# Diffusion — effects technique | AIM Previz

https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/diffusion-bloom

[Previz](https://aimpreviz.com/) / [Techniques](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques) / Effects · Basic

# Diffusion

Diffusion is a effects technique: A filter that lifts blacks and blooms highlights, taking the edge off digital sharpness. The standard way to soften a face. In PREVIZ picking it sets an optical filter in Keyframe, Director and Infinitum. It reads as romantic and nostalgic, and the library rates it basic.

Published 29 Sep 2026Updated 4 Oct 2026by the PREVIZ team

What it does to the frame

A filter that lifts blacks and blooms highlights, taking the edge off digital sharpness. The standard way to soften a face.

- **Reads as** — Romantic, Nostalgic
- **Difficulty** — Basic
- **Runs in** — Keyframe · Director · Infinitum

The control it moves in PREVIZ

- Optical filter Keyframe · Director

  Pro-Mist ¼

  Gentle highlight bloom with minimal sharpness loss. Industry standard.

  subtle · stackable

Picking the technique sets these controls; it does not paste text into a prompt. The setting can be re-run, checked against the settings beside it, and carried into the next shot.

## Also in effects

The photochemical and optical textures a frame wears — grain, bloom, halation, a print process, a filter.

- **[Halation](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/halation-glow)

Intermediate · Nostalgic, Cinematic** — A red bloom around bright lights, caused by light scattering back through film stock. The signature of tungsten film shot at night.
- **[Bleach Bypass](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/bleach-bypass)

Advanced · Dramatic, Action** — Skipping the bleach step leaves silver in the print: contrast climbs, colour drains, grain hardens. Harsh and metallic.
- **[Film Grain](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/film-grain)

Basic · Nostalgic, Documentary** — Visible photochemical texture. Reads as film rather than video, and hides the plastic smoothness generated images tend toward.
- **[Day for Night](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/day-for-night)

Advanced · Cinematic, Horror** — Shot in daylight and graded to read as night. Sun becomes moonlight, which is why the shadows are always too crisp for real darkness.

## Reads the same way

Other techniques that read as romantic or nostalgic — a light or a lens to pair with this move.

- **[Butterfly Lighting](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/butterfly-lighting)

Intermediate · Romantic, Cinematic** — Key light high and dead centre, casting a small butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose. The classic glamour light.
- **[Golden Hour](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/golden-hour)

Basic · Romantic, Nostalgic** — The hour after sunrise or before sunset. Low, warm, and very soft — flattering to almost everything, which is why it is worth the wait.
- **[Blue Hour](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/blue-hour)

Intermediate · Nostalgic, Artistic** — The twilight window after the sun is gone but before full dark. Cool, even, and just bright enough to hold detail in the sky.
- **[Candlelight](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/candlelight)

Advanced · Romantic, Nostalgic** — Lit only by flame. Very warm, very soft, and falls off fast — faces glow and everything a metre away is gone.
- **[High Key](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/high-key)

Basic · Romantic, Documentary** — Bright and evenly lit with almost no shadow. The look of comedy, commercials and daytime television — nothing is hidden.
- **[Shallow Focus](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/shallow-focus)

Basic · Cinematic, Romantic** — Only a thin slice of the scene is sharp. Isolates the subject from its surroundings and is most of what makes an image read as 'cinematic'.
- **[Vintage Glass](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/vintage-glass)

Intermediate · Nostalgic, Romantic** — Older uncoated lenses: lower contrast, swirling backgrounds and flares that bloom easily. Imperfection used deliberately.

[All techniques](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques) [The studios](https://aimpreviz.com/product/rooms) [Try the platform](https://aimpreviz.com/signup)