Resolume Layers — Controls + Auto Mask

Layers are the horizontal rows of your composition — and the unit where most of the actual mixing work happens. This is the lesson where every layer control, the X/B/S buttons, the right-click menu, the way Resolume renders bottom-to-top, and the Auto Mask trick that solves the top-layer-priority problem all get walked through.

Lesson 8 in our beginner course, right after Lesson 7 on Blend Modes. Blend modes matter here — specifically Alpha — so make sure you've got those down first.

Selecting a Layer

Click on the layer's name (not the row body) — this brings up the Layer panel with the master controls for that specific layer.

Inside the Layer panel you have:

• Master Opacity + Video Opacity
• Master Blend Mode
• Width / Height
• Transition Blend Mode + Transition Duration
• Transform (Position X/Y + Scale)

Right-click any control to reset it to default. Saves a lot of "wait, what was the original value" moments.

Transport Options (per Clip, in Layer Controls)

Layer controls also let you set transport behavior for clips in that layer:

Restart / Continue / Relative — Clip Re-Trigger Behavior

Three modes that decide what happens when you re-click a clip:

• Restart — every re-click takes the clip back to frame zero
• Continue — clip resumes from wherever it last left off (even if you triggered other clips in between)
• Relative — clip's playback position stays in sync with whatever the previously-triggered Relative clip was at. Powerful for matching beat positions across multiple clips you mix between.

Speed Controls

Every clip has its own speed, and the Layer panel's transport section also has a layer-level Speed control that applies to all clips in that layer. Above both sits the master composition speed, which affects every clip in every layer at once. Useful for global tempo matching.

Blend Modes + Transitions in Layers

Two blend modes per layer:

• Master Blend Mode — how the layer composites with what's beneath it (covered in depth in Lesson 7). Rob's default: Alpha.
• Transition Blend Mode — how clip-to-clip transitions blend within this layer. Rob's default: Alpha.

Transition Duration: Rob's recommendation is to manually plug in the same duration 1-2 seconds for every layer. Consistent transition timing across layers makes mixing look clean. Use the per-layer Transition tab in the Layer panel.

X / B / S Buttons — Live Mix Controls

Three small buttons on each layer that change live mixing:

• X — kill the clip currently playing in this layer
• B (Bypass) — silence this layer entirely. Other layers still mix normally.
• S (Solo) — ONLY this layer shows. Everything else hidden until you turn solo off.

Crossfader A / B Channels

Each layer can be assigned to crossfader channel A or B. The crossfader slider then blends between the channels — gives you finer mix control than fading individual layer opacities. Especially useful with a hardware controller mapped to the crossfader.

Right-Click Layer Menu

Right-click any layer's name (or use the Layer tab menu) for the full set of options:

• New layer
• Insert above / below selected
• Duplicate
• Rename
• Copy Effects / Paste Effects — huge for re-using effect stacks across layers
• Group (covered in Lesson 9 — pending)
• Clear all clips
• Remove layer
• Create Masking Layer (future tutorial)
• Color (visual organization)
• Fold (collapse layer to save real estate)

How Resolume Renders — Bottom to Top

Critical mental model: Resolume renders layers bottom to top. Layer 1 is the bottom of the stack — each numbered layer above it renders on top, so the highest-numbered layer sits on top of everything beneath it. Push that top layer's Video Opacity to 100% and the layers below disappear entirely.

Push the top layer to 50% and you get a blend — but the result usually looks messy because of the default blend mode.

Add Blend Mode → "White Soup"

The default blend mode for layers is Add. Add stacks the color values of every layer, which means brights get brighter and brighter and brighter — until you're staring at blown-out whiteness that Rob calls "white soup."

Switch to Alpha for cleaner layered mixing. We covered this default-change in Lesson 2 (changing the global default from Add to Alpha) — this is the WHY.

One Honest Note About Alpha

Alpha blends cleaner than Add, but it can feel dimmer. Here's why: with Add, the Video Opacity slider reaches the full Add blend by 50% — from 50% up, it crossfades the blend toward solid Alpha instead of getting "more Add." With Alpha, the slider is true-to-scale — 50% means an actual 50% mix, and cranking it to 100% genuinely gets brighter.

Alpha isn't dimmer than Add. It's just honest about the value. Push it past 50% if you want what Add was giving you for free.

The Auto Mask Trick — Lesson Highlight

Here's the problem you'll hit: you switch to Alpha for cleanliness, crank layer opacities to 100% for proper brightness, and now the top layer hides everything beneath it again. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

The trick: Auto Mask. Native effect inside Resolume.

1. Effects tab → search Auto Mask
2. Drag Auto Mask onto every layer (drop it on the layer or directly into the layer panel)
3. In each layer's effect panel, find Auto Mask → bring Contrast to 1
4. Crank all layer Video Opacities to 100%

Result: all layers visible at full opacity AND blending cleanly via Alpha. No more priority problem. No more dimness compromise.

Rob's recommendation: do this on every layer of every composition you build. It's the single trick that separates muddy beginner stacks from pro-looking comps.

Layer Ordering Best Practice

Once Auto Mask is in place, layer order becomes about creative choice not technical workaround:

• Top layers: overlays, masks, branded accents, effects-driven content
• Middle layers: primary content + mid-ground visuals
• Bottom layers: backgrounds, base imagery, base audio-reactive content

Experiment with order before you build out a deep stack. The same clips can look completely different at different layer positions.

Cheat Sheet

• Select a layer: click its name
• Reset any control: right-click it
• X / B / S: kill clip / bypass layer / solo layer
• Default blend mode: Alpha (not Add — avoids white soup)
• Render order: bottom to top, top takes priority at 100%
• Auto Mask trick: drop on every layer, contrast to 1, crank opacities to 100% — all layers visible, all blending cleanly
• Transition duration: match across layers (1-2s)
• Copy/paste effects: right-click → for stack reuse across layers

What's Next

Once Layers click, the next foundational topic is Groups — bundling layers so you can apply one effect, ride one opacity fader, and manage whole sections as a unit. That's Lesson 9, and it's live.

The full beginner course path:

1. Install & interface
2. Composition Settings
3. Composition Layout
4. Display Output
5. Codec Conversion
6. Audio Reactivity
7. Blend Modes
8. Layers (you're here)
9. Groups
10. Masking

The two highest-leverage next moves once Layers + Auto Mask click:

• Custom Transitions (Transition Phases) — Rex's trick for turning any effect into a clip-to-clip transition driver
• Effect Stacks — workflow for building and re-using effect chains (pairs with Copy Effects / Paste Effects from the right-click menu above)

Frequently Asked Questions

Auto Mask not behaving how you'd expect, or curious about applying the same technique to grouped layers? Drop a comment on the video inside the Academy or email vjacademy@outlook.com and we'll walk through it with you.