The Moonlight effect fills the center of your screen with a soft, cool-toned pool of light that fades to black at the edges, with a slow, automatic flicker built in. It turns your screen into a dim, moody accent light for intimate or narrative video rather than a bright, even source.
Before you start
- A screen you can dedicate to the effect, positioned to face your subject or camera the way you'd place a practical light — Moonlight is a light source, not a background you sit in front of.
- A darker room, if possible. Moonlight is a subtle, low-brightness effect by design; strong room light will wash out both its color and its flicker.
Set it up
- Open the Moonlight effect on the screen you're using as your light.
- Position that screen facing your subject, angled the way you'd aim a practical light for the shot.
- Set Color Temperature to the tone you want — Daylight or Cool White for a crisp blue-white glow, Neutral for a balanced tone, or Warm White or Tungsten for a softer, warmer edge.
- Set Brightness. Moonlight reads best as a dim, ambient source, so start low — around 20–40 — and raise it only if the shot still needs more fill.
- Select Go Fullscreen. Controls fade out after five seconds without mouse movement so they never show up on camera; move your mouse to bring them back.
You'll know it worked when a soft ellipse of colored light sits in the center of the screen, fading to black toward the edges, with a slow, subtle brightness pulse.
To leave fullscreen, press Escape or move your mouse and select Exit Fullscreen.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness | 10–100 | Overall intensity of the glow before the automatic flicker is applied. Moonlight is a dim light by design — most setups look best in the lower half of the range. |
| Color Temperature | Daylight, Cool White, Neutral, Warm White, Tungsten | Tints the center of the glow, from a crisp blue-white down to a warm amber. The tone fades toward gray as it reaches the edges of the ellipse. |
Common setups
- Moody narrative or short-film scenes. Color Temperature Cool White or Daylight, Brightness 25–35. A dim, blue-toned pool reads as night or moonlight through a window without overpowering the rest of the frame.
- ASMR or intimate content. Neutral or Warm White, Brightness 20–30, with room lights off. The low brightness keeps the flicker and glow visible without glare.
- Layered with a practical lamp. Brightness 15–25 as background fill, with a desk lamp doing the main work of lighting your face. Moonlight adds cool ambient color behind you rather than lighting you directly.
- Photography or video backdrop. Brightness 45–55, Daylight or Cool White, screen positioned behind the subject for a soft rim-lit or silhouette look.
Troubleshooting
The glow looks too bright and loses the mood. Moonlight is meant to be a dim accent light, so values above 60 start reading like a lit screen rather than moonlight. Bring Brightness down into the 20–40 range and darken the room instead of pushing it further.
The corners of my screen stay black. Expected — the glow is a soft ellipse that fades to transparent well before it reaches the edges, revealing the black background behind it. If you need light across the full screen instead of a centered pool, use Full Screen Light.
The color looks gray instead of the Color Temperature I picked. The glow blends your chosen color at the center into a fixed grayish-blue midtone as it spreads outward, so the color you selected is strongest right in the middle of the ellipse and fades toward gray at the edges. Pick a temperature farther from neutral, like Daylight or Tungsten, if you want the tint to read more clearly.
The flicker seems too subtle to notice. It's a slow, gentle brightness pulse, not a strobe, and there's no control to speed it up or intensify it — it runs the same way every time the effect is selected. If you want a more noticeable pulsing light, a strobe-based effect will give you a stronger, adjustable version of that.
Moonlight doesn't light my whole room. It's built as a soft, centered accent light, not a broad source — the edges fade to black by design. Pair it with a practical lamp for general room light, or switch to Full Screen Light when you need maximum, edge-to-edge brightness.
The effect won't go fullscreen. Some browsers block fullscreen until you've interacted with the page. Click anywhere on the page and select Go Fullscreen again. You can also open the effect URL with #fullscreen on the end to start in fullscreen.
Next steps
For a warmer, more romantic mood instead of Moonlight's cool tone, try Golden Hour. For high-contrast, dramatic lighting instead of a soft glow, see Film Noir.