Vignette.

Basic exposes a compact control set for a conventional frame vignette. Advanced reveals Border Shape, Rotation, Center, Transparency, and Composite Type. This is a difference in available controls, not a promise of higher image quality.

VERIFYSwitch to Advanced when you need asymmetry, a non-standard shape, or explicit compositing logic; otherwise Basic is easier to read and repeat across shots.

Size sets the scale of the open central region and therefore where the vignette edge lands. Blackmagic’s official Beginner’s Guide explicitly notes that the numeric field can accept a value beyond the slider maximum when a broader footprint is needed.

VERIFYTemporarily reduce Softness so you can see the actual boundary, set Size for the composition, and only then restore a soft falloff.

Anamorphism changes the vignette geometry aspect across the axes and helps fit the falloff to a wide frame or elongated composition. It is a shape control for the effect, not camera metadata and not compensation for real anamorphic squeeze.

VERIFYJudge the distance from the edge to important subjects on both axes rather than the number itself. An aggressive aspect can make the frame look artificially designed.

Advanced offers six border shapes. Oval is closest to a conventional optical vignette, while Rectangle and polygon shapes behave more like graphic framing. Shape changes the edge topology, so identical Size and Softness values do not cover the same visual region across shapes.

VERIFYStart with Oval for optical plausibility. Use polygon shapes deliberately as design language and check frame corners both on stills and in motion.

Rotation turns shapes where orientation changes the silhouette; Center X/Y moves the footprint center relative to the frame. In the current Oval capture, Rotation appears disabled, so the guide does not promise identical availability for every shape.

VERIFYIf the subject moves, keyframe Center X/Y only for simple motion. For complex movement or changing shape, a tracked Power Window is safer.

Softness broadens the transition between the central region and the vignette layer. A low value is useful diagnostically to locate the boundary; a high value makes the falloff longer and less obvious. Softness does not replace Size and is not the overall effect amount.

VERIFYAfter setting Size, restore Softness and inspect gradients, skin, and flat walls; banding or an obvious edge usually shows there first.

In Advanced, Transparency makes the generated vignette layer more transparent before the final Global Blend. It is a property of the layer itself, controlling how strongly Color/Composite Type act where the mask already exists.

VERIFYDo not use Transparency as a substitute for fixing the mask. Set geometry and Softness first, then Transparency, and leave Global Blend as the final dry/wet trim.

Color defines the generated vignette layer color. Black naturally pairs with Multiply for a dark falloff, but a colored value can be used as a creative edge wash. The more saturated the Color, the more carefully you should watch neutrals, skin, and clipping after compositing.

VERIFYFor a conventional attention vignette, start with a neutral dark color. If you need tint, reduce the Color saturation itself before relying only on Global Blend.

Advanced chooses how the generated layer is mixed with the source. The capture shows Normal, Add, Subtract, Difference, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Hard Light, Softlight, and Darken, with more entries below. Multiply is a sensible starting point for a black vignette; Screen/Add suit light edge treatments; contrast modes are more stylized.

VERIFYIf the result behaves strangely, return to Normal/Multiply and inspect Color. Lowering Blend does not make unsuitable blend mathematics correct.

Blend is the final dry/wet between the source frame and the already calculated Vignette result. It is useful for final dosage and A/B, but conceptually comes after Shape, Appearance, and Composite Type. Blend 0 should return the source; Blend 1 shows the full result of the current settings.

VERIFYMake the effect behavior deliberate at Blend 1, then reduce Blend to taste. Otherwise it is easy to preserve a hidden geometry or composite-mode problem.

Dedicated Vignette is faster for frame-relative shaping and provides ready-made polygon/compositing controls. A Power Window is stronger when the mask must follow a person, change shape, combine with a qualifier or tracker, and live as part of a local correction.

VERIFYChoose ownership according to what the effect follows: frame-anchored — Vignette; subject-anchored — Window/Tracker. Do not animate dozens of keyframes when tracking directly solves the problem.

Film Look Creator is convenient when vignette is a small part of an integrated film look alongside Split Tone, Halation, Bloom, Grain, and other modules. Dedicated Vignette is better when framing itself needs precise Shape, Center, Transparency, or Composite Type with separate node ownership.

VERIFYDo not stack strong vignette in both FLC and the dedicated FX without a specific reason; two falloffs can create dirty corners and make dosage hard to read.