Color Corrections [V]

I'll walk over my color correction process step-by-step in this.
This is a part five of a six-part guide, further covers my aesthetic mods.

Tools you need

Photoshop - https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
It has a free trial you could try out for this guide.



I'm using an earlier version of Photoshop (14.2), dating back to the stone age, which is 2014.
To make color corrections, you need Photoshop. If you don't have it, you can't proceed.

Find an image you like

To avoid wasting time jerking off sliders at random in the hopes that our color correction may start to look decent, we need a reference image to work with. Look for a real picture or a screenshot from your favorite movie, artwork, or a video game.

I'll pick this image.

Getting a screenshot for reference

Now boot up L4D, grab a quick mod that disables color corrections.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3296951138&searchtext=color+correction+disabler
Preferably have your HUD off, just to get a clearer screenshot.
Load a level that you like, find a good angle and snap a shot.
I have fog removed, and some custom skyboxes for my liking.

The most important part is to have ALL color corrections DISABLED.

Grab a clean color correction (CC)

We need an empty CC so we can apply our custom colors to it.
Check steamapps\common\Left 4 Dead 2\left4dead2\materials\correction, named "off".
That's a clean color correction, we can use it for the gradient map later.

Swatches

We'll use the color grading technique to make cc's.
First we need to extract some colors from our custom image.
Open up Photoshop, drag and drop.

Press file - save for WEB.



We only need 5 colors, it's really enough.
Save the color table to your desktop.



You can remove this image now, we got what we wanted.
Now open up your L4D2 screenshot.



Drag and drop that empty cc ("off") we took from corrections folder.
Take note, all color corrections are 32x1024, press OK.



You need to confirm placing it, you can select the rectangle tool to trigger the confirmation.
It might place automatically for you, this maybe just a bug for older versions of photoshop.



Now prepare your swatches (the color table we saved earlier).
Head up and open the windows tab, press swatches.



Now we need to replace the default colors with our custom ones.



Select the color table you saved earlier, select .ACT so you can see them.
You'll see the color table appear, select it.



Now we're ready.



Quick tip

Alternatively, you can use this website to find dominant colors, and apply them.
Photoshop can help you detect those too, but it's just my preference.
https://www.imgonline.com.ua/eng/get-dominant-colors.php



See the color tags? you can copy and add them directly to your swatches or gradient map.

Gradient Map

Let's add the gradient map.



You should see the gradient map appear in properties.
I suggest you organize the workplace a bit, so the interface isn't as convoluted.
We only need to see - swatches, gradient map, and our layers.

Anyway, press and open your gradient map in properties.



Select black and white.



Now it's time to apply our custom colors.
You must edit and add color stops, those small cubes underneath.

Ignore the ones on top.



Let's do the white one first, press it once for selection.



Now you'll be able to use the color picker, pick a color from your swatches.
Make note of the brightness percentage, in my case it's 73% for this color.



Set that brightness percentage in "Location".



Now let's do the second black one.
Repeat the same steps, select the color stop.
Open up its color, pick another color from your swatches.
Check it's brightness percentage, apply it to "location".
Then add more color stops, press in the middle to add them.

It's very simple and easy, we're just applying our custom colors.
You'll get the hang of it, it's really nothing.
Once you're done, press OK to apply everything.



Let's set a blending mode for our layers.
Choose and pick what you like best.
Overlay, soft light, hard light, whatever.



Play around with opacity, see what looks best to you.

Curves

Let's match the colors even further.
First go ahead and add curves.



Now drag and drop your custom image.
We'll pick it's tones and then apply them to our CC.



Press on your curves, and make sure to select the layer thumbnail.
By default the white canvas is selected, which prevents you from doing anything.



Time to pick tones, three of them.

To apply tones, locate the darkest area on the custom image, select it, then look for the darkest spot on your L4D screenshot and press on it. Repeat with the brightest tone, and the mid tone (mid tones are usually just neutral looking gray areas).



I'll start with the brightest point.
Double click on the white picker.
Don't forget to select the layer thumbnail of your curves.



That star is the brightest spot, so I'll just pick that.
Once that point is picked, you press OK.
It will ask if you want to save the colors as default, hell no.



Now I gotta find the brightest spot on the L4D screenshot, the lights.



Pick that point, and that's pretty much the gist of it all.
Play around with different spots, see what you like best.



Play around with curves too, if it's too dark for your liking.
Try different blend modes, lower opacity, whatever you like.
It's up to you now, experiment or even start over try a different image.



It'll take some time, but you'll understand what you're doing.
Photoshop's interface is a bit annoying to navigate at first.

Exporting & Packing

Hide or remove the reference image, and the l4d screenshot.
Select all layers, right click and press merge visible.



Now select the color correction and crop it.
You can zoom in and use the rectangle selection tool.




Now press image - image size.



As you remember, all color corrections must be 32x1024.
Resolution should also be 100, set everything correctly.

And hit ok.



After that, just press file - save as, save it as .RAW, press ok, and so on.



I'll assume you know how to pack it into a vpk, and test it in game.
If you don't know such basics, I don't know what you're even doing here.

Disable vignette

You might test the color correction and notice some awful edges.
That's the games vignette effect, it breaks if you go crazy with cc's.
It's just some dumb and useless overlay effect, I recommend removing it.

You'll find it in steamapps\common\Left 4 Dead 2\left4dead2's pak01_dir.



If you're too lazy navigating and looking for a way to disable it, just grab one of my mods.
Team Psykskallar Aesthetics has this thing overwritten and removed.

Some words

Sometimes no matter how much you try, your CC might still look trash.
Not all custom images are salvageable, try different images for inspiration.
Here's a quick compilation of my color corrections that have a bit more effort.

[NECROMANCER]

Seems like a sketchy website.

[yoru]

rutracker

[NECROMANCER]

Do you know how to get the 14.2 version of Photoshop? I Tried and tried but i just cant find a way too, it makes it hard to follow this guide with one of the latest versions of Photoshop, the only other versions i can get are versions from 2020.

[TechnoTürke187]

gg

[Ada]

this is great, thank you!

[s1wx3]

thanks!

[yoru]

you ruined the surprise

[Kreze]

Giving Head [Part 6/6]