Masterselects ships 37 blend modes, all implemented in a single WGSL composite shader. Every mode uses the same GPU pass regardless of complexity — choosing Luminosity has no more performance impact than Normal.
Blend modes run in a single WGSL pass per layer. There is no performance penalty for using complex modes like Vivid Light or Luminosity compared to Normal.
Setting a blend mode
Select a clip, open the Properties panel, and choose a mode from the Blend Mode dropdown. You can also cycle through modes from the keyboard:
+ (or Numpad+, Shift+=) — cycle forward- (or Numpad-) — cycle backward
Mode reference
Normal group
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Normal | Standard alpha compositing |
| Dissolve | Random pixel dithering based on opacity |
| Dancing Dissolve | Animated dithering with time variation |
Darken group
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Darken | Takes the minimum of base and blend per channel |
| Multiply | Multiplies RGB channels — darkens without clipping |
| Color Burn | Increases contrast in the shadows |
| Classic Color Burn | Alternative Color Burn formula |
| Linear Burn | max(base + blend − 1, 0) |
| Darker Color | Picks whichever pixel is darker by luminosity |
Lighten group
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Add | Clamped addition (same as Linear Dodge) |
| Lighten | Takes the maximum of base and blend per channel |
| Screen | 1 − (1 − base) × (1 − blend) — brightens without clipping |
| Color Dodge | Reduces contrast in highlights |
| Classic Color Dodge | Alternative Color Dodge formula |
| Linear Dodge | Identical to Add |
| Lighter Color | Picks whichever pixel is lighter by luminosity |
Contrast group
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Overlay | Multiply where base is dark, Screen where base is light |
| Soft Light | A softer version of Overlay |
| Hard Light | Based on blend value rather than base value |
| Linear Light | clamp(base + 2 × blend − 1, 0, 1) |
| Vivid Light | Conditional dodge/burn depending on blend value |
| Pin Light | Min/max blend based on threshold |
| Hard Mix | Binary threshold — result is 0 or 1 per channel |
Inversion group
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Difference | Absolute difference between base and blend |
| Classic Difference | Same formula as Difference |
| Exclusion | base + blend − 2 × base × blend — lower contrast than Difference |
| Subtract | max(base − blend, 0) |
| Divide | base / max(blend, 0.001) |
Component group
Component modes decompose color into perceptual attributes. These use HSL calculations and are computationally equivalent to the other modes in the WGSL shader.
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Hue | Applies blend hue with base saturation and luminosity |
| Saturation | Applies blend saturation with base hue and luminosity |
| Color | Applies blend hue and saturation with base luminosity |
| Luminosity | Applies blend luminosity with base hue and saturation |
Stencil and Silhouette modes
These modes use the blend layer as a mask rather than a color source, making them useful for cutout and matte compositions.
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| Stencil Alpha | Uses blend layer alpha as opacity |
| Stencil Luma | Uses blend layer luminosity as opacity |
| Silhouette Alpha | Inverted blend layer alpha |
| Silhouette Luma | Inverted blend layer luminosity |
| Alpha Add | Additive alpha blending |