The scene renders in high dynamic range — a bright emissive panel or a strong key light can carry values well above white. Tone Mapping is the curve that maps that range onto a display, deciding what happens to everything above 1 rather than letting it clip flat
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| None | No tone curve — the default. Colours reach the display exactly as authored |
| Neutral | A gentle roll-off that keeps hues where they were |
| ACES Filmic | Filmic contrast with a strong highlight roll-off |
| AgX | Desaturates as it clips, so blown highlights stay believable |
There is no correct choice. None is honest and flat; AgX is the one that survives a bright rim light without turning it into a white blob
Exposure
Overall scene brightness, multiplied in before the curve. 1 is neutral and it reaches ×4 — two stops, enough to rescue an avatar that AgX has dimmed
Exposure works in every mode, None included: with no curve selected and exposure away from 1, the frame still goes through a linear transform to apply it
Tone mapping and exposure are not stages in the effects chain — they are the display transform on the way out, so they land after everything else regardless of what else is on
Last updated on September 3, 2026