So I have this very basic setup: default new map with an enclosed room.
When I go inside the room it is bright as I am standing in front of a million lights (this is an exaggeration) when it should be pitch black!
I think this might be due to HDR or whatever other “default” settings. But the behavior is simply just wrong. Wrong! Unless, of course, if I have overlooked some very obvious settings. Please help!
When you create a project using the options you selected the project will have “auto exposure” (aka “eye adaptation”) enabled by default. Auto exposure automatically makes your scene brighter when the player enters dark areas (like a cave) and dimmer when they enter bright areas (like bright sunlight). This is usually a helpful feature as it mimics what our eyes do naturally, but as you’ve experienced, it can sometimes get in your way.
The quickest way to disable auto exposure is at the project level. Just open Project Settings, search for “Auto Exposure”, and disable it.
A less blunt approach is to add a Post Processing volume to your scene which will allow you to tweak the auto exposure settings to better meet your scene’s requirements. See [this documentation][2] for full details.
Finally, a tip. While working on look dev (lights and materials) in your scenes, I find it helpful to temporarily disable auto exposure in the viewport by using the menu shown below. This will ensure you’re seeing a non variable light level while you fine tune your lights and materials. Be sure to re-enable it frequently (and adjust the post processing auto exposure settings as necessary) to evaluate the final look.
You shouldn’t have to touch Ambient Occlusion. Here are the settings to be aware of…
First, add the Post Processing Volume to your scene. It’s size and position don’t matter.
With the Post Processing Volume selected, set its Post Process Volume Settings > Infinite Extent (Unbound) value to true. This will ensure it affects your whole scene regardless of where the player camera is.
Enable the volume’s Lens > Exposure > Metering Mode and set it to “Manual”.
Enable the volume’s Lens > Exposure > Exposure Compensation and tweak its value until you get the right balance of light/dark that you desire.
Alternately, if you still want to keep some of the auto exposure behavior you can use one of the other Metering Mode values and play with the other parameters under that Exposure section to see what their effect is…particularly the Min Brightness and Max Brightness parameters.
You shouldn’t have to make the light moveable (aka “dynamic lighting”) just to get a more acceptable camera exposure. Moveable lights are more expensive to render than static or stationary lights, so it’s often a good idea to choose static or stationary for your lights when you can. But when you do, make sure to build your lighting frequently as you make changes so that you are evaluating an accurate end result. (Don’t worry. The editor is happy to remind you…CONSTANTLY…when your lighting needs to be rebuilt!)
Thanks for your reply. I think auto exposure is the relevant setting here. Also, I already made the directional light moveable so that’s not the cause of the issue.
Actually, I tried your solution but how do I get pitch dark? If I disable Game Settings in the viewport I can get pitch dark, but if I just disable Auto Exposure in project settings it’s still not as dark as I wanted.
If I used a post-processing volume, what parameters should I change? I see some people in the forum suggesting changing Ambient Occlusion? Maybe you can just give an example (setting template) because that documentation page is complicated…
