HELP WITH BETTER RENDER SETTINGS?

[zaneyboi]

Hey guys I’m new to corona and this is my first render. I’m working on a project for a client but it’s
No where near finished. I haven’t looked at the parking lot footprint yet so I just sketched one up
Lazily to try out corona. But it seems very bland and not too realistic. I added the sun, made is about 5 size, added the corona sky to environment. And in the render preview box thing I decreased the exposure to like -1.5, the next setting (maybe highlights something) to 10, and upped the contrast to maybe 3, and left the saturation and played with the curves some to try and make it more warm because it was too blue. And turned on the bloom. I want my render to be more alive and more warm. So remember I’m a noobie and give me some advice guys ;)

[maru]

As for the overall realism - try using a good HDRI instead of Corona sun and sky. You can get some free ones here: http://noemotionhdrs.net/ and here https://hdrihaven.com/

As for the render settings (Render Setup > Performance) - use defaults. That's really the best thing you can do.

[iancamarillo]

maybe bring the camera back a bit and frame the image with a tree/or some foreground elements around the edges. I know its not part of the project but the building seems a bit "tight" and it may help with the composition

[JViz]

I hope you still need this help or that you successfully solved the issue.

leave everything at default values in the performance tab in corona, these don't have an effect on realism in most cases and are optimal by default. except for one value, change the secondary solver from UHD Cache to Path Tracing (also not a rule, it's only because your scene is an exterior setup).

keep the sun intensity at 1.0 and just play with the size. you can use an HDRi instead of the corona sun&sky for better colors and reflections. try HDRI Haven all their HDRi's are free and high quality.

As for the Tone Mapping in the VFB, for an exterior setup especially like yours, I wouldn't go above 2 for highlights compression.

hopefully, this will work, follow me please, leave the exposure at 0 for now.

increase the contrast to a high value something like 5 or 6 you could even try 7 some interior shots can take 9!!

now the curve: pull the midtones up like the image below.

now go back to the exposure and bring it down until the image looks right to you.

now back to the contrast be brave there lower and raise it as you like given the guidelines above.

again go back to the curves and find a midtones value that works for you.

it's a cycle with the contrast being the most important value that USUALLY shouldn't change for one angle.

take the image in 16bit tiff to photoshop and play with cameraraw to your heart's content