Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms you will meet across CGA courses, projects, and the Master's Program.
Color science and perception
Chroma / saturation
How strong or pure a color is, from neutral grey to fully vivid. Chroma describes colorfulness relative to a same-brightness grey; saturation is the everyday term for the same idea.
Color space
A defined set of primaries, a white point, and a transfer function that together describe how code values map to real colors. Rec.709, P3-D65, and ACES AP1 are examples.
Gamut
The range of colors a color space, camera, or display can represent. Colors outside it are called out of gamut and must be mapped or clipped.
Hue
The attribute that names a color family, such as red, orange, or teal, independent of how bright or saturated it is.
Luminance
A measure of how bright light appears to the human eye, weighted by our sensitivity to different wavelengths. Displays express it in nits (cd/m²).
Perceptual uniformity
The property of a color model where equal numeric steps look like equal visual steps. Perceptually uniform spaces make grading adjustments behave more predictably.
Primaries
The red, green, and blue reference colors that define a color space. Wider primaries mean a larger gamut.
Psychophysics
The study of how physical stimuli such as light and color translate into perception. At CGA it is the basis for understanding why a grade works on an audience, not just on a scope.
White point
The color that a system treats as neutral white, such as D65 (about 6504 K daylight). Colors are judged relative to it.
Color management and pipelines
ACES
The Academy Color Encoding System, an open color management framework from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It standardizes how footage from different cameras is brought into a common working space and output to any display.
ACEScct
A logarithmic ACES working space designed for grading, with a toe that makes lift and shadow adjustments feel like traditional log grading.
CDL (ASC Color Decision List)
A simple, standard way to describe a primary grade using Slope, Offset, Power, and Saturation. CDLs let a look travel between on-set tools, dailies, VFX, and the final grade.
Color management
The practice of controlling how images are converted between camera, working, and display color spaces so that the picture looks as intended everywhere it is viewed.
CST (Color Space Transform)
A conversion from one color space and transfer function to another, for example from camera log to a grading working space.
Display-referred
A workflow where values are tied to a specific display's output. Simpler to set up, but less flexible when delivering to several displays or HDR.
IDT / ODT
Input and Output Device Transforms in ACES. The IDT brings a camera's footage into ACES; the output transform renders the ACES image for a specific display.
LOG
A logarithmic encoding that cameras use to store a wide dynamic range efficiently. LOG footage looks flat and low-contrast until it is transformed for display.
LUT (Look-Up Table)
A table that maps input values to output values. 1D LUTs change each channel independently; 3D LUTs remap colors across all three channels at once and can encode conversions or looks.
Rec.709
The ITU standard for HD television, and still the most common SDR delivery color space.
Rec.2020
The ITU color space for UHD and HDR, with much wider primaries than Rec.709.
P3-D65 / DCI-P3
Wide-gamut color spaces used in digital cinema (DCI-P3) and in HDR mastering and many modern displays (P3-D65).
Scene-referred
A workflow where values represent light in the original scene rather than a display. Grading in a scene-referred space keeps the image flexible for any output.
Show LUT
A LUT built for a specific production that carries the agreed look from set to post, so everyone sees a consistent image. CGA's Master's curriculum covers building and managing show LUTs.
Transfer function
The curve that relates code values to light. An OETF encodes scene light in the camera; an EOTF decodes values to light on the display (for example gamma 2.4 or PQ).
HDR
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
Mastering and display formats that reproduce brighter highlights, deeper detail, and wider color than SDR.
Dolby Vision
A proprietary HDR format that stores dynamic metadata so each shot can be mapped well to displays with different capabilities.
HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma)
A broadcast-friendly HDR transfer function that remains viewable on SDR displays.
Nits
Units of luminance (candelas per square meter). SDR reference is typically 100 nits; HDR masters are often graded on 1,000-nit displays.
PQ (SMPTE ST 2084)
The Perceptual Quantizer, an absolute HDR transfer function that encodes luminance up to 10,000 nits.
Grading tools and techniques
Balancing
Neutralizing color casts and setting consistent exposure and contrast so a shot has a clean starting point before the look is applied.
