I’m not saying color grading is a bad thing, but I personally prefer natural lighting in games over “cinematic” filters.

See more examples: https://imgur.com/a/z6zyTo4

  •  JokeDeity   ( @JokeDeity@lemm.ee ) 
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    1611 months ago

    I don’t think the original is that bad honestly, but I do install reshade in just about every game I play so I can understand. Bottom picture has too high contrast though and levels need adjusted.

    •  apinanaivot   ( @apinanaivot@sopuli.xyz ) OP
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      11 months ago

      It’s a matter of taste. I set the contrast so that the brightest pixel in the scene is 100% white, and the darkest 100% black, so there is the highest possible dynamic range (and nothing is over or underexposed). The vanilla kind of looks like there is mist everywhere since it’s so washed out.

      • I prefer crushing the whites (a bit of overexposure) than crushing the black. It feels more realistic.

        Do people have differences in how bright they see the worlds colors, I wonder? I know, of personal experience, that colors for a single person can literally look bleaker when one is depressed. And then theres people with better night vision than others.

  •  PotjiePig   ( @PotjiePig@beehaw.org ) 
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    11 months ago

    The first one looks natural to me. The second grade looks like a 1st year film school grade where they think the full range has to be used at all times. In a soft well lit room the contrast would never be that high.

    The intention was clearly to make it look like a warm interior, adding all those grungy green tones make it look like she’s standing by a window. I dunno the context of the room, but number 1 looks way better to me…

    Edit: Final thought - crushing blacks like that, from a game perspective means you may miss details that may have been meant to be seen. But power to you! Options are always better.