Lab/
Particle overlay composer
Particle overlay composer stacks layers of moving light, meteors, nebulae, sparks, dust and lightning, over a star field or a picture of yours.
What this is
Particle overlay composer stacks meteors, nebulae, sparks, dust and lightning over a picture and draws them on your GPU in high dynamic range. Bloom is the glow that spills out of the brightest pixels, the way a lens bleeds light around a highlight: a threshold decides what counts as bright, and a radius says how far the glow reaches. Tone mapping then folds that wide range of light back into what a screen can show.
How to use it
- Add a layer, pick its kind, and choose a gradient for its color.
- Shape it with the sliders, then set bloom, exposure and grading for the whole scene.
- Drop a picture in as the subject underneath, then save a PNG or keep the scene as a preset.
Read the guide
Words: bloom · GPU · preset
Common questions
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. On phones and touch screens the frame is drawn at 648 × 472, and Star count stops at 60,000. Every layer kind and setting is there. The controls sit in a bar at the bottom of the screen; tap it to open them. Nothing is done by touching the frame itself, so a finger and a mouse work the same way.
Can I save a video or copy the picture?
No. The tool saves a PNG of one frame, project files and presets. To catch a moment, press Pause, then Save PNG.
Is my picture uploaded?
No. Your picture is read on your device and drawn on your GPU. It is never uploaded, and never written into presets or project files. It is kept on this device, for the lab's tools, until you press × on its tile.
Why is a picture from another tool here?
Pictures you add are kept on this device for every lab tool that takes one, so you need not add them again. Press × on a tile to forget that picture; the scene then has no subject.