Low / High
Defines the brightness range used by the highlight effect.
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Light EffectsIntermediate
Highlight
Highlight-range light extraction
Selects a narrow brightness/color range and turns it into a controllable highlight treatment with adjustable curve, extent, direction and color scale.
Highlight
DaVinci Resolve · Fusion
Selects a narrow brightness/color range and turns it into a controllable highlight treatment with adjustable curve, extent, direction and color scale.
Overview
What Highlight does
Selects a narrow brightness/color range and turns it into a controllable highlight treatment with adjustable curve, extent, direction and color scale.
Highlight behaves like a targeted light extractor: Low and High choose the tonal window, the curve shapes the selection, and the remaining controls turn that range into a stylized highlight pass.
Mental model
Highlight behaves like a targeted light extractor: Low and High choose the tonal window, the curve shapes the selection, and the remaining controls turn that range into a stylized highlight pass.
Common uses
Accentuate bright edges
Create controlled highlight streaks
Extract a narrow luma range for styling
Add colored specular emphasis
Build a highlight pass before Glow or Merge
Flow anatomy
Inputs & outputs
The port structure shows how this node fits into a Fusion graph.
Input
Source image for the operation.
Effect Mask
Optional mask that limits where the node affects the image.
Highlight
Fusion node
Output
The processed result from this node.
Inspector
Important parameters
Start with these controls before reaching for more complicated workarounds.
Curve
Shapes how values inside the selected range respond.
Length
Controls the spatial extent of the highlight treatment.
Number of Points
Controls highlight sampling/detail.
Angle
Sets the direction of the highlight extension.
Merge Over
Composites the generated highlight over the source.
Color Scale: Pick
Sets Color Scale to Pick.
Red Scale
Scales the red-channel contribution to the generated highlight.
Green Scale
Scales the green-channel contribution to the generated highlight.
Blue Scale
Scales the blue-channel contribution to the generated highlight.
Alpha Scale
Scales the alpha contribution of the generated highlight result.
Practical setup
A reliable workflow
- 1
Set Low and High to isolate only the intended bright range.
- 2
Shape the response with Curve.
- 3
Adjust Length and Angle for the desired light behavior.
- 4
Use Color Scale to integrate the highlight with the scene palette.
- 5
Preview before and after Merge Over to understand the generated pass.
Typical node chain
Source→
Highlight→
Output
Examples
Where this node fits in real work
Specular accent
Enhance a narrow bright range before Glow.
MediaInHighlightGlowMediaOut
Colored highlight pass
Create a separate accent and merge it over the source.
MediaInHighlightMerge
Troubleshooting
Common mistakes
Applying Highlight before the image is in the technical state the node expects.
Pushing Highlight too far before checking artifacts at full resolution.
Judging Highlight on one still frame instead of checking motion and edge behavior.
Production notes
Practical tips
Compare Highlight with bypass regularly while tuning it.
Keep Highlight and other technical conversions separate from creative grading when possible.
After strong Highlight processing, check alpha, highlights and image boundaries.
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