http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/full.php?image_id=2398662

I get comments like 'too dark, not enough contrast' remarks, while everything looks good on my monitor with the factory nvidea settings.

I thougt what's the use of making graphics, when colors and lighting will be different on every monitor.... I can spend hours of tweaking lights, it's going to be different for everyone... It's a frustrating thing for this Poser-noob:)

All remarks, hints, tips, tutorials etc are very welcome.

Tnx. 

Just because you're using your nvidia settings doesn't mean your monitor is properly calibrated. There are numerous sites and/or software to help you do that. As it is tho, you can never control someone elses improperly calibrated monitor. LOL. No matter what you do, they can only see what their monitor shows them. The best you can do is make sure your gamma is correct and your own monitor is properly set up.

Laurie

Sounds like 'check your monitor calibration and then ignore comments on lighting':)

Tnx for the help in my early morning thinking:)

Happy 2013... 

Quote - Sounds like 'check your monitor calibration and then ignore comments on lighting':)
...

Exactly! LOL

Laurie

Attached Link: BB's Light Meter

The best way to judge an image is from it's histogram, something that the vast majority of image editors will have (Poser doesn't, unfortunately, but then it's not an image editor). It will display the RGB values for each pixel in the image graphically, and is completely independant of hardware or subjective opinion. Each pixel has a value between 0,0,0 = black to 255,255,255 = white. The histogram for the image you've posted shows that all the data is way down compressed into the far left so the image is too dark and without contrast. Ideally you should have data spread across the range without slamming into the far right or left (called clipping and results in detail being lost) - exactly how it's distributed depends on the image though.

The best tool I know of for judging lighting intensity in Poser is Bagginsbill's free Light Meter (see link). This will tell you if your lights are too weak or too strong very easily. Depending on which version of Poser you're using there are also useful tools like gamma correction and HSV tone mapping which can help.

Images displaying consistently across different setups is an issue. The other valuable thing that can be done by a lot of image editors is to save an image with a colour profile, the most useful one for web posting being an sRGB profile as that is common to just about all display devices. In effect it tells the device how the values in the image should display, so if you have a good range of values without clipping on the histogram, plus an sRGB profile, you've done as much as possible (without buying a hardware calibration device anyway) to ensure that what you see on your screen is going to be consistent on other screens too.

So yes, check your calibration, but I'd suggest trying that Light Meter too 

It would also help if you include hardware and software information (i.e., Poser version) so we may offer suggestions and fixes.  I do agree with the other posts, if this image appears normal on your monitor and dark on others, then it's a calibration problem.  Consider the age of the monitor in question.  Loss of brightness is a major issue as displays get older.

Thanks all for the replies... age of monitor could be a problem, don't know for sure now. I'm going to experiment with the light meter the coming days, see where it gets me...

I usually aim for a very wide histogram. It will look different for every render, but it gives a good indication if the lighting is out of whack as well.

I have BBs meter, but I would rather use a paint program to judge the output.

The meter also gives some rather strange results if you use some of the lighting techniques that I use.

Full size image in my gallery.

Looks reeeally dark to me.  I think your monitor needs calibration.

Gee...all the blabbering I did in this thread and forgot to say, yes - your image looks dark on my monitor too and not very contrasy ;).

Laurie

A friend of mine used to stick a small scale by his signature.

With the statement, "If you can't see this scale properly you can't comment on this image!"

 

 

:biggrin:

LOL. I guess my monitor's in good shape then ;). I can see all of those :P

Laurie

Same here.  I'm currently on my uncalibrated laptop, but I can see each color on that scale clearly.

And Jacobus' image still looks reeeeeeally dark.

jacob, I learnt many yrs ago that users sometimes did renders in darkened rooms, hence they looked o.k. to renderer, but way too dark to users viewing them in well-lit rooms.  for yer dark img I would add atmosphere, have dim spotlite causing rays coming down thru the trees, add spotlites to headlites of humvee.

I'd ignore other people's comments... until you notice everyone saying the same thing. At that point, the problem is not with their devices.

I also see your image as too dark and lacking contrast.

I think Caisson's post explains how to cope with various issues very well. Paying attention to histograms and making sure to save with an sRGB profile might make all the difference in the world.