"Filmic" dynamic range of "rendering camera"?

[Horpah]

Hello.

First of all thank You for the greatest renderer ever I'm very apreciated and I use it on daily basis. I tried using other programs but first - took me more than 10 times longer renders, second - never rid of noise.

I'm using express > easy > 05. Medium+ (today I tried 07. High + and yea! Sun light worked well for the first time - maybe update helped.). When I tried to use more advanced type of render I always had noise and huuuge render time. So I prefer "express easy" way

There is one think that bothers me. My renders are all very dark... I want to use sunlight only. But when I put more sunlight - picture is clipped and overburned. I've tried to "cheat" - increase exposure, put more pointlights and so on. But it never looked realistic...

Today I found very interesting YT video. It is about blender, but I think problem is exactly the same.

Please tell me how big is dynamic range (in F-Stops) in express > easy method of rendering? And maybe which method in TWR has better dynamic range than express>easy?

I know that my english isn't as good as I want... so I put two YT links, where topic is explained. (You can watch full movie of course but that two moments are much important.)

https://youtu.be/m9AT7H4GGrA?t=122

https://youtu.be/m9AT7H4GGrA?t=689

If the dynamic range in TWR could be as high as human eye (or in "filmic blender") we can use ONLY sunlight to light our interior scene. Because that is the way we observe interior during day. Sunlight can bring all details without any other lamps and so on. And it should look naturally.

I hope my topic can be useful.

Kind Regards

Dawid Patalong (Horpah)

[Fletch]

Hello Dawid.

Thank you for your kind words, we are glad you like Twilight Render. Twilight was developed by people who actually use the software for its intended purpose, so we think this may be why you, also, find it useful.

Your original essential issue is literally the most asked question by beginners "how do I get light to enter my space through a window". So we have answered this many times.

Here is the main thread from the FAQ:
Subject: Light through a window...

But for your convenience let's address your specific dynamic range question. All images rendered with Twilight Render contain a full dynamic range. However, this is best seen with the progressive render methods 9 and 10. Methods 1-8 are fast because they make sacrifices in order to be fast. One sacrifice they make is that they limit the dynamic range a little.

See all four points below.

Simple answer:
Firstly, if you have Pro version you can save your rendered image as .hdr format. This is the High Dynamic Range image you are looking for. Open the .hdr in a photo editor specifically designed for adjusting HDR images, then save the image from there in the desired format, such as .png (lossless but compressed format)

Secondly, you don't have to save as HDR you can use (Pro or hobby) Twilight's directly internal HDR tonal adjustment capability to adjust the exposure during rendering or after it is completed using the Tone Mapping feature of the Render Dialog.
Use the search on the upper right corner of this forum and search the term "tone mapping" and you get these results, as it's a much-discussed and very important topic in rendering.

ToneMapping-TwilightRenderDialog.png (48.96 KiB) Viewed 5269 times

Our main tutorial on post-processing your image with Twilght Tone Mapping feature




Thirdly, you can use a sky portal to focus all sun and sky rays to reach your window glass.



Fourthly, See also these videos about Twilight Render lighting.
Here's a video on doing architectural interiors with combination of lights and sun/sky.


Video on the lights you can insert in Twilight Render

[Horpah]

Thank You Fletch.

Maybe it's time to use unbiased methods... But render time is very important for me. My so called employer have 3 or 4 ideas at the same time... so I have to make quick things...

Anyway thank You very much for your answer. Now I make 10 preset. with sunlight 5.000 and picture isn't burned. That clearly shows high dynamic range. And I've tried skyportal and architectonic glass for the first time.

How many cycles need I render to rid of noise?

[Fletch]

If you set light portal use Easy09 - it is 2x faster than Easy10. Or try for fast renderings if using sky portal Easy03 (Low+). The way sky portals increase the number of sky/sun light rays entering the space is advantageous for Easy09 (MLT) renderings, while increases render times for Easy 1-7. (while also increasing lighting quality)

When the image is low enough noise for your purpose, it's done rendering. I cannot say for sure.
For my purposes, on an 8 thread machine 60 passes is typically very good.
If you have 4 threads, then 120 passes should look very good. 240 on 2 threads, etc.

I would get the new Fastforward AI denoise add-on for Twilight Pro if you have a recent NVIDIA graphics card on windows machine because the AI denoise will clear up your Easy 09 rendering to cut render times in less than half.