TF2's Most UNDERRATED Mapping Mechanic

This mostly UNUSED mapping mechanic in TF2 is so powerful, I don't know why more people don't use it!
Just when you think TF2's mappers have figured it all out, here's another one of those things that gets slept on by most mappers. Why? I have no idea! Just look at the results!
0:00 Intro
1:00 Light Environment
1:45 Color Correction
3:02 Levels
4:45 Curves
5:52 Color Balance
6:32 HSV
7:06 Lookup Tool
7:25 Outro
▶ This Map got Updated after 15 YEARS: • This TF2 Map got Updat...
▶ TF2's Most Unique Map: • Breaking Down TF2's Mo...
💬 Discord: / discord
#tf2 #teamfortress2

[@ViciousVinnyD]

scout that laughs at white wall

[@Mr-random1902]

Most mentally sane 10000+ hours scout main

[@i_drinkliquid]

Scout Laughing At 2Fort Sink.

[@manitoba-op4jx]

hey man whitewall tires are awesome

[@RAKESH-xw9xm]

most sane scout main

[@TinyDeskEngineer]

scout who laughs at lights/white001.vmt

[@HolySnickerPuffs]

There's an old community-made map, CP Broma, that uses a trigger entity that enables color correction ONLY when you're fighting around the capture area. I'm not sure how the map-maker got the idea, but it gives a cinematic feel to those fights, and it's super cool

[@thatpumpkingirl]

That's astounding

[@EyebrowBandit]

I had no clue TF2 had color correcting built into the developer console, I thought it was only used during the initial creation of the maps. Very cool!

[@misterpexon]

me too, I just cant find the command plz what is it

[@ViciousVinnyD]

I knew about the fog and navmesh editors, but this one was new to me too! Wish I knew about it sooner.

[@kreuner11]

@@misterpexon its in the video when he adds the entity

[@NoVIcE_Source]

you can use many color correction entities for every area and the game will swtich between them depending on the radius of the entity

[@oktayyildirim2911]

Are the different settings blended between, or is it a sudden shift from one configuration to another?

[@theultimatetrashman887]

@@oktayyildirim2911 i doubt its blended, but a simple fix is to put one middle man-color correction inbetween 2 different ones,it wont be perfect and probably hidden with geometry but it does the job

[@NoVIcE_Source]

@@theultimatetrashman887 @oktayyildirim2911 they do get blended ! its p cool

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

@@oktayyildirim2911 The amount of time it takes to fade between two color corrections is adjustable. It can be instant, it can take 1 second, it can take 100 seconds. It's all up to the mapper.

[@oktayyildirim2911]

@@QuintessentialWalrus Sick!

[@jenispizz2556]

Map makers, please be gentle. I already have enough trouble figuring out what team a demo-man is on when I'm in dark areas.

[@Coolyo420]

talking about tf2 maps is so underrated and it should be talked about more that's why i love this channel

[@LEDs]

💙 💚 ❤️

[@thefairylovesniper]

@@LEDs Bubbles, Buttercup, and Blossom

[@SageGilbert191]

@@thefairylovesniperwhat

[@microman502]

@@SageGilbert191 powerpuff girls

[@SageGilbert191]

@@microman502 o

[@Blap7]

Actually crazy that the source engine has full on color grading tools. This is a part of the engine i never even knew existed. Now combined with sfm's animation and shot editing, could the color grading, and maybe finding a way to add compositing and layers, make a Source Video Editor?

[@Jamesthe1]

There is text that you can add in SFM at certain times (not too sure about changing fonts tho), so I guess it could be treated as such...

[@teemukarjalainen5361]

In TF2 art style the environments are not supposed to reach full color saturation. This is reserved for characters and VFX so that they stand out better.

[@beniciovalina6544]

0:32 the flametrower is walking?

[@LEDs]

Terrifying

[@zzyxxyzz5442]

i didn't even notice first time watching. xd

[@naride1093]

i notice that happening mostly on vphysics servers that have been running for several hours at a time

[@TF2Scout..]

