1. these are my setting and nothing i do can make it NOT render black.

2. this is a snap of my preview window which looks fine, but again... it is rendering BLACK !!!

 Hi Paul.
What do you mean, render black? I don't see anything wrong with the preview.

Hi -
If you mean total black when the render is completed, try switching off "Autoexposure" in the post-render options (if it's on). And - always turn it off anyway :) You can always experiment with the post-render options anyway.

Lars "bigbraader"

Hey Artur, this is what i mean. It isnt showing in the preview but the final render is totally black.

Kars, i think you might be right, I will trty that out, because it doesent go totally black till the last step.

I will letcha know more in a bit (;

-Paul

ok, stupid question... forgive me it has been a long while.

how do I open the postrender effects ?

I checked off show this dialog blah blah blah.

oops

-Paul

 Either in menu Render -> Post render options or in the render window title bar, a small black and white circle.

I have some doubts about auto-exposure. Normally this compensates lighting defficiencies (turning too dark images into more illuminated ones and vice-versa).

Quote -  Either in menu Render -> Post render options or in the render window title bar, a small black and white circle.

I have some doubts about auto-exposure. Normally this compensates lighting defficiencies (turning too dark images into more illuminated ones and vice-versa).

Hi -

Artur, if  "doubts about..."  means being skeptical to the usefulness, I agree :-) That's why I always turn it off for starters.
The same goes for "Enable wind" in the atmosphere editor, wind may play with some Vue plants in an unexpected manner ("depending on..." many variables). You can always turn it on if you need this effect.

No, Lars was right, it was the auto exposure...  looks like crap though :(

Might be the eco's i am using had problems with them in the past..they are commercial produts though so i wont mention names (;

-Paul

 Quote - "Artur, if  "doubts about..."  means being skeptical to the usefulness, I agree :-) That's why I always turn it off for starters.
The same goes for "Enable wind" in the atmosphere editor, wind may play with some Vue plants in an unexpected manner ("depending on..." many variables). You can always turn it on if you need this effect."

I also never use auto-exposure. Like you, it's one of the first things I turn off in every new scene I start. I also have wind turned off in my default scene.

My doubt was really if auto-exposure being on could make a scene go black. I mean, it seems to defy the purpose of the auto-exposure. This function should balance the light levels in order to not have a too dark scene nor a too bright scene. I had never seen any situation where the auto-exposure did the opposite of what it's supposed to do. Quite the opposite, I already saw a completely black scene turned bright by the auto-exposure. So, now I'm puzzled... :blink:

Paul, I understand you don't want to share the name but it could be useful to know if you indeed trace the fault back to that product...

it is obviously a bug. I have yet to encounter it.

I jinxed myself by saying my Vue was running 100% for the first time since v 4.5 :D

 Quote - "*I jinxed myself by saying my Vue was running 100% for the first time since v 4.5 :D *"

:biggrin:

About the autoexposure, I've encountered it a few times myself ealier on, and answered some IM questions about it too. It's a plain bug, not a "correction" of the lighting.

 Ah, I see. I never came across such a thing, probably because I disable it almost immediately. :-)

I always find that if a scene renders looking odd, I check that setting and usually find it's activated for some reason.  Turning it off usually fixes things.

I suppose in theory, if your scene is bright enough the autoexposure could make it go very dark or black but it certainly shouldn't

My renders are black only when the camera is under the terrain.  I often use displacement terrain and the preview doesn't show the terrain as it will actually render.  So I move the camera up and/or farther back to see what displaced terrain is blocking my view.