Academy · Lesson 4 of 5
Tungsten Night
CineStill energy — cool shadows, glowing highlights.
What this lesson teaches
- Tungsten balance pushes the frame blue on purpose
- Contrast + lifted blacks keep neon looks readable
- Small saturation moves, big perceived shifts
The 3 stages you rebuild
- 1. White balance — Set the temperature and tint first — every colour decision depends on it.
- 2. Exposure & tone — Brightness, contrast and the tonal extremes. Watch the highlights and blacks.
- 3. Presence & colour — Clarity, dehaze and saturation give the look its intensity — restraint wins.
The target look, in numbers
Exposure +0.05 EV · Contrast +14 · Highlights −28 · Shadows +18 · Vibrance +14 · Saturation −2 · 4100 K · 4-point curve · HSL 4 bands · 3-way grade · split tone.
You are not shown these while playing — the exercise is to reach them by eye and find out how close you got. The same values can be opened in the Studio afterwards.
← Academy
3 stages · hints cost points · precision earns stars