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Resolve FX Light · AI / Depth

AI Cinematic Haze

A depth-aware atmospheric Light FX that combines AI depth estimation, aerial scattering, bright-source halos, directional rays and animated air disturbance in one pipeline. The important part is not simply adding haze, but making each layer respect scene depth.

Depth MapAtmospheric ScatteringLight HalosLight RaysAir Disturbance

Mental model

Depth first, atmosphere second, light and motion last

The reliable order is Depth Map → Atmospheric Scattering → Light Halos → Light Rays → Air Disturbance → Global Blend. Most artificial-looking results come from pushing later light effects before the depth map is trustworthy.

Technical interpretation of the input

Input Color Space / Input Gamma

AI Cinematic Haze derives depth, thresholds and light effects from the tonal structure of the shot, so it needs to interpret the input correctly. Use timeline is the normal starting point in a managed project. Manual override is useful when a clip arrives in a different space/gamma or the effect sits outside the expected colour-managed pipeline.

  • The Input Color Space menu visibly includes Use timeline, ACES AP0/AP1, Adobe RGB, Apple Log 2, ARRI Wide Gamut 3/4 and several Blackmagic Design gamut options; the list continues below the screenshot.
  • The Input Gamma menu visibly includes Use timeline, ACEScc, ACEScct, Adobe RGB, Apple Log, ARIB STD-B67 HLG, ARRI LogC3/4, AstroDesign A-Log and Blackmagic Design Film; this is also only part of the list.
  • Do not guess the gamut or gamma: a wrong interpretation shifts light thresholds and haze behaviour more than it may appear.
Where depth comes from

Depth Map Source / Quality

Depth Map Source switches between Internal and From Alpha Input. Internal uses the built-in AI depth estimate, while From Alpha Input lets you supply a prepared external map. Quality offers Faster and Better: Faster is useful while working interactively, while Better is the safer choice for difficult boundaries and final checks.

  • Depth Map Preview is the essential diagnostic view before artistic haze tuning.
  • Internal is fast and self-contained; From Alpha Input is preferable when a better depth pass or matte already exists.
  • If depth does not match the actual scene, halos, rays and disturbance downstream will read as a flat filter.
Normalising the depth map

Invert / Adjust Map Levels

Invert reverses the depth direction when near and far are interpreted the wrong way around. Adjust Map Levels enables manual remapping: Far Limit, Near Limit and Gamma define the useful depth range and redistribute its middle without replacing the depth source itself.

  • Far Limit controls the far boundary where atmosphere should become strongest.
  • Near Limit protects near objects from excessive haze.
  • Gamma redistributes the middle of the map and is especially useful when depth values are bunched together.
  • Advanced Depth Controls exposes further depth tuning. The supplied screenshot confirms the switch itself but does not reveal the nested controls, so they are intentionally not invented here.

Atmosphere + light

Three layers with different jobs

Atmospheric Scattering provides the base aerial perspective, Light Halos reacts to bright emitters, and Light Rays turns selected highlights into directional streaks. Tuning them separately keeps the image cinematic instead of filter-like.

The base aerial-perspective layer

Atmospheric Scattering

This block creates the actual depth-aware atmosphere. Airlight adds scattered light into the air, Density controls haze density, Resolution Loss mimics the loss of local detail with distance, and Colorize plus Color lets you art-direct the atmospheric tint.

  • Airlight creates the sense of illuminated air, most visible in the distance.
  • Density is the main haze amount control; high values remove contrast very quickly.
  • Resolution Loss softens distant detail rather than simply blurring the entire frame.
  • Colorize at zero keeps the atmosphere neutral; as it rises, Color becomes the active tint.
Halos around bright emitters

Light Halos

Light Halos is threshold-driven: Halo Threshold first decides which brightness values become emitters, Size defines the halo spread, Brightness its energy, Saturation its colour intensity, and Colorize lets the halo tint diverge from the original light source.

