There's a notable difference between shading and grading. Shading is for the TV industry where you adjust all cameras to match perfectly the exposure, tone curve and colors. So when switching between camera angles you don't notice any difference in skin tone or detail, and the green of the grass and blue of the sky are all the same. Also a very important point is to get the color of the sponsor logos right, that would be where to start sometimes... There's less creativity here, you have mainly to follow the standards like ITU-R BT.709 or for HDR HLG and ITU-R BT.2020.
Grading is the creative process of adding a look to your production, which is usually handled in post production but there are now ways to do it live, although by using similar tools as the post production software. And they still re-do it in post production. This is used live for concerts and fashion shows.
There is a significant distinction between shading and grading.
Shading is essential in the TV industry, where the goal is to ensure all cameras are perfectly matched in exposure, tone curve, and colors. This ensures seamless transitions between camera angles, maintaining consistency in skin tones, fine details, and the color of grass and sky. A crucial aspect of shading is accurately reproducing sponsor logos' colors, which can sometimes be the starting point as that's where the money comes from. Creativity plays a lesser role here, as the focus is on following industry standards such as ITU-R BT.709 for SDR or ITU-R BT.2020 and HLG for HDR.
Grading, on the other hand, is a creative process meant to give a distinctive look to a production . Traditionally done in post-production, it can also now be applied in real time using tools similar to those found in post-production software. Despite this, it is often still refined further in post. Live grading is commonly used for events such as concerts and fashion shows, where you want to look different from TV productions.
TIL about shading, and am surprised how less I've seen this term in grading tutorials. While different, I feel like shading is something that should be learnt before grading.
PS You might have pasted two different answer drafts above. Paras 1,4 and 2,5 deliver similar information
Grading is the creative process of adding a look to your production, which is usually handled in post production but there are now ways to do it live, although by using similar tools as the post production software. And they still re-do it in post production. This is used live for concerts and fashion shows.
There is a significant distinction between shading and grading.
Shading is essential in the TV industry, where the goal is to ensure all cameras are perfectly matched in exposure, tone curve, and colors. This ensures seamless transitions between camera angles, maintaining consistency in skin tones, fine details, and the color of grass and sky. A crucial aspect of shading is accurately reproducing sponsor logos' colors, which can sometimes be the starting point as that's where the money comes from. Creativity plays a lesser role here, as the focus is on following industry standards such as ITU-R BT.709 for SDR or ITU-R BT.2020 and HLG for HDR.
Grading, on the other hand, is a creative process meant to give a distinctive look to a production . Traditionally done in post-production, it can also now be applied in real time using tools similar to those found in post-production software. Despite this, it is often still refined further in post. Live grading is commonly used for events such as concerts and fashion shows, where you want to look different from TV productions.