Blobs

Blackmagic lists Blobs among the integrated Krokodove Image Create Tools and describes it as generating circular shapes at specified points. The historical Krokodove reference calls the result metaball-like blob shapes. That distinction matters: the field can read as one organic system rather than merely a collection of unrelated circles.

Blobs is a generator, not an image processor. The reviewed article contract has no required RGB input: the image is created inside the node and leaves through one ordinary image Output. To place blobs over footage, composite the footage and Blobs downstream with Merge instead of searching for a MediaIn socket on the generator.

Global In/Out limits the timeline range in which the tool is active. It is a technical lifetime range, not motion for the blob geometry itself; animation is normally created with Seed, Position, Radius, Levels or downstream transforms/warps.

Random Seed selects a reproducible procedural variation. Keep the seed fixed while diagnosing Radius, Blobiness and Levels; otherwise a new random layout hides the contribution of the parameter you are trying to understand.

Levels Low and Levels High define the low/high reference points of the generated field while Gamma reshapes the distribution between them. The captured baseline is Low 0.0, High 1.0 and Gamma 1.0. Treat that as a neutral A/B reference rather than a universal artistic preset.

Levels/Gamma become especially useful when Blobs is used as control data instead of a final colored layer. Lock Seed and geometry first, then shape the field and inspect it in a grayscale/alpha workflow so geometry changes are not confused with tonal changes.

General Blobiness controls the overall organic/metaball character of the field. The bundled capture shows 0.002000 as the current reference state. Do not interpret the number as a percentage or physical radius; exact numeric sensitivity belongs to the Krokodove implementation and should be confirmed on the target build.

General Radius establishes the common blob scale while Min Radius and Max Radius define the range used by random/range sizing logic. The captured state is General 0.2, Min 0.1 and Max 0.3; those values document the UI and provide a diagnostic starting point, not a recommendation for every resolution or design.

Do not tune General Radius, Min Radius and Max Radius simultaneously. Establish the common scale first, then test whether the Min/Max range is needed for Random sizing; otherwise it becomes difficult to explain why a particular item changed size.

Color defines the RGBA of the generated image. The expanded swatch exposes Red, Green, Blue and Alpha. Alpha belongs to the Blobs image itself; it is not a separate mask socket. A translucent Blobs result can go directly to Merge Foreground or be converted to a mask through Bitmap.

The Blobs tab begins with Count. Count determines how many individual Settings blocks are available: the bundled capture shows Count 5 and Settings 1 through 5. Increasing Count expands the population but also increases art-direction and diagnosis cost, so start with the smallest population that solves the composition.

Each Settings N block contains Blob Position N with X/Y, Blob Size Type N, Blob Size N and Blob Blobiness N. The node therefore combines two control layers: a global system in Controls plus local overrides in the Blobs tab.

Blob Position directly art-directs one item in the normalized 2D field. This is fundamentally different from Random Seed: Position moves a selected blob while Seed chooses a different procedural variation for the whole system.

The captured Blob Size Type control exposes General, Individual and Random. General follows the common sizing system, Individual allows a local exception, and Random uses the procedural/range sizing logic. Always confirm the active Size Type before judging Blob Size.

Blob Size is the local value for one Settings block. If Size Type remains General, expecting the field to behave as though Individual were active leads to the common impression that the local Size control is ineffective or unpredictable.

Blob Blobiness is the per-item version of blobiness. Introduce it only after General Blobiness already establishes a readable baseline; otherwise global and local irregularity become one undiagnosable adjustment.

Render contains Super-Sampling. The captured menu confirms 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 8x8 and 16x16. Higher sampling can improve curved/thin edges but raises render cost sharply; 8x8 or 16x16 should not be a default working state without a visible need.

Judge Super-Sampling at real output size and in playback. When Blobs drives a matte, downstream threshold/contrast can exaggerate edge aliasing, so quality should be judged on the downstream use rather than only on a Fit-view of the generator.

Image / Process Mode offers Full Frames, NTSC Fields, PAL/HD Fields, PAL/HD Fields (Reversed) and NTSC Fields (Reversed) in the bundled capture. Full Frames is the normal baseline for progressive workflows; field modes belong only in genuinely interlaced pipelines.

Image also exposes Width, Height, Pixel Aspect X/Y and Auto Resolution. With Auto Resolution enabled the generator follows the working format; with it disabled Width/Height become an explicit canvas decision. Do not lower generator resolution merely for speed if the matte is later enlarged and reveals stair-stepping.

Source Color Space / Color Space Type and Source Gamma Space / Curve Type live in the Image tab. For a procedural generator, treat them as technical color-management interpretation/metadata controls rather than substitutes for an intentional CST or ACES transform.

Remove Curve and Pre-Divide / Post-Multiply live in the same technical Image section. Premultiply handling matters when translucent edges are color-processed downstream; inspect RGB and Alpha separately before blaming Blobiness or Super-Sampling for fringe artifacts.

Blobs.Output remains an ordinary image/RGBA stream. If a downstream node expects a blue mask input, convert the chosen channel explicitly through Bitmap or other channel-to-mask logic. That keeps the Flow self-documenting: Blobs generates image data, Bitmap extracts control data, Effect Mask receives a real mask stream.

Five bundled screenshots anchor the current Inspector: Controls, Blobs, Render/Super-Sampling, Image and the Process Mode menu. They are the primary evidence for current labels. Exact numeric math for Levels/Blobiness, serialized internal IDs and all mode behavior should still be confirmed live on the target Resolve 21/21.1 build before publishing production presets.