  • Lower Halo Threshold lets more objects emit; higher values isolate only the brightest sources.
  • Treat Size and Brightness separately: a large halo does not need to be bright.
  • Saturation and Colorize are especially useful for backlight, neon and stylised atmosphere.
Directional volumetric-like rays

Light Rays

Enable Light Rays activates a separate ray layer. Preview Threshold reveals the source mask, Source Threshold rejects weaker highlights, Ray Directions determines the directional model, Angle controls At An Angle mode, and Length, Soften, Brightness and Saturation shape the ray itself.

  • The panel shows Ray Directions = At An Angle; the related implementation also uses From A Location for rays projected from a specific point.
  • Preview Threshold is a source-selection diagnostic, not a final-render view.
  • Length controls reach, Soften controls edge diffusion, and Brightness/Saturation control the visual energy.

Motion + finishing

Disturbance should animate the atmosphere, not replace it

Living atmospheric motion

Air Disturbance

Enable Disturbance adds dynamic air distortion on top of the depth-aware atmosphere. This is not haze or glow; it creates a moving structure reminiscent of heat shimmer, dust, turbulent air or slowly flowing mist. Preview Influence shows the affected area before judging the final result.

  • Intensity sets distortion strength; Brightness controls its contribution to the tonal structure.
  • Scale sets the size of atmospheric structures; Detail adds finer turbulence.
  • Follow FX Tracker ties the motion to an FX Tracker when the atmospheric layer must remain attached to the shot.
  • Flow Direction and Flow Speed create directional drift; Seethe Rate changes the internal pattern rather than merely translating it.
  • Start Frame defines the temporal origin, while Randomize generates a different disturbance pattern.
Final master intensity

Global Blend

Blend is the final dry/wet control for the entire AI Cinematic Haze effect. Once depth, scattering, halos, rays and disturbance are balanced internally, Blend lets you return some of the original image without disturbing those relationships.

  • 1.000 is the full effect; lowering it mixes the original shot back in.
  • If the effect is simply too strong, reduce Blend before rebuilding five separate sections.

Practical workflow

A stable order for real shots

1. Verify depth

Enable Depth Map Preview, choose Internal or From Alpha Input, fix inversion and level mapping before adding atmosphere.

2. Build atmosphere

Start with low Density, then Airlight and Resolution Loss. Protect the foreground with Near Limit.

3. Add light effects

Use Halo Threshold and Source Threshold to keep halos and rays attached to believable emitters instead of every highlight.

4. Animate last

Add Disturbance only after the static atmosphere looks convincing. Then finish with Global Blend.

FAQ

Practical AI Cinematic Haze questions

Is AI Cinematic Haze just Fog or Glow?

No. Its defining idea is depth awareness: the effect first estimates or receives a depth map, then distributes scattering, halos, rays and disturbance through the shot.

When should I use From Alpha Input?

Use it when a better external depth or matte map already exists from Fusion, another AI tool or a separate pass, so you do not need to rely on the internal depth estimate.

What should I tune first: haze or Light Rays?

Start with the Depth Map, then Atmospheric Scattering, then Halos/Rays, and leave Air Disturbance for last. Each stage then builds on a stable depth model.

Why does the shot become milky so quickly?

Usually Airlight and Density are both too high while Near Limit is not protecting the foreground. Check Depth Map Preview, reduce Density first, then bring Airlight back carefully.

Next steps

Resolve FX Light now moves from optics into depth-aware atmosphere

Previous FX

Aperture Diffraction

Return to the optical diffraction effect that opened Resolve FX Light.

Fusion AI Cinematic Haze

Compare the same depth-aware atmospheric idea in the Fusion node encyclopedia.

Resolve FX Light

Return to the Light category with both Aperture Diffraction and AI Cinematic Haze.

Scopes

Monitor highlight compression and contrast loss while building dense atmospheric scattering.

Scopes