Does AutoCAD have "work-lights?". Why is my scene so dark?

[LHauptmann]

Here's my issue:

I'm using Render Environment & Exposure (ON) to create rendered images of my 3D model. However, when I turned this on and deleted all of the lights out of my scene and turned off the sun and turned DEFAULT lighting back ON, my working environment is too dark for me to see and work with objects on my screen. The lighting in my renders look great though. If I turn any of that stuff back on, it makes my model easier to see when I'm working on it, but it messes up the renderings and makes them much too bright. I need a "work-light" that the rendering engine ignores just so I can see my objects. Is there such a thing? Here is a screenshot of my working view, and then what it looks like rendered:

Does anyone know of a solution for this? 

[imadHabash]

Hi and Welcome to AutoDesk Forum,

>> my working environment is too dark << 

you can change it for Light as attached below image and from OPTIONS command.

Regards,

[LHauptmann]

Imad,

Thanks for trying to help, but that didn't fix it. All that did was change the color of the ribbon and user interface. That's not what I'm asking about. I'm asking about the darkness of the 3D environment. I can't see my 3D objects when I'm working with them, but when they render, the lighting looks perfect. Can you see how dark the building looks in the scene below? Compared to the rendered version that I posted above? How do I make the scene lighter without changing the lighting when I render? 

[Victoria.Studley · Accepted solution]

Hi @LHauptmann,

Welcome to the Autodesk Community and thank you for joining us for Answer Day!

This is a fairly common issue with the new render engine - the working environment is too dark while you're modeling with the Realistic visual style set current, but your render settings are exactly as you want them.

There are a couple of ways to work around this:

• Try a different visual style as you model - Conceptual will be brighter, although you can't get a preview of the materials here.
• Adjust the Exposure setting while you work - but remember to change it back when you go to render. It's a quick setting to adjust, so if you write down or remember the value you need when you render, you can adjust it on the fly while you work (especially if you keep that Render Environment and Exposure palette docked on the side).

There's no perfect solution to this, in my opinion, but this should get you close. Let me know what you think! 

Please Accept as Solution if a particular reply answers your question, to help others in the community.

[LHauptmann]

Hi Victoria,

Thank you for the information. Too bad there is no "good" solution - I was using AutoCAD 2016 at the company I used to work for but my new employer uses 2017 so I'm still learning it's quirks. I don't remember ever having this problem with older versions, but I've also never turned the "render environment" on. I used to just set up my own lights, but I do really like the result from the render environment option and the amount of time it saves. I will go ahead and turn up the exposure to work but I don't get a chance to work on my 3D projects too often so I'll have to write down my settings somewhere!  I think another program I've worked with had a work-light you can turn on that the rendering engine ignores but I can't remember what program it was. I think this would be a great suggestion for future AutoCAD versions if you have any connection to developers. 

[john.vellek]

Hi @LHauptmann,

I agree the Render Environment can produce nice results but I, like you, find that always having to adjust the exposure can be a bit of a pain at times.

Thank you for posting about this issue in the forums.

You are also welcome to contact the product team directly. If you have additional comments specific to the software or its functionality for future consideration, please use the Product Feedback page. How to provide feedback on Autodesk products goes into more detail.

Another great option is to participate in the AutoCAD Customer Council. This is an opportunity for our customers to partner with the AutoCAD development team to improve future releases of AutoCAD by giving continuous feedback on ideas, designs, and early builds.
In order to get involved email autocad.beta@autodesk.com or autocad.lt.council@autodesk.com

[LHauptmann]

Hello John,

I have bookmarked the product feedback page - thanks for that. I'm pretty swamped at work but I plan to give feedback whenever possible. The council sounds interesting and is something I will keep in mind for the future. 

L