Draw Modes

All the draw modes that are available in combustion are listed here and described in the order in which they appear in the Draw Modes list.

Paint

Paint is the default mode. This mode applies the current foreground color to the objects you create or select. It produces no special effects. The Pressure slider is not available in Paint mode.

Additive

Uses the Red, Green, and Blue values of the current color and adds these values to the area upon which you are painting. By using this mode repeatedly, the affected area gradually moves closer and closer to pure white (100% each of RGB), assuming that the current color has Red, Green, and Blue components. The Pressure slider setting determines the amount of addition that takes place. A 100% setting adds color to the affected area so that just one pass makes a complete (100%) addition of the current color to the RGB values of the affected pixels. A setting of 50% adds 50%, and so on.

Subtractive

Uses the Red, Green, and Blue values of the current color and subtracts these values from the area upon which you are painting. By using this mode repeatedly, the affected area gradually moves closer and closer to pure black (0% each of RGB), assuming that the current color has Red, Green, and Blue components. The Pressure slider setting determines the amount of subtraction that takes place. A 100% setting subtracts color from the affected area so that just one pass makes a complete (100%) subtraction of the current color to the RGB values of the affected pixels. A setting of 50% subtracts 50%, and so on.

Brightness

Adjusts the overall brightness or darkness level of all pixels in the area being processed. Use this as you would the brightness control on a television set. A Pressure slider setting of 50% produces no effect, while values of more than 50% increase brightness and those of less than 50% cause a reduction in the brightness level.

Contrast

Modifies the content of all pixels in the area being processed. It ignores the current foreground color and modifies the intensity of the contrast between lighter and darker pixels. A Pressure slider setting of 50% produces no effect, while values of more than 50% increase contrast and those of less than 50% reduce contrast.

Tint

Changes the tint of an image selection while retaining the existing shading and contours. It does this by changing the Hue component without affecting saturation and value levels.

Colorize

Functions similarly to Tint mode, but it is specifically designed to work with grayscale images. It replaces the Hue and Saturation of the existing image with those values contained in the object's current color. The Pressure slider is not available in Colorize mode.

Negative

Converts positive images to negative ones, or vice versa. For example, it makes a positive image look like a photographic negative. Each time you apply the negative mode to an image, it works on the new color levels. Repeated applications cause the image to flip back and forth between positive and negative modes. The Pressure slider is not available in Negative mode.

Sharpen

Highlights the detail in an image. It can be used to clarify and sharpen the edges and contrast of blurred or out-of-focus images. Repeated use of this mode has a cumulative effect, with each pass heightening the sharpening and creating a crisper effect. The Pressure slider controls the extent of the sharpening effect.

Smooth

Reduces the overall crispness of an image or clip. It reduces detail and selectively reduces the contrast between adjacent pixels. It is especially useful to reduce the appearance of "jaggies" in aliased images. It has the opposite effect of the Sharpen mode. The Pressure slider controls the amount of smoothing that is achieved with a single brush stroke.

Blur

Has an effect similar to, but more pronounced than, Smooth mode. It replaces the color of each pixel with the average color of the eight pixels that surround it. It is less selective than Smooth mode, so the overall reduction in detail is much stronger. The Pressure slider is not available in Blur mode.

Posterize

Produces dramatic results. It reduces the number of colors in the area of an image or clip. This produces an effect that is reminiscent of the days when computers could only display a few colors. The Pressure slider adjusts the number of colors to which the image is reduced. A 100% setting produces maximum posterization of an image, while lower settings create less stark results.

Emboss

Detects areas of high contrast, highlighting them with black and white pixels and filling the remaining area with a neutral gray. Emboss mode produces a 3D, monochromatic effect similar to the way in which images are stamped into coins when they are minted. The high contrast edges of images appear to cast shadows, with the light source placed in the upper left corner of the image. The Pressure slider is not available in Emboss mode.

Color Emboss

Is similar to Emboss mode, except that instead of replacing the color information in the image with a neutral gray, it retains the image's existing colors to create an embossed, colored, 3D effect. The Pressure slider is not available in Color Emboss mode.

Gray

Removes all color information from an image or clip while retaining all of its brightness and contrast. The Pressure slider is not available in Gray mode.

Mosaic

Creates a mosaic or tiled image. It produces square, pixelated effects on the selected areas of an image, transforming normally detailed images into blocks or tiles. You have probably seen this effect used to disguise the face of an informant or to obscure other visual information on TV. The Pressure slider setting controls the size of the resultant tiles.

Luminance

Replaces the brightness of the image's color in the selected area with the luminance value from the current color. This is most effectively done by using a shade of gray as the current color so that the portion of the image being affected takes on a uniform level of luminance. Luminance mode can be used to match brightness levels in different areas of an image. The Pressure slider is not available in Luminance mode.

Multiply

"Multiplies" or combines the current color with existing colors in the image to produce a new, third color that is darker than the other two. The overall effect is similar to drawing with a colored marking pen over an image: it darkens and colors at the same time.

