Eddie AI
Contact salesSign inSign up
Features
Solutions
Resources
PricingGet the appContact salesSign in
EddieDaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve · Framing, motion and effects

How to use blend modes in DaVinci Resolve

Updated 4 stepsFor DaVinci Resolve

The short answer

Put the overlay clip on the track above, select it, and in the Inspector open Composite and choose a Composite Mode such as Screen, Multiply or Overlay. Lower Opacity to soften the effect.

Jump to the steps Do it in Eddie
A dense editing timeline with many layered clips in blue and purple.
Photo by Skye Studios on Unsplash

4 steps

In DaVinci Resolve

  1. 01Stack the clips
  2. 02Open Composite
  3. 03Pick a mode
  4. 04Adjust the strength

  1. 01

    Stack the clips

    On the Edit page, put the overlay, such as a light leak or texture, on the track above the main video.

  2. 02

    Open Composite

    Select the overlay and open the Inspector. Composite is under the Video tab.

  3. 03

    Pick a mode

    Set Composite Mode. Screen and Add drop dark areas, so they suit light leaks and flares; Multiply drops light areas; Overlay adds contrast.

  4. 04

    Adjust the strength

    Lower Opacity until the overlay sits naturally on the picture.

Good to know

Before you start

Note 1
Composite Mode applies to the whole clip. For finer control, combine clips on the Fusion page with a Merge node, which has its own Apply Mode.

Eddie AI

Do it in Eddie

Eddie can set blend modes on captions and graphics, but they arrive in Resolve at Normal.

Ask, for example, "Make the captions invert against the video." Eddie offers Screen, Multiply, Overlay, Exclusion and Difference, and they show in Eddie's player and MP4 renders. In a Resolve export, captions and graphics come in at Normal, so set Composite Mode again in the Inspector.

Back to Resolve

Open the edit, click Export and choose Resolve. The default is a Resolve project (.drp) that opens with the timeline built; behind the arrow is a Resolve FCPXML you bring into the project you have open with File > Import > Timeline. In the desktop app, Send to DaVinci Resolve builds the timeline in the Resolve you have running, through Eddie's script (Workspace > Scripts > Eddie AI AE).

If you imported the footage through the desktop app, the timeline points at your original camera files. If you uploaded on the web or pulled from cloud storage, it points at Eddie's proxy media: relink to those in the Media Pool with Relink Selected Clips, not to the camera originals.

Try it in Eddie freeNew accounts start with 500 free credits.
Three vertical 9:16 clips cut from one video, with captions on.

From the help center

FAQ

Questions

Where is blend mode in DaVinci Resolve?
Resolve calls it Composite Mode. Select the clip and find it under Composite in the Inspector.
Which blend mode removes a black background?
Screen or Add. Both drop the black and keep the bright parts of the overlay.

Framing, motion and effects

More DaVinci Resolve questions

Let Eddie do the DaVinci Resolve busywork

Add your footage, say what you want, and send the cut back to your editor. New accounts start with free credits.

Try Eddie freeSee pricing