Lol that looked cartoonish

[@anthonynguyen2661]

"where my flamethrower, it coudnt have just walk away" the flamethrower in question:

[@aydenneovak9240]

I recently learned about color correction when I was making a solely artistic map, and I have to say, it helps so much to change the look of a map without using any image editing tools! I also love that it is edited in-game, so you can see your changes in action, great video!

[@LEDs]

Thanks!

[@tragikomisk13]

0:31 where is bro's flamethrower skedaddling off to?

[@LEDs]

Probably saw a cute phlog and walked over to take his shot

[@Thornskade]

It spawned inside the floor and the physics engine gave up

[@GewelReal]

"This is LED. Switching off." Such a hard line

[@ananaskoira7225]

Sounds like code language for some agent movie. Reminds me of "Bravo Six. Going dark."

[@SonicMaster519]

I know I’m a few days late and it’s such a small detail but I LOVE how you added subtitles! It helps if I want to watch without audio or if I just can’t make out anything (my hearing sucks). Cheers!

[@LEDs]

🥹

[@MACMAN2003]

color correction is used EVERYWHERE in video games but i think that valve handles it the best, mostly because they do it in a subtle way that doesn't have their levels look like either mexico from breaking bad or generic blue movie color grading

[@ZoofyZoof]

You're good at making me intersted in something barely noticeable. I mean it's literally just a thing that makes it ever so slightly darker. It still looks the same.

[@LEDs]

Personal preference. Some people don’t mind decreasing their graphics quality, for example.

[@pokealong]

Bro spent 8 minutes explaining precisely why it's NOT just making it "ever so slightly darker" and you still said it does.

[@ZoofyZoof]

@@pokealong Because that's how Valve uses it? I don't understand why I have to explain what I mean to people. It's obvious already.

[@Thornskade]

It actually makes it brighter in the case of 2Fort

[@Loner_Ken]

I always wondered what the Color Correction setting does in tf2, next thing I am wondering is the recent patch note that states that the saturation has been increased because I see no difference... Who ever did that, they kinda did nothing...

[@SamTheFox07]

I was today years old when I figured out, LED's youtube profile is litterally the Color.Correct tool

[@heavenandhello6629]

Valve should seriously update the lighting on 5 of the very first maps of the game which are 2Fort, Gravel Pit, CP_Well, Granary, and Hydro. The lighting on these maps got messed up after many updates due to them using an outdated lighting system. These issues are shown in youtuber Crowbcat's "tf2 2007 and now" video.

[@Uprank]

Pretty sure you can just do ent_create color_correction with sv_cheats 1 to spawn a color correction entity and then use the colorcorrectionui, why this wont be a permanent solution it will let you edit and create color correction raw files in any map

[@LEDs]

Oh, really? I didn’t know you could do that!

[@GibbonFan]

Source 2 has color correction volumes that all effects separate parts of the map which is huge for developers who want multiple unique types of environments in a single map file.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

Source 1 has the exact same feature lol. Unfortunately it wasn't added until Left 4 Dead so TF2 doesn't have it IIRC

[@null643]

Also known as a LUT and is commonly used in games.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

Saying "there's clearly a difference" at 0:12 made me bust a gut laughing and I'm not sure if that was intentional

[@LEDs]

Look at the bloom of the fire on the right. It’s brighter. It’s more obvious when you’re actually playing in the map. The colors will appear more saturated

[@leonardocouto3109]

4:35 ctf_2fort was IN THE MATRIX ALL ALONG!??!?

[@_ikako_]

Currently at the histogram section and, as a photographer, this is actually super valuable information as one of the few things i've never been taught or researched is how to manipulate the histogram. i know that fiddling with the arrows does stuff but I never actually knew *what* it was doing, and i knew that you mostly want an upside down u shape for most photos with no major peaks. also, what causes the peak in the white on the graph? i've seen that in several photos i've taken but i'm not really sure what causes it. is it just a single patch of actual white, like paper or clouds?

