How to Maintain Blend Modes?

[Mark Walczak]

Hello everyone,

First, I apologize for making this forum post before doing extensive searching on my own, but I am not quite sure how to phrase this question or define search parameters, so I’m just going to throw it out there.

The issue is this: Say I needed to render separate compositing elements, and then pass them along to another artist for final comping on their system. Assuming that this other artist had very limited access to blending modes, how would I maintain the integrity of them in the final render.

Taking this example a step further, let’s assume that I have a glow and a lens flare that need to be comped onto some footage. As the creator of this “look,” let’s say that I am simply working with dailies, and the second artist will be working with the color-corrected footage. Furthermore, let’s assume that I am only allowed to give this other artist one clip that has all of my graphics. In my animation tests, I am using an “overlay” blend mode on the glow and an “add” blend mode on the lens flare.

Using the example above, what would be the best way to render one pass with both of these elements, and have them maintain their color/luminance when the second artist comps my elements on top of the final footage.

I realize that this description is long and may be confusing, so I will be more than willing to clarify if needed.

Thank you so much in advance for the time that you will offer in helping me find a solution. As it stands, I think that there is no simple solution to this problem, but I am more than willing to guess that there is something I have missed.

Thanks again!

https://vimeo.com/explosivegraffix

[Michael Szalapski]

Dave’s right. You won’t be able to use blending modes at all.

However, this brand new COW tutorial seems right up your alley.

– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.

[Mark Walczak]

I figured as much. Thanks for thoughts; and Michael, thanks for the tutorial.

I would love to keep this dialogue open, though, so if anyone else has a thought/opinion, please feel free to comment!

Thanks, guys!

https://vimeo.com/explosivegraffix