Gamma Workflow

Gamma Workflow treats colors in the same way as in 3ds Max 2023 and previous versions. For the viewport, gamma (typically 2.2, which approximates the sRGB gamma) is removed from color images used as textures, then the scene is rendered in hardware and the gamma is reapplied for display. With an offline render such as Arnold, the process is very similar but gamma is reapplied only when saving to low-dynamic-range file formats (8- or 16-bit integers per channel). It is a common workflow but it is not ideal — the sRGB gamut is very limited compared to digital cinema or scanned film plates, and it can also be difficult to achieve pleasant lighting with a good balance between highlights and shadows without using tricks like extra lights.

Rendering always takes place using the sRGB primaries with scene-linear color values. While the sRGB primaries are commonly used in computer graphics, they provide a very limited gamut compared to digital cinema or HDR TV and cannot represent the full range of colors available on modern displays.

You specify your system gamma on the Color Management panel of the Preference Settings dialog. This gamma is used for display in the viewports, as well as in the Framebuffer Window and other views.

For input files used as textures, the gamma is removed. You can specify a custom gamma or let 3ds Max handle it automatically. In automatic mode:

• If the file contains an embedded gamma value, that value is used.
• If the file has no embedded gamma value and colors are encoded as 8- or 16-bit integers, it is assumed to have the sRGB gamma and a gamma of 2.2 is removed.
• If the file has no embedded gamma value but colors are encoded as floating-point or logarithmic values, it is assumed to be linear already and no gamma is removed (in other words, the gamma value is assumed to be 1.0).

In all cases, the RGB values are assumed to refer to the sRGB primaries.

Some of the options for Exposure Controls, such as Physical Camera Exposure Control, can provide tone-mapping for display and output. Offline renderers such as Arnold can also perform tone-mapping using imagers. However, all tone-mapping is confined within the sRGB gamut.

For rendered output, you can again specify a custom gamma or rely on the automatic behavior, which is based on the output file format.