[@LEDs]

It was probably the clouds

[@_ikako_]

@@LEDs that's what i figured, thanks!

[@aftsfm]

cp_emesis should use color correction to give that cinematic style effect

[@landlockedcroat1554]

tf2 players when they figure out what lightning is

[@stormer7502]

Tf2's GENIUS hidden feature: How color correction makes tf2 the best game in gaming history

[@damsen978]

This is a post-processing filter. Nothing to do with lighting.

[@TinyDeskEngineer]

tf2 players when they get struck by lightning

[@CB66941]

So THIS is how some mappers make places much brighter than they are with as few lights as possible. I struggled immensely at the start of my mapping because the lighting always looks too bright or too dark and I though it has something to do with the HDR lighting. I almost wished I could just "brighten the face itself". Thank you for this tutorial!

[@nir5846]

holy shit the end montage of the color corrected version looks sooo good I need to know what settings you used

[@yesthisisdonut]

this is actually interesting for making tf2 video edits (frag videos, jump videos) because with this you could do heavy colour grading even before recording (if you use lawena etc). god damn. i wish i had the time to do tf2 edits again, this opens up a whole new world to me :D would probably require to add a colour correction entity to most maps though

[@biz-man]

I wonder what TF2 on Unreal Engine 5 would look like.

[@swedishcrowbar4211]

there is a video on it!

[@randomcatdude]

it would look like straight ass because tf2 fans don't understand the tf2 art direction even if they think they do lol

[@neondead2.0.15]

Well it can look good, but need a lot of work to make it not worse than Source version.

[@LEDs]

I agree with neon. I think people are mistaken when they say that TF2 would look bad in Unity or Unreal Engine because those graphics engines are typically associated with realistic games. But the truth is that they are also used in a bunch of indie/cartoony low-poly games as well and can look amazing when dialed in.

[@dkskcjfjswwwwwws413]

​​@@randomcatdudedude noone understands it nowadays, not even valve

[@mineland8220]

color correction is very important in Portal aswell. Without it, the maps look really gray instead of the iconic blueish white that were used to. Its really good when done well and there is an advanced graphics setting toggle for it

[@JustAnAverageGuy5731]

0:32 nah bro's weapon walked away 💀💀💀

[@LEDs]

“Aight imma head out”

[@cloxurf9603]

Please more hammer content! I started mapping a few months ago and would love tips and tricks!

[@LEDs]

Sure thing 👍

[@cloxurf9603]

@@LEDs yippie

[@MaxLebled]

In the case of the fire at the start, I reckon the current exposure value (in HDR rendering) also has a large part in the discrepancy

[@LEDs]

Very well could be

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

As a mapper, I'm surprised you're so confused about why color correction isn't more common in TF2. The answer is simple: too much color correction will make it hard to distinguish teams, and too little color correction is a waste of time for most people. All the examples of Valve-approved color correction in this video are nearly unnoticeable even in a direct comparison. It's a different story for games like Left 4 Dead, but TF2 maps don't really need color correction to look good. 2Fort looks fantastic even with the color correction turned off, so from a community mapper's perspective, is it worth it to spend an hour or two on this? I've been Source mapping for years and I've only felt the need to color correct on rare occasions.

[@leonardocouto3109]

6:45 So I can turn 2Fort into Morioh... nice

[@gumballegal]

omg i used to put the Lookup table on photoshop to cahnge these, i never knew there was an ingame tool for viewing and changing it; Now im wondering what other tools i missed that i could use to speed up mapping

[@BadNameJackson]

So you can make a map any color you want with just a few settings? Cool!

[@LEDs]

You can color correct in a variety of ways to emphasize certain areas. You can't just change the colors to whatever, since you're limited to only a few tools.

[@BadNameJackson]

@@LEDs Yeah, it would be cool if there was a setting that individually changes the color of each thing.

