Color Grading
Final color and contrast look of the image
Also known as: Color grading · LUT · Look-up table · Color correction · Color Adjustments · Post process color
Definition
Color grading is the final adjustment of color, contrast and saturation across the whole image to give it a particular look, such as warm and golden, cold and desaturated, or high contrast and punchy. In games it is done in post-processing with controls for lift, gamma and gain, saturation and white balance, or with a lookup table, or LUT, a small image that maps input colors to graded colors and can be made in Photoshop or similar tools.
In production
Grade after the lighting and materials are in place, and keep a neutral version to compare. Subtle grading works best, as heavy grading hides problems and fights the art direction. In Unreal Engine use the Post Process Volume's color grading or a LUT texture, and in Unity use the Color Adjustments and Lookup Texture overrides of a Volume. Check the grade on several scenes, since a look that works for one can break another.
Tools that use Color Grading
See also
Tonemapping
HDR → display-range remapping
Color Temperature
Warm and cool light measured in Kelvin
Exposure
Overall brightness of the camera image
Volume (Post-Processing)
Unity post-processing and lighting overrides
Color Management and ACES
Linear light, color spaces and view transforms
Bloom
Soft glow around bright pixels
Color Script
Color plan for a story or a game