Composite
Composite multiple layers with blend modes and per-layer controls.
What it does
Composite stacks any number of layers into one, with a blend mode, opacity and smoothness for each. Layers arrive as a growing list of inputs: wire one in and a new empty slot appears for the next.
Raster mode, the default, bakes every incoming layer to a 2D image and merges them on one shared canvas using the app's blend modes (Add, Multiply, Soft Light, and so on). Field mode composites the layers in their native, resolution-independent space, which is also what makes Composite a shape combiner: Distance Fields blend with Union, Intersect and smooth-CSG modes instead of image blend modes. Every layer in the stack must live in the same domain, all images or all shapes.
When to use it
Merging several images, layers or generated fields into one result with per-layer blend mode and opacity, as a flatten step partway through a graph.
Combining shapes with boolean operations: union, intersect, subtract, smooth blends. Set Mode to Field.
Keeping each layer at its own place in the 3D scene rather than collapsing onto a flat canvas. Set Composite to In World, Raster mode only.
| Parameter | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
mode | String | "Raster" |
composite | String | "Flatten" |
strength | Number | 1 |
Gotchas
Per-layer Smoothness feeds the smooth-blend maths in Field mode: smooth union, intersect and subtract. In Raster mode it still rides along per layer, but acts only on blend modes that use it. Leave it at 0 outside the smooth-CSG modes.
Mode expects every wired layer to be the same kind of thing: an all-image stack in Raster mode, an all-shape or Distance-Field stack in Field mode. Mixing the two domains in one Composite is an error, not a silent blend.
Composite applies in Raster mode only, and changes how the viewport presents the result: one flattened canvas against each layer staying at its own world placement. The data this node outputs is the same flattened image either way, so anything wired downstream sees no difference. This toggle is a viewport look, not a data change.
Worked example
Add a Composite and wire two or more layers into its layer inputs. A new empty slot appears each time you fill one.
For each layer, pick a blend mode and dial in its opacity.
Leave Mode on Raster for an ordinary image merge, or switch it to Field and use Union / Intersect / smooth-CSG modes to combine shapes instead.
In Raster mode, set Composite to In World to keep the layers placed in the 3D scene rather than flattened onto one canvas.