What is the DAZ dev teams official methodology for using the auto exposure tool?
Flortale
Posts: 611
What is the DAZ dev teams official methodology for using the auto exposure tool?
How are you supposed to use it effectively? What's the workflow here? I did a search under the documentation for auto exposure, but there was nothing there, other than the feature being added.
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Do you mean the little black and white box top right of the main window with the +/- on it?
If you do then I use it to set the White Balance occasionally, I haven't had a lot of success with it to set the exposure though, that is a bit of a hit and miss. To use it click on it and when you move it across the main window the cursor changes to the same icon which also has a little black dot in the top right. place the over the area that you want to represent white, sometimes it works better over a mid grey area, and left mouse click. if it doesn't do the balance as expected then open up the render settings/environment and set them back to defaults and try another area.
You can set it for WB and Exposure or WB only.
That doesn't explain the purpose, workflow, or any methodology of the tool. They added the tool and expect people to automatically understand its purpose with no explanation
Sure, I understand how to use on a mechanical level. Drag it out over a part of the IRAY render and it changes tone mapping value, but no explanation is offered as to why the tool exists in the first place, or a specific methodology on how it can improve or help you in a meaningful way.
It's the lack of documentation. There is no explanation on how to use it properly, probably because the DEVS haev no idea how to use it properly either. It seems to be a mystery that no one has solved on the forum.
See, that's the part I'm looking for more information on. You say that sometimes it works better over a mid grey area, but I don't even understand the purpose of the tool. There should be an explanation on how to use it properly and professionally.
You're the only person on the entire forum who has suggested a methodology in some minor way, "sometimes it works better over a mid grey area".
Hopefully someone can chime in and explain how to use it properly and give a work flow/methodology.
What would really be helpful is what happens exactly when you let go of the mouse after dragging. What is it doing exactly? It's trying to determine X and adjust the tone mapping, but what is X in the first place?
Let's say I drag it out over an area that's pure Red, what happens? Pure Blue? What happens? What happens if I drag over an area with pure white and pure red? I'm looking for these kind of technical explanations, then once I understand it, I can use the tool properly.
It works the same as the White Balance on a camera, in Photoshop and in Photoshop Camera Raw. The camera doesn't 'see' colour the same as our eyes because our brain does the colour balance for us. When taking a picture under different lights e.g. sunlight, fluorescent or fire/candle light, the white looks wrong which affects the overall colour cast in the image. White Balance compensates for that by making the white bits white or the medium grey bits grey and removes the colour cast. When I say "It doesn't always work" I don't mean it doesn't work what I mean is it does remove the colour cast but it may also make the image look 'wrong' depending on which part is used as white/mid grey, the same happens with Photoshop etc. and isn't the fault of Iray :)
You can set the White Balance manually using the White Point setting under Tone Mapping. What it does is the same as White Balance by setting the point at which white is white and tells the renderer/camera 'I want this to be white so set all the other colors to this base.' That is how I understand it as a Photographer and may have simplified it as I do it autonatically.
Here is a better explanation.
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm
I don't use the Auto Exposure setting as I prefer to do that manually using the settings in Tone Mapping...Speed/ISO/F/stop.... which gives better control.
@Flortale There are concepts that you're supposed to know if you use a pbr engine. Such as tone mapping. Then sure you can ask for help and/or search for tutorials. But blaming the daz team for lack of documentation, that is true but not in this case, or pretending that the daz team teaches you the basics of everything is a little off in my opinion.
As for the exposure tool I never used it myself since I prefer the tone mapping panel. But I guess using click and drag is always better than just click since averaging an area helps to get a better sample.