Resolve 11 – Softlight Blending Mode

The DaVinci team has included a brand new blending mode in the Resolve 11 release that adds even more creative options to our grading toolkit. This is a continuation of my series on blending modes. If you haven’t watched them previously you can find links to them all right below the image at the top of this page!

The soft light blending mode is an interesting one and was brand new to me in the world of video, on the surface it behaves a little like the overlay blending mode except instead of being based on luminance the blend colors that are more than 50% brightness will lighten the base image and colors that are less than 50% brightness will darken the base image. Pure black will create a slightly darker result; pure white will create a slightly lighter result, and 50% gray will have no effect on the base image.

What I love about this mode is it feels much more filmic than using the overlay blending mode. Almost like an S-Curve instead of a hard lift and gain adjustment.

Check out my insight below to see me using it in action!

– Dan