Post Processing¶

feel.love includes a canvas-backed 2D post-processing pipeline. Wrap the scene you want processed with fx:drawPost(drawScene).

function love.draw()
  fx:drawPost(function()
    drawWorld()
    drawActors()
  end)
  drawHud()
  fx:drawOverlay()
end

Only drawing inside fx:drawPost(...) is captured and processed. Draw HUD, menus, debug overlays, or fx:drawOverlay() afterward when they should stay crisp and unaffected by bloom, chromatic aberration, lens distortion, or grading.

The pipeline is a LOVE adapter feature, so recipes use normal emit steps.

Events¶

{ kind = "emit", event = "post.set", payload = { effect = "bloom", values = { intensity = 0.8 } } }
{ kind = "emit", event = "post.tween", payload = { effect = "chromatic", values = { force = 1, x = 0.012, y = -0.006 }, duration = 0.12 } }
{ kind = "emit", event = "post.weight", payload = { value = 0.5, duration = 0.2 } }
{ kind = "emit", event = "post.clear" }

post.set applies values immediately and enables the effect.
post.tween animates numeric values through feel.update(dt) and enables the effect.
post.enable and post.disable toggle one effect.
post.weight blends between the original scene and the processed scene.
post.clear resets every effect to neutral values.

Effects¶

Effect	Parameters	Notes
`bloom`	`intensity`, `threshold`, `softness`, `passes`	`passes` controls repeated blur rounds for a wider haze.
`chromatic`	`force`, `x`, `y`	`x` and `y` are normalized screen-space offsets.
`grade`	`exposure`, `saturation`, `hueShift`, `contrast`	Color and contrast shaping.
`lens`	`distortion`	Radial lens warp.
`vignette`	`intensity`, `radius`, `softness`	Darkens edges.
`volume`	`weight`	Controlled through `post.weight`.

Processing order is fixed: color grade, lens distortion, chromatic aberration, bloom, vignette, then global weight blend.

Chromatic x and y are normalized screen-space offsets. Small values like 0.006 to 0.015 are usually enough for a visible channel split.

Recipes¶

Bloom impact:

feel.define("impact.bloom", {
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.set", payload = { effect = "bloom", values = { threshold = 0.45, softness = 0.28, passes = 3 } } },
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.tween", payload = { effect = "bloom", values = { intensity = 1.1 }, duration = 0.1, ease = "quadout", restart = true } },
  { kind = "wait", duration = 0.16 },
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.tween", payload = { effect = "bloom", values = { intensity = 0.25 }, duration = 0.35, ease = "quadout", restart = true } },
})

For a hazy bloom, lower threshold, raise softness, increase passes, and draw a bright source inside fx:drawPost(...). Thin line art often needs a filled glow source behind it before bloom reads as a halo.

Chromatic hit:

feel.define("impact.chromatic", {
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.tween", payload = { effect = "chromatic", values = { force = 1, x = 0.012, y = -0.006 }, duration = 0.06 } },
  { kind = "wait", duration = 0.08 },
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.tween", payload = { effect = "chromatic", values = { force = 0, x = 0, y = 0 }, duration = 0.22 } },
})

Global post volume blend:

feel.define("post.duck", {
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.weight", payload = { value = 0.25, duration = 0.2 } },
  { kind = "wait", duration = 0.2 },
  { kind = "emit", event = "post.weight", payload = { value = 1, duration = 0.35 } },
})

Notes¶

fx:drawPost(drawScene) falls back to calling drawScene() directly when LOVE canvas or shader APIs are unavailable. Depth of field and moving filters are intentionally deferred until the adapter has an app-provided depth, focus, or mask story.