Pattern

Blackmagic integrated the Krokodove Toolset directly into DaVinci Resolve 21 and Fusion. In the official New Features Guide, Pattern appears under Image Create Tools and is described as building an array of tessellated shapes into a full-frame pattern. Treat it primarily as a procedural image generator, not as a filter that needs MediaIn.

Its physical graph is deliberately simple: there is no primary Image input. Pattern calculates its own RGB and alpha on an internal canvas, an optional blue Effect Mask gates the coverage of that generated result, and Output carries one ordinary 2D RGBA image stream to Merge, Bitmap, Blur, Glow, ColorCorrector or another image tool.

Type selects the tessellation family. Grid creates an orthogonal structure, Triangles creates a triangular lattice, and Honeycomb creates a hexagonal one. They are modes of the same generator, so Size, Thickness, Rotation and the other geometry controls remain relevant but produce different visual rhythms for each cell family.

Center, Size, Rotation X/Y, Rotation, Aspect, Thickness and Offset are separate geometry layers. Center defines the reference position; Size defines cell scale/frequency; Rotation turns the pattern in the image plane; Rotation X/Y reorient the tessellation along two additional axes but do not turn the node into a 3D scene; Aspect changes proportions; Thickness changes borders; Offset shifts the internal repeat phase.

Do not confuse Offset with a Transform after Pattern. Offset shifts the structure inside the generator and is useful for seamless procedural motion. A downstream Transform moves the already rendered RGBA layer, including its bounds and alpha. The two can look similar in a simple full-frame setup but operate at different stages.

Color defines the primary pattern color and RGBA values. Fill and Color Fill 1 define the interior or secondary color component. Solid creates a stable uniform fill, while Checkers alternates cell fills. For mask-like workflows, inspect Alpha separately because bright RGB does not prove that coverage is correct.

Repeat controls how the tessellation extends. Ad infinitum is appropriate for a continuous full-canvas structure. Numbered is for a bounded repeated arrangement; any additional mode-specific controls should be read from the live Inspector of the target Resolve 21.x build instead of being invented from older Krokodove versions.

Pattern is sensitive to spatial frequency. Very small Size or Thickness values, diagonal Rotation and later resizing can create aliasing and moire. Super-Sampling improves edge calculation; start at 1x1 and raise it only after checking real-time playback at delivery resolution because high values increase render cost.

The Image tab matters precisely because Pattern is a generator. Width/Height, Pixel Aspect, Auto Resolution and Depth define the technical container of the generated image. If Auto Resolution is disabled and the Pattern canvas differs from the composition, downstream scaling can alter the apparent line weight and spatial frequency even when Pattern controls are unchanged.

Process Mode controls frame/field processing of the generated image. Full Frames is the normal choice for a modern progressive project. NTSC/PAL/HD field modes and their reversed variants belong to deliberate interlaced workflows, not to quality enhancement.

Source Color Space and Source Gamma Space describe how the generated image is interpreted in the color pipeline. Auto is the safer default for most graphics. Manual assignment is justified only when the intended managed color pipeline requires it; these controls do not change tessellation geometry.

Pattern is useful beyond visible backgrounds. Its Output can become a source for Bitmap, Displace, channel operations or other control-map workflows. Physically it remains an image stream; when a downstream tool expects a mask, use an explicit Bitmap/channel conversion rather than pretending Pattern changes its output type.