ABSTRACT
Gamma is important to understand because it permeates the entire production pipeline from image capture through manipulation to display. It is also a difficult topic because it is basically a mathematical concept (yikes!) and therefore unattractive to the “true artist.” The situation is complicated further by widespread misunderstanding of this topic in part due to confusing naming conventions and the fact that explanations of it are usually very technical and full of gnarly math. This results in more glazed eyes than enlightened minds. However, in digital compositing we have to be more than just true artists. We need to be competent technicians as well. This chapter presents this highly technical topic in a lightly technical way with just a tiny sprinkling of innocuous math and relates it all to the real world of sitting in front of a monitor with a picture on it. Besides, you gotta do gamma before you can do video, and video is the next chapter.
