Which post-processing effect would be used to give an image a specific stylistic appearance?

Color grading is the correct choice for giving an image a specific stylistic appearance. This process involves adjusting the colors in the image to achieve a certain mood or tone, enhancing the overall visual narrative. By manipulating aspects like brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue, color grading can significantly alter how viewers perceive the scene. It’s a powerful tool used in both films and video games to establish a specific atmosphere or emotional response.

Shader adjustments primarily affect how materials and textures render based on lighting and surface properties, and while they do contribute to the overall look of an image, they are more about realism than stylistic flair. Render scaling adjusts the resolution at which the game is rendered, impacting performance and visual fidelity but not the artistic style. Static rendering refers to pre-baked elements in an environment and doesn’t play a role in altering the stylistic appearance of dynamic elements within a scene. Therefore, color grading stands out as the primary method for achieving a desired artistic effect in post-processing.