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Composite mode and Opacity interaction
I’ve come across an interesting discrepancy in image processing between FCP and Resolve. Some projects that I grade use a lot of overlapping clips interacting with each other through dissolves, opacity changes and composite modes.
When conforming these kinds of projects I noticed that I wasn’t getting the same looks from the layer stacks in Resolve as in FCP. Looking into it further I’ve come to some interesting conclusions.(1) When clips interact with one another using opacity settings or dissolves, what you get in Resolve is exactly what you had in FCP.
(2) When clips interact with one another using a composite mode, what you get in Resolve is exactly what you had in FCP.
(3) When clips interact with one another using both opacity settings and a composite mode, what you get in Resolve is different than what you had in FCP
My conclusion is that the order of operations is different in FCP than in Resolve and this difference leads to a different final image. I’ve done some experiments and I can’t quite figure out how the two programs process the two operations but I think FCP processes opacity first and then applies the composite mode, whereas Resolve processes the composite mode first then applies the opacity.
Try the following test for yourselves:
In FCP, take a clip and cut it into a sequence, apply the “overlay” composite mode. The image will turn black, however if you play with the clip’s opacity you’ll see the image reappear as opacity reaches 50%. Now send this sequence to Resolve and observe the result. The image will be black no matter what opacity setting you had on the clip.I’d like to know from BMD what the process chain is relating to opacity versus composite mode processing. Like I said, I believe the composite mode is applied first then the opacity setting. If that’s the case do your grades get applied after the composite mode too, because I usually want to grade pre-composite mode. This is an important issue for me to understand.
I’d like to know from other users whether this has ever come up for you and if there’s a workaround.
Thanks,
roman hankewycz
harbor film company // colorist -
1 Reply
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Roman-
Did you ever find a solution to this problem or do we need to wait for Resolve 10?
Thanks,
Eugene
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