, depending on the
color values of the background image. The effect is similar to shining a diffused
spotlight on the image.
Chapter – 86 Composite Nodes 1911