[@metroidfannumber1234]

i was always aware of it but didnt' know how it worked or what it was for.

[@thewindbreaker34]

I think a cs map called noir use this to create a black and white color correction

[@valcaron]

6:57 thanks doc

[@puzzlepuddles6712]

the most unique usage of color correction in a map i've seen would be cs_noir as the creator uses it to cleverly portray a 1920s district with black and white visuals

[@LEDs]

There's a new map on the workshop called Infestation that uses color correction too!

[@i_drinkliquid]

“2Fort Is Actually Brighter Than Normal” 2Fort Was So Bright, They *NEEDED* To Dim It.

[@mikef.795]

0:38 me seeing a new Adam Sandler movie

[@austinmajeski9427]

But what about the, *"Enable Color Correction"* setting? Is that a standard color correction that gets applied across all of TF2? Or does it just enable/disable a map's local color correction?

[@Thornskade]

It seems to only affect the local color correction, yes. The setting has no effect on most maps, on 2Fort it's very noticeable

[@digitaltoaster4956]

Somebody is going to have major fun with this

[@Ongez]

I wonder if you can trigger a change in color correction values for individual players upon entering or exiting an area.

[@LEDs]

🤫

[@AyCe]

Any way to have multiple area-based color correction settings on a single map?

[@LEDs]

I believe so. I might make a video on it

[@Mike-official]

some times 2fort looks really good, then just normal 2fort

[@XxguaxinimxX.]

That seems interesting!

[@jasperfox6821]

Wow, this is such a big yet small issue, it really brings out the beauty of the game when correcting the colours.

[@LEDs]

Yeah, I believe every map can benefit from color correction at least a little bit, even if it’s subtle and there’s only one setting for the entire map

[@Luna-Taxers]

I knew something was missing when I was playing the game, colors do really change a lot on the atmosphere and mood. I personally do like higher saturation like at 6:31 because it feels more alive, might burn my eyes after a few hours but I still will like it anyways

[@LEDs]

Yeah, color correction can really make a map pop

[@Jamesthe1]

Time to make a noir map with little saturation and high contrast

[@user-ed7of2sv5c]

I barely know what he's talking about but im still very interested in it. (P.S: Nice Editing)

[@LEDs]

Thank you!

[@StarHorder]

ill have to play with that

[@x8c8r]

"the difference is huge" me not seeing the difference that much:

[@LEDs]

It could be KZbin compression, but in the fire example, the burning flames on Steel emit a brighter glow

[@9another632]

I thought it was my old laptop just having some performance stuff to not overload with effects and consecuently, shutting down

[@karpai5427]

Yeah you can do that in Shrek 2 too. Is called Ambient Light.

[@Thornskade]

But it's actually color correction doe.

[@ImExcalibastard]

Its insane to me how intricate the in engine UI is for this tool that seems to never get used in an official capacity by Valve

[@meltingatom]

Today I learned I'm colorblind

[@mkarg5012]

Could you color correct different maps and show how much it could affect gameolay or, fix some "ugly" oarts?

[@LEDs]

Yeah, I think a video where I remodel certain (ugly) parts of maps where I incorporate this would be cool

[@SoulPriest]

oh, so thats what color correction is. does this impact frames at all? it seems odd that it would do. should it be an option to turn off?

[@LEDs]

No, it doesn’t affect frames

[@SoulPriest]

@@LEDs why would someone want to turn it off?

[@Thornskade]

Config makers claim it affects FPS, a lot of them recommend turning it off. It's a setting in the options menu

[@ethosaur]

I always forget to really utilize this in my maps, super useful for really giving it that extra bit of detail!

[@tev5040]

is it possible to make a map black and white? i feel like and old styled map with a gimmick like that would be fun lol

[@lychy645]

mat_hsv 1

[@LEDs]

Pretty sure

[@asjahapoland5367]

Very cool video

[@DrowseProductions]

This is actually a decent hammer editor guide

[@LEDs]

Thank you!

