# Halation, vignette and grain

Edit / Edit effect / Motion and finish. Checked 2026-11-13.

Rendered or generated footage looks photographed.

- Use when: The last pass on code-rendered and 3D video.
- Phrase: warm halation around the bright areas, a soft vignette, fine grain over everything
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/effect/film-finish
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/effect/film-finish.json

## Watch out

- Grain at 2 to 5 percent, and never two grain layers on top of each other. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)
- Effects are the finish on a scene, never the idea. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is halation, vignette and grain: rendered or generated footage looks photographed. How it works: warm halation around the bright areas, a soft vignette, fine grain over everything. It is right for: the last pass on code-rendered and 3D video. Grain at 2 to 5 percent, and never two grain layers on top of each other. Effects are the finish on a scene, never the idea. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- 35mm film: https://directorchair.ai/texture/film-35mm
- Light leak on the cut: https://directorchair.ai/transition/light-leak-cut
- The look block: https://directorchair.ai/look/global-look-block

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics and Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.