Screen

Is the inverse of Multiply mode. It combines the current color with the colors in the image to create a third color that is lighter than the existing one. The effect is similar to the photographic technique of combining two slides in a slide "sandwich" and then reshooting them.

Dodging Modes

The name "dodging" comes from the traditional darkroom technique of using a small, circular paddle to block (or dodge) the amount of light received by a print, thereby lightening the areas of the print which have been dodged. These dodging tools do not take into account the current color when applying their effects. However, if the Pressure slider is active, the Pressure setting affects the amount of dodging (or lightening) that occurs with one application. Repeated application increases the amount of lightening that occurs.

In all the dodging modes, the Pressure slider is active and controls the strength of the lightening effect. In combustion, there are three draw modes that allow you to lighten areas of your work: Dodge Shadows, Dodge MidTones, and Dodge Highlights.

Dodge Shadows

Lightens the darkest areas of the image.

Dodge Midtones

Lightens the midlevels or midtones of both color and grayscale images.

Dodge Highlights

Lightens the brightest areas of the image.

Burning Tools

The opposite of the dodging technique described above, "burning" a print in a darkroom is achieved by holding your hand in sort of an "O", focusing the light and allowing more light to reach some areas of a print more than others. Burning an image thus darkens the selected area. These burning tools do not take into account the current color when applying their effects. However, if the Pressure slider is active, the Pressure setting affects the amount of burning (or darkening) that occurs with one application. Repeated application increases the amount of darkening that occurs.

Burn Shadows

Darkens the darkest sections of the image.

Burn Midtones

Darkens the midtones of the image.

Burn Highlights

Darkens the highlights (the lightest areas) of an image.

Saturate

Increases the saturation of a color without affecting its actual color values or lightness or darkness. Because it works on color information, it does not have any effect on grayscale images. It can be used to increase the brilliance of colors, transforming pastel areas into brightly colored ones. It essentially behaves like the color control on a television set. The Pressure slider sets the amount of color increase that occurs.

Desaturate

Reduces the overall saturation of color. It is like turning down the color level on a TV set. The Pressure slider sets the amount of color decrease that occurs. You can animate this control to make areas gradually change from color to black and white.

Lighten

Functions like the normal paint mode with one difference: before changing a pixel, the luminance value of that pixel is compared to that of the current color. If the current color is lighter than the pixel to be affected, change takes place. If the current color is darker than the pixel, no change occurs. The Pressure slider is not available in Lighten mode.

Darken

Functions like the normal paint mode with one difference: before changing a pixel, the luminance value of that pixel is compared to that of the current color. If the current color is darker than the pixel to be affected, change takes place. If the current color is lighter than the pixel, no change occurs. The Pressure slider is not available in Darken mode.

Difference

Subtracts the RGB color values of the current color from those of the image upon which you are painting. If the result is a negative number, the inverse value is used. This can produce a psychedelic effect. In this mode, black has no effect (since all values are zero) and white creates a complete inversion of the color information.

Soft Light

Applies a soft, diffuse light of the current color onto your image. It does not completely affect areas of detail, but does reduce the contrast levels in the image. It takes into account the brightness levels of the current color and can actually reduce the brightness level of areas if the current color is a dark one. Using this mode with black produces a very dark effect, with white a very bright one. The Pressure slider is not available in Soft Light mode.

Hard Light

Applies a harsh light of the current color onto your image. It almost completely affects areas of detail, and greatly reduces the contrast levels in the image. It takes into account the brightness levels of the current color before carrying out its effect. Using this mode with black or white creates completely black or white results. The Pressure slider is not available in Hard Light mode.

Overlay

Applies a gel of the current color onto your image. It combines the colors of the image with those of the current color to create new tints based on these results. It boosts contrast and color saturation at the same time. The Pressure slider is not available in Overlay mode.

Erase

Erases all objects that lie below it in the stacking order. Note that this mode erases the background clip as well if you are working with a movie clip or still image. This draw mode is essentially the same as the Eraser tool, except you can use it to define erasing characteristics as part of any object.

Revert

"Reverts" to the original saved clip, removing any modifications caused by the painting of objects or the application of effects since the clip was last saved. This mode does not erase the background clip, so you can use it to "cut into" other objects below it in the stacking order without affecting the background.

Smear

Smears the image from the start to the end of the paint stroke. It is not available with filled drawing tools. The Pressure slider controls the amount of smearing that is achieved with the brush stroke.

Smear In

Smears the foreground color into the image from the start to the end of the paint stroke. It is not available with filled drawing tools. The Pressure slider controls the amount of smearing (of the image and the foreground color) that is achieved with the brush stroke.

Behind

Creates objects that appear only in the transparent areas of the image, as defined by its alpha channel.

Exclusion

Creates an effect similar to Difference, but lower in contrast. The current layer and layer behind it contribute equally to the result, regardless of their stacking order.

Color Dodge

Uses the color information in each channel of the current layer to brighten the layer behind it.

Color Burn

Uses the color information in each channel of the current layer to darken the layer behind it (the opposite of Color Dodge).

Dissolve

Randomly dissolves pixels of the current object over the layer or object behind it. The result is a paint-splatter effect on the edges of the Paint object.