[@VVen0m]

0:11 The only difference I see is that on the right he's in a shadow so he's a bit darker

[@LEDs]

Look at the glow around his feet, that’s easier to notice

[@user-mj4um3tb8m]

Yes algorithm I would like to watch a 8 minute video on maps a game 2 years younger than me

[@waker_link]

doesn't pd_watergate use it? it shifts all the colors to a different hue once the round ends

[@TheCursation]

"If you wanna play around with colors all you have to do is change the channel from RGB to red green or blue and everything ive just explained will apply to theese, too." That rhymes really well edit: 4:27

[@jUppers]

"Let's first talk about color. Despite only making up 13% of the population.." xd

[@LEDs]

Oh man…

[@theprimegamer7086]

you can now put on the mexico filter

[@donowa5637]

7:00 "Why are the 2fort green?"

[@nickbrick20]

Finally, I can make GreenFortress2

[@groundjet]

Heavy on right hadn't had his sanvich yet

[@yougnomed630]

okey, i will use this on my map

[@neondead2.0.15]

Is thunder mountain have this ent or they use different techniques ?

[@LEDs]

I haven’t looked, but you can see for yourself if you enable color correction in-game (need sv-cheats 1 enabled) and if the color changes when you tick the enable box, then it uses color correction. The other way would be to open up the vmf file in the Hammer editor and see if the entity is present

[@teh_gangrene]

It does have the entity. Frontier and Byre also have it

[@ezrabraman6437]

Cranking this shit up on wuttville gonna burn people’s eyes

[@godofportal5905]

light_env is staring into my soul

[@Dr_Right2]

because i don't know how to use this thing

[@dazthefool5218]

Now what I wonder is if this is in Source FilmMaker

[@Meatjar20769]

the light_env icon kinda rubs me the wrong way

[@HolySnickerPuffs]

Mayhaps the warm smile and encouraging thumbs-up of *OBSOLETE* will soothe your worries?

[@iyiosuko1449]

Me, a colorblind person trying to differentiate the two-

[@Epicwindow3]

SHADER MAGIC

[@forsakenediamawakened3019]

why does the icon for light_env look like that

[@LEDs]

LOL

[@ShyGuyDood]

Nice

[@shori8438]

Does this apply to other source games like CSGO?

[@LEDs]

Yes

[@TwiliPaladin]

I like your funny words, magic man 👍

[@_GhostMiner]

*0:39** most sane TF2 player*

[@Vexcenot]

So now you have to rename your channel to color correct

[@LEDs]

🥸

[@Marcusal44]

I didn't know TF2 had color correction.

[@alfaalvis_trainz]

Ah yes

[@bogun6.9bviews2secondsago.6]

Remember me when you get over 100k subs

[@LEDs]

Screenshotted, if that ever happens imma find you

[@JanVP1]

Is this related to the Pyrovision goggles?

[@LEDs]

No

[@hlibushok]

Can't wait to see more joke maps with cursed colours.

[@likuor_]

Source stuff always makes me feel dum

[@O5MO]

TF2 is like PowerPoint. It had so much obscure built in features and tools that no one will use, and its a spaghetti mess, but it works

[@LEDs]

Well said

[@bottlebeard]

I don't think you've edited anything beyond text in your life. The entire topic of this video revolves around one of THE most basic utilities in editing

[@O5MO]

@@bottlebeard this one is pretty basic, but i dont think therr are many non source games that have this. Its also obscure and not really used, so my point stands. But like you can build cubemaps, generate and edit nav meshes in-game, use console command to press a button on a destruction pda that you cant otherwise, set camera to orthographic mode, etc.

[@vycter6899]

Real

[@waffler-yz3gw]

0:12 they're the same, gonna stop wasting my time lol

[@LEDs]

On Junction, the burning is brighter

[@tkienjoyer]

UNDERATED WWWWWWWWWW

[@k90v85]

bros been building his name just to post this vid, gj