Filter
Chooses the blur/filter character used for the glow.
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SoftGlow
Thresholded soft highlight glow
Builds a soft glow from selected bright regions with threshold, gain, blur size, clipping and per-channel color scaling.
SoftGlow
DaVinci Resolve · Fusion
Builds a soft glow from selected bright regions with threshold, gain, blur size, clipping and per-channel color scaling.
Overview
What SoftGlow does
Builds a soft glow from selected bright regions with threshold, gain, blur size, clipping and per-channel color scaling.
Threshold decides which bright regions generate the glow, Gain sets their contribution and Glow Size controls the halo radius. If the whole frame starts glowing, fix the source selection before increasing or reducing Gain blindly.
Filter and channel controls shape the character of the halo, and unlinking X/Y allows stretched, anamorphic-style glow. Preserve alpha deliberately on text and graphics so the glow does not unintentionally harden or expand transparent edges.
Mental model
Separate the bright part of the image, blur it into a soft halo, then blend that halo back over the original image.
Common uses
Glow titles and graphics
Bloom practical highlights
Add soft cinematic light
Create neon halos
Build subtle highlight diffusion
Flow anatomy
Inputs & outputs
The port structure shows how this node fits into a Fusion graph.
Input
Source image for the operation.
SoftGlow
Fusion node
Output
The processed result from this node.
Inspector
Important parameters
Start with these controls before reaching for more complicated workarounds.
R / G / B / A
Controls which channels contribute to glow generation.
Threshold
Sets which brightness values generate glow.
Gain
Controls glow intensity.
Lock X/Y
Links horizontal and vertical glow size.
Glow Size
Sets halo radius.
Clipping Mode
Controls how bright glow values are handled.
Blend
Mixes the glow result with the source.
Color Scale
Applies channel color scaling to the glow.
Red Scale / Green Scale / Blue Scale / Alpha Scale
Scales the red, green, blue and alpha contributions to the generated glow independently.
Practical setup
A reliable workflow
- 1
Set Threshold so only intended highlights feed the glow.
- 2
Increase Glow Size before pushing Gain.
- 3
Use Blend to integrate the halo with the source.
- 4
Tint with Color Scale only if the shot needs colored bloom.
- 5
Check for clipped highlights.
Typical node chain
Input→
SoftGlow→
Output
Examples
Where this node fits in real work
Neon title
Create a soft halo around bright text.
Text+SoftGlowMergeMediaOut
Practical highlight bloom
Add restrained diffusion around bright lamps.
MediaInSoftGlowColorCorrector
Troubleshooting
Common mistakes
Setting threshold too low and glowing the whole image
Using extreme Gain and clipping highlights
Making Glow Size so large that the halo becomes haze
Stacking SoftGlow and Glow at full strength
Production notes
Practical tips
Glow size usually contributes more to realism than raw gain.
For subtle filmic bloom, keep the threshold selective and the blend restrained.
Related nodes