How would i create a cinematic looking interior moonlight shot?

[Jpjapers]

Hi, im reworking an old university project of mine in corona and im struggling to achieve a cinematic moonlight interior shot. Im aware that the light reflected by the moon is the same colour as the sun and that its only perceived as tinted blue because of the way our eyes work but this doesnt translate to screen because your eyes arent seeing raw light theyre seeing something computed and absolute. So how can i achieve that moonlit look without the scene being very very dark. some sort of ambient light maybe?
the scene takes place in an attic. At the moment it just looks like daylight through the skylights.

Bear in mind this is a severely WIP image being converted from mental ray and none of the materials have been remade as of yet.

[CiroC]

For the look you want, you will need to use additional lights inside the attic.  Are you using a portal?

[maru]

I would suggest rendering this in 32-bit format or much brighter than it should eventually be, and then adding the desired look in post (for example Fusion which is free). You can also add a different map as directly visible background, and other one for lighting. Can you post an example of what look you are after? I googled for some screenshots and it looks like the "grown ups" like to add this purple hue to the image (I'm not sure if it's correct in any way, but I could look good as your render looks cartoonish).
http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/screenshots/thief-deadly-shadows/screenshot5.jpg
http://jimhillmedia.com/mb/images/upload/Monsters-Inc-Jessie-Luxo-we.jpg

[CiroC]

It also depends on what look you are trying to achieve. Can you show any example you have in mind? With that opening is going to be difficult to have a fully lit room.

Offtopic :Ahh, Thief Deadly Shadows. What a great game.

[maru]

<offtopic>

Offtopic :Ahh, Thief Deadly Shadows. What a great game.

First thing I though of when looking for "night" themed images. Great game indeed. And it would hardly run on any mid-class PC available at that time when it was released. I still like the "puppet" look of characters due to very strong normal maps. :)
</offtopic>

[Jpjapers]

http://cache2.asset-cache.net/gc/108310446-night-room-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=Nt0W96PO%2BS7Dwm65HP%2FQFNb2eZkI2UQYZ6jxBMHh%2FWeO3v57oGgsuDF3gtewIxK1YACRHqFjk6ECmzp%2BIwuSfg%3D%3D

Something like that i think. perhaps i just need to increase the contrast and lower the light intensity, perhaps make it a little less directional and a little more diffused? I think post production might be the best way to go now you mention it. Im not using a portal no, Should i be? I Havent used a daylight system or sky as i cant figure out how to emulate night so at the moment im using a disk light with the kelvin at about 10k. Should i be usig a daylight system & portal and just adjusting the colour balance and adding some post processing?

[Jpjapers]

WOW i didnt know portals worked for all lights, for some reason i had it in my head they only worked with sun. The volumetrics are so much more defined with them. Great tip! The diffusion from the volumetric material is casting some nice ambient light around at the moment

[Ondra]

well they are not supposed to, but... why not, if it works :D

[CiroC]

well they are not supposed to, but... why not, if it works :D

Exactly. Most photographers and film directors don't rely on single source of light, unless you are Kubrick using a very fast lens.

This article may help understand how some photographers use strobes and filters when shooting a scene: http://blog.photoshelter.com/2012/02/architectural-photography-just-like-playing-tetris-right/

[Nekrobul]

Bright blue HDRI + sun collr set manualy to white\blue but remember that moon intensity (real) is 400,000 times less thans real sun intensity.

An try to use photographical camera parametrs http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/10/15/night-photography-settings-your-camera-wants-you-to-use/

[maru]

Lighting in the reference image is probably manipulated (btw not sure if photo or render) but it looks like the sky is pretty dark and the lighting comes from the moon + some clouds around it, which scatter light. You can achieve similar result for example by increasing sun size or using a textured light mtl.

[Jpjapers]

Im on my work PC now and ive realised that the image is alot darker than i thought, ive been having calibration problems with my monitors recently, it might be time to buy a new one. Ill give all fo your suggestions a try, thanks for the help so far! Also in regards to the portals, Its very useful that they work with any light :D

Here is a brighter version of the image adjusted so it looks the same on my work pc as it did at home.