Any Downside to Lower "Exposure Value"?

mambanegra

I've been playing around with interior renders, and had a very hard time getting a bathroom lit up evenly until I remembered someone mentioning adjusting the exposure. After Dropping it down from 12 to 11, the room is nice and bright (I'll probably want to remove the spot light that I had been playing with). Is there any reason not to do this, as far as render quality goes? (i.e. are there some sort of subtle details that are being lost that I haven't noticed yet?)

nicstt

If you haven't noticed (maybe test with a larger render) then it doesn't matter? If you are rendering for print, when larger resolutions matter, then it may be a different situation. :)

 

Fishtales

Tone mapping, where the exposure setting is, is used just like the settings in a digital camera. Either adjust the settings to get more light into the camera, as you did by changing the exposure setting, or add more light for the settings you have. 

SpottedKitty

Note that the "Exposure Value" parameter is a one-dial simplified control. If you want to adjust the Tone Mapping with a bit more control, you should use the actual camera-like parameters; Shutter Speed, F/Stop and Film ISO. The rest of the parameters in Tone Mapping are for more advanced adjustment features, you can safely ignore them and leave everything at default values unless you want to dig into the fiddly details.

hphoenix

Just make sure the other camera settings are appropriate for the scene and environment.  IF they are, and your lighting is correct, then adjusting the exposure will allow you to tweak the camera settings.

I believe adjusting the 'exposure' just modifies the Fstop and Shutter speed settings.  Make sure you're using the appropriate ISO film for the environment.