Change Blending Modes with Kdenlive Track Compositing
This article provides a direct, step-by-step guide on how to use the “Track Compositing” dropdown menu in the Kdenlive timeline header. You will learn how to activate compositing and select the appropriate mode to enable blending, transparency, and transitions between overlapping video tracks in your project.
Step 1: Locate the Track Compositing Dropdown
The Track Compositing dropdown menu is located in the timeline toolbar, which sits directly above your video and audio tracks. Look for a dropdown menu that typically displays High Quality, Standard, or None by default.
Step 2: Choose Your Compositing Mode
To allow blending modes and transparency to work between your tracks, click the dropdown menu and select one of the following options:
- High Quality: This is the recommended setting for editing. It enables full track compositing, allowing all blending modes, alpha channels, and complex transitions (like “Composite and Transform”) to render correctly in your preview and final export.
- None: This option disables all compositing. Tracks will simply stack on top of each other with no transparency or blending. Use this if you need to temporarily boost system performance while editing complex timelines.
Step 3: Apply a Blending Mode to Your Clips
Once Track Compositing is set to High Quality, you can apply specific blending modes (such as Screen, Multiply, or Overlay) to your clips:
- Place the video or image you want to blend on a track above your background video (e.g., place the overlay on V2 and the background on V1).
- Right-click the top clip on the timeline, hover over Insert an Effect, and select Transform or Composite and Transform. Alternatively, double-click the bottom-right corner of the clip to automatically add a Composite and Transform transition.
- Select the transition or effect block on the timeline to open the Properties panel.
- In the Properties panel, locate the Compositing or Blend Mode dropdown menu.
- Select your desired blending mode (e.g., Screen for light overlays, Multiply for dark overlays) to see the changes update in the Project Monitor immediately.