Gain
Intensity of the glow.
High gain can clip quickly, especially with Add compositing.
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EffectsBeginner
Glow
Light bloom and neon
Creates a luminous halo around bright pixels, text, lines and graphic elements.
Glow
DaVinci Resolve · Fusion
Glow is commonly used for neon, highlights, HUD graphics and energy effects.
Overview
What Glow does
Glow expands bright image information into a soft light halo. It works best when the input already contains a clear bright source, such as white text, a bright line or a high-contrast mask.
Applying Glow to an entire finished shot often produces muddy highlights. A cleaner technique is to isolate the element that should glow, process that branch, and then composite it back over the base image.
Good glow is usually a balance of threshold, size and gain rather than simply pushing brightness as high as possible.
Mental model
Glow is blurred light generated from bright pixels. A cleaner source gives you a cleaner halo.
Common uses
Neon titles
Light streaks
Logo highlights
HUD graphics
Energy effects
Soft bloom around bright elements
Flow anatomy
Inputs & outputs
The port structure shows how this node fits into a Fusion graph.
Input
The image or isolated element that should emit light.
Glow
Fusion node
Output
The processed result from this node.
Inspector
Important parameters
Start with these controls before reaching for more complicated workarounds.
Size
Sets the overall size.
Blend
Mix between the original image and the processed result.
Useful for backing off an effect without changing several controls.
Threshold
Controls which brightness values create glow.
Raise it to restrict the glow to only the brightest areas.
Glow Color
Sets the glow Color.
Color Scale
Balances the RGB contribution used to color the generated glow.
X / Y Size
Sets the X and Y components of the control.
Clipping Mode
Selects the Clipping Mode used by Glow.
Quality
Sets the processing quality for this operation.
Use a lighter setting while building the comp if needed, then verify the final-quality result before render.
Apply Mode through Merge
Selects the Apply Mode through Merge.
Chooses the mathematical or operational mode used for this part of the node.
Practical setup
A reliable workflow
- 1
Isolate the element that should glow.
- 2
Apply Glow to that branch.
- 3
Set the threshold so only the intended pixels emit light.
- 4
Adjust size before increasing gain.
- 5
Merge the result over the base image, often with Screen or Add when appropriate.
Typical node chain
Text+→
Glow→
Merge→
MediaOut
Examples
Where this node fits in real work
Neon text
A bright title becomes a controlled neon light pass.
Text+GlowMerge
HUD highlight
A graphic line is glowed separately and then composited back.
GraphicGlowMerge
Troubleshooting
Common mistakes
Applying Glow to the entire frame without isolating the source.
Using excessive Gain instead of adjusting threshold and size.
Stacking multiple strong glows until the graphic loses edge definition.
Production notes
Practical tips
For premium-looking neon, preserve a sharp core underneath the glow.
Two subtle Glow nodes with different radii can look better than one extreme setting.
Composite a separate glow pass so you can grade its strength independently.
Related nodes