Color & grading
Looks, skin protection, contrast, and how to write grade lines into Imagine packets — the finish pass after lighting and lenses.
Neon practical split
Motivated gels from signs, not LUTs only.
Color comes from practical neon — magenta tubes, teal signage, amber shop light. Grade supports sources rather than inventing a second palette.
Skin
Lit by practical spill; keep natural undertone
Contrast
High local · wet speculars
Saturation
High on lights · restrained midtones
When
Neon Courier, wet alley stills
Avoid
Random rainbow gels with no practicals in frame
Pairs with
Neon DoP card · rain plates
Packet crumb
neon-motivated grade, teal and amber practical spill, wet reflections, skin natural under gel spill
White balance & color temperature
What “white” means in the scene.
Warm (tungsten/candle) vs cool (daylight/overcast/neon cyan). Mixed temps are fine when motivated. Unmotivated green/magenta casts read as mistakes.
Rule
Match WB story to practicals in the DoP card.
Studio tip
Candle = warm key; don’t “correct” it to daylight unless story shifts.
Project grade recipes
Tied to Academy presets — drop into DoP color line or Prompt lab.
Neon Courier grade
Wet night thriller
Look
Neon practical split + mild teal/amber
Lighting link
Teal rim · amber fill
When
All alley stills/clips
Packet
neon-motivated teal/amber grade, warm skin under spill, wet speculars, medium-high contrast, no plastic orange skin
Cheat sheet
Look + skin + contrast pattern
COLOR & GRADE CHEAT (Studio Academy) Looks: teal-orange · neon split · cold steel · warm candle · bleach · pastel · mono · natural Rules 1. White balance follows practicals / DoP card 2. Protect skin when stylizing environments 3. One hue-contrast strategy per sequence 4. Chroma hierarchy: hero color > support > mute field 5. Grade continuity across stills + extends 6. Prompt: [look] + [skin line] + [contrast] + [sat] Pattern neon-motivated teal/amber grade, warm skin protected, medium-high contrast, controlled saturation