Curves
Controls that remap tonal or color values along a curve for precise adjustment of contrast, channels, or hue-versus-saturation relationships.
DCTL
DaVinci Color Transform Language, a scripting language for writing custom color tools that run inside DaVinci Resolve. CGA's DCTL Builder course teaches you to write your own.
Look
The overall creative color treatment of a project: its palette, contrast, texture, and mood.
Look design
The process of building an original look from story intent through to a repeatable, technically sound setup, rather than applying presets.
Node / node tree
In DaVinci Resolve, each node is one step of processing. A node tree is the arrangement of serial, parallel, and layer nodes that makes up a grade. Good node tree design keeps grades organized, fast, and consistent.
Power window
A shape used to isolate part of the frame for a targeted correction, such as brightening a face or darkening a sky.
Primary grade
Adjustments that affect the whole image, such as lift, gamma, gain, offset, contrast, and saturation.
Qualifier
A key that isolates pixels by hue, saturation, or luminance so a correction affects only those colors, for example skin tones or a single sky.
Secondary grade
Adjustments limited to part of the image using qualifiers, windows, or masks.
Shot matching
Adjusting shots so they cut together seamlessly, holding consistent exposure, contrast, and color across a sequence.
Tracking
Making a window follow a moving subject automatically across the frames of a shot.
Scopes
Histogram
A graph showing how many pixels fall at each brightness level.
Parade (RGB parade)
A waveform shown separately for the red, green, and blue channels, useful for spotting color casts and balancing.
Skin tone line
A reference line on the vectorscope around which human skin tones of all ethnicities tend to fall.
Vectorscope
A circular display of hue and saturation. The angle shows hue and the distance from the center shows saturation.
Waveform
A graph of luminance or signal level across the width of the frame, used to judge exposure and contrast objectively.
Texture and film emulation
Diffusion / bloom
A soft glow around bright areas, imitating optical diffusion filters or lens behavior.
Film emulation
Recreating the color and tonal response of photochemical film stocks digitally. CGA teaches film emulation grounded in real photochemistry rather than LUT packs.
Grain
The random texture of film, or a digital recreation of it, that adds organic detail and helps a digital image feel filmic.
Halation
A reddish-orange glow around bright highlights caused by light scattering back through film layers, often recreated for an analog look.
Texture
The surface quality of an image: grain, halation, diffusion, sharpness, and softness. Texture is a core part of look design, not an afterthought.
Industry and workflow
Baselight
A high-end grading system from FilmLight, widely used in feature film and episodic finishing. Master's students take Baselight modules in Phase 03.
Calibrated display
A monitor measured and adjusted to a known standard so what you see is accurate. Master's students need one by Phase 02.
Conform
Rebuilding the edit in the grading system from the original camera media so the colorist works on full-quality footage.
DaVinci Resolve
Blackmagic Design's editing, color, and finishing application, and the default grading software in CGA courses.
Deliverables
The final files a project must hand over, such as SDR and HDR masters, broadcast versions, and archival formats, each with its own technical specification.
DIT (Digital Imaging Technician)
The on-set crew member who manages camera data, on-set color, and quality control.
Grading panel
A hardware control surface with trackballs, rings, and knobs that makes grading faster and more tactile than a mouse. Recommended for Master's students by Phase 03.
Reference monitor
A professional display built to show images to a precise standard, used for final color decisions.
At Color Grading Academy
Art of Color
CGA's Discord community, where students collaborate, share work for critique, and get support.
Final Look Design assignment
The Master's capstone: a complete look design on footage you choose, defended in front of Dado and the cohort and judged on editorial intent.
Master's Certificate
The credential awarded to graduates of the Master's Program once they complete its assessments, capstone, and thesis.
Master's Thesis
A personal research project of roughly 8,000–12,000 words, plus supporting visual work, on color science, cinema history, image processing, or cinematography.
Projects
One-time purchases built around real productions: watch Dado grade the footage, grade the same LOG originals yourself, and receive a written critique.
3-Day Color Grading Challenge
A free, three-day hands-on sprint: grade a scene each day under time pressure, then watch the review.