The scene renders in high dynamic range (HDR)—values on bright emissive surfaces or strong key lights can easily exceed standard white (1.0). Tone Mapping compresses this extended dynamic range into the display color space using dedicated tone curves, gracefully rolling off values above 1.0 instead of harshly clipping them to flat white.
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| None | Applies no tone curve (default). Color values reach the display unmodified |
| Neutral | Gentle highlight roll-off that strictly preserves original hue |
| ACES Filmic | Rich cinematic contrast with smooth, controlled highlight roll-off |
| AgX | Desaturates progressively as highlights clip, preserving realistic detail in overexposed areas |
Select a mode that complements your scene aesthetic. None is ideal when strict color accuracy is required, while AgX tames intense specular highlights and pairs exceptionally well with bright rim lighting or bloom.
Exposure
Exposure scales overall scene brightness before tone mapping. A value of 1 represents neutral exposure, scaling up to ×4 (+2 stops). This is especially helpful for recovering scene brightness when using high-contrast tone curves like AgX.
Exposure works across all tone mapping modes. Even when mode is set to None, changing exposure directly adjusts overall frame brightness.
Tone mapping and exposure are not intermediate stages in the effects chain—they act as the final display transform in the output pipeline. Regardless of enabled effects, tone mapping and exposure are always evaluated last.
Last updated on November 3, 2026