Welcome to another one of my mapping tutorials. In this tutorial, I will be teaching you how to set up Color Correction in your maps.

What is Color Correction?

Color Correction is a technique used by most cinematographers in order to help give a movie or a video a certain effect. Color Correction usually lets the viewer know what the feel of the movie/video is like, if it's cold or if it's warm, etc. The Source engine now supports these kinds of effects, so you can do the same thing with your maps.

Color Correction, along with HDR, has been available for mappers ever since the release of Half Life 2 Episode 1, and today, I'm going to be teaching you how to add Color Correction to your maps using 2 methods; The Point entity, and the brush entity.

Let's get started!

Creating the .RAW file

First thing's first. In order for Color Correction to work, it requires a .raw file, which is what you need to create first.


1. So, Open up Counter Strike Source, and create a server with any of the default maps. I've gone ahead and used cs_assault.


In order for Color Correction to work, you must have Color Correction Enabled in your Video Options, so don't forget it!


2. Now, open up your console, and type in the following commands:
   
   
   
   • sv_cheats 1
   
   
   • colorcorrectionui
   
   Once done so, you should get something like this:




The ColorCorrectionUI editor is similar to using Adobe Photoshop. It allows you to create/delete layers, edit Color Balance, Color Levels, Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation and much more, so if you're experienced with Photoshop, this shouldn't really be much of a problem for you.

If you don't want to use the same settings as me, skip to step 5.


3. I'm going to be editing the Layer settings, so that the map ends up looking Black n White. So go ahead and create a new layer with the Selected HSV Tool Filter and call it whatever you want. Use these settings:




Note: If you can't see any changes and you have Color Correction enabled in your Video Options, you must Check Enable in the Color Correction Tools Window.


4. Now, I've gone ahead and created another layer with the Levels Filter. Once again, name it what you want, it doesn't matter as long as you know what it is. I used the following Settings:




All that did was just darken it a little bit.

Those are the only settings that I'm going to change, but you can change as many as you like, until you get what you want.


5. Once you have the settings you want, you need to save the .raw file. So in the bottom right corner of the Color Correction Tools Window, press Save.



6. The .raw file must be saved in the Cstrike/Materials/Correction folder. If the folders don't exist, you must create them.




You now have a .raw file ready for use in your maps!

Using the Entities


Now that you have the .raw file created, you need to incorporate it into your map. This can be done by using 2 entities: color_correction_volume and color_correction.

Color_correction_Volume

The entity color_correction_volume is a brush entity, which acts like a trigger. Once you enter the brush, the color correction will be enabled. This is good for when you want to add Color Correction to selected parts of your map.

Setting it up in your map

1. Open up your map, or just quickly create one for this tutorial.





2. Now, create a brush covered in the tools/toolstrigger texture and tie it to color_correction_volume.





3. Now, while the Properties window is Opened, edit the following Options:




• Lookup Fade Duration: 0.1


• Lookup Table Filename: materials/correction/cc_tut.raw




Lookup Fade Duration is the speed at which the Color Correction fades in once the player enters the trigger. You can set it to whatever you want, but in order for it to fade in quickly, I have mine set to 0.1.

Lookup Table Filename is where you enter the directory of your .raw file you created earlier in relation to the cstrike folder. Since mine was called cc_tut.raw, I typed in materials/correction/cc_tut.raw.

There rest of the settings can remain at default.



That's it for setting up the color_correction_volume entity. Test it out, and when the player enters the brush, it should trigger the Color Correction.

Color_correction

Unlike the color_correction_volume entity, the color_correction entity displays the Color Correction Effect throughout the entire map.

1. Open up your map, or quickly whip up a new one.





2. Using the entity tool(Shift+E), add in the entity color_correction and open up it's properties window.





3. You will need to change the following settings:
   
   
   
   • Lookup Falloff Start Distance: -1
   
   
   • Lookup Falloff End Distance: -1
   
   
   • Lookup Table Filename: materials/correction/cc_tut.raw
   
   
   
   
   Lookup Falloff Start Distance is used to determine at what distance will the entity be at full intensity. Keep it at -1 and it will show everywhere.
   
   Lookup Falloff End Distance is The Distance from the entity at which the Color Correction will no longer take effect. Keep it at -1 just like the Lookup Falloff Start Distance.
   
   Lookup Table Filename is where you enter the directory of your .raw file you created earlier in relation to the cstrike folder. Since mine was called cc_tut.raw, I typed in materials/correction/cc_tut.raw.
   
   
   
   You're done! Compile your map, and you should notice that no matter where you go, the Color Correction should be enabled.
   
   
   

Thank you for reading my tutorial, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to PM me or leave a comment.

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