Bring down intensity of highlights?

[v_wis]

Hello everyone,

I'd like to know how you go about getting a nice bright render but at the same time not getting overexposed areas. I want to keep the dark areas of the room bright, but where the sun hits I want the highlights to be less vissible. I'm attaching two images. I like the brightness in the bright image, but I like the part where the sun hits on the carpet better in the dark image. I'm sorry if I don't make any sense. I'll try to explain clearer if you don't understand.

Thanks!

[glorybound]

If you render in 32 bit, you can solve that in post production, like Photoshop, with camera raw. You can also tick subpixel mapping and clamp to 1. In the newest V-Ray you also have Max Ray Intensity.

[Macker]

Clamp output?

[glorybound]

Yes, clamp output.

[Ihno]

Is it just me or is the contrast of the image strange?
The direct light on the carpet should be way brighter.
Especially on the dark image I would expect a nealy pure white shine.
The whole image looks quite flat.
I think there is something wrong in the lighting setup. What are your exposure settings for the two images?
How do you light the scene?

[v_wis]

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm getting better results doing the highlight compression in Camera Raw instead of doing it in the VFB (that's probably why the image looks flat, Ihno).

[piotrus3333]

use 'highlight compression' slider in color corection window in VFB. this should be the easiest way. this does the same thing as 'burn' spinner in VRay's color mapping tab Result is not baked into the render.

[Ihno]

I'm getting better results doing the highlight compression in Camera Raw instead of doing it in the VFB (that's probably why the image looks flat, Ihno).

I don't think so.. There are nearly no shadows in the image. Looks like only indirect light is coming through the window. Are you using a HDRI for Lighting?
If so, check its rotation; is the brightspot(sun) pointing in the direction of the window?
Maby you need to increase the overal multiplier.
Could you post a image with the camera pointing to the window?
Unless its desired to be flat, if so - ignore me

[v_wis]

I'm rendering using V-Ray Sun and some smalle Sphere Lights in the ceiling. I'm attaching an image of how the sun is set up, and also a new render (highlights compressed in Camera Raw) with the position of the sun changed. The "window" is just a big hole in the wall with no glass.

[fce]

have you tried to use Reinhard color mapping with a Burn Value like 0,1 for example?

[werticus]

Use IES lights for the ceiling lights, and put a vray plane light in the window as well.

Then use reinhard colour mapping with 0.1 burn. or lower.

you can also put a disc light in behind the IES lights to get nice high lights for vray lens effects.

[mitviz]

that red carpet will kill it, change the material to a vray overide material and use a white material for GI, it bleeds red all over i see which kills the balance in the image

[benb32]

You're right about the red tinting the whole scene. Keeping the light setup the same you could bend the composition back with the white balance. However, the strength of the sun against the brightness of the ceiling lights will make it difficult to bring the scene together in terms of a natural look.

Would recommend that you put a neutral grey override on everything and get the lighting setup correct. Then adjust your materials after, looks like your diffuse are to high giving an unnatural albedo. In general when you look at a really good render, examine the shadows and try to make them softer (not as crisp, maybe reduce the intensity of the sun and increase its size) - contrast this with smooth falloffs between light and dark. You could cheat a little in comp afterwards by adding an Ambient Occulsion pass.

Your floor and carpet appear too flat. You might want to use a displacement or bump so the grout affects the shadows or has a variation in colour. The carpet could have a fine vray fur applied, or have a few very minor ripples - you can get away with a large scale bump map if you don't want to change the geometry or model cloth.

Finally look at your scene as it might be in real life. With such a bright sun the time if day looks like it is early afternoon. You probably wouldn't have all your ceiling lights on in the middle of the day. I do appreciate that as artists we sometimes push the boundaries of making real life art. However, the most convincing setup maybe to adjust the sun to be at a different time of day (or overcast) where you would have the ceiling lights on.

IES lights are good, but more fiddly and if not used carefully can increase render times or in extream examples contribute to fireflies. You get the most from IES when they are near to objects or walls and can see them. In your scene you're unlikely to have any significant visual difference. As werticus mentioned, the bloom and glare effects can provide a lot of realism without you having to force the colour mapping to compress the overall brightness.

All the best Ben