MADRIX Forum

Greetings,

My question seems specific, but it will also help me generally in understanding how the different layer mixes work. I don't fully grasp what's going on.
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What I'd like to do is use the SCE Drops effect in the background to emulate falling snow. That works great. Then in the foreground I have the SCE Bitmap (.png), but I'd like the snow to fall behind the bitmap, not in front of it (I know you could debate where the snow should go). I can't seem to find a combination of mixes between the two layers that allows the bitmap to be in front and the white snow of the Drops effect to be in back.
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I would have assumed (wrongly) that "overlay" would be the effect that always overlays the current layer on top of the lower layer. But it didn't work. I tried some other combos as well. Then I started thinking that maybe it was something specific to either the SCE bitmap or the SCI Drops that won't allow this to work.
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Any ideas? I find the combining of effects between layers the most challenging. Thanks for any suggestion or thoughts...
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Mark

Hi Mark,

Great question, I think!

How the end result looks -when using mix modes- fully depends on the colors of the bitmap and of SCE Drops. Basically a mix mode compares all corresponding color values of both layers and then mixes them. The user guide tries to explain the general idea and each mode individually. It also shows which layer is foreground and which the background: http://help.madrix.com/hidd_user_interf ... rray_.html

So if SCE Drops is in the backgound, the mix mode needs to be applied to the second layer to the right, SCE Bitmap. In the example I just tried (green image, white drops), Lighten seemed to propel the Drops into the background. Other mix modes may change the colors too drastically (and some experimentation may be involved to get the perfect result).

When I first read your post, I thought the easiest way to achieve what you are looking for is to reduce the opacity of the Bitmap layer. I think your request might have a lot do with transparency, which mix modes aren't necessarily all about.

But again, it is all about the colors. If you change the colors of SCE Drops the outcome will be completely different for each mix mode.

If you want to send your *.png file to info[at]madrix.com, you can do that! I'll have a look. And I'll be happy to help out here as well if more questions do come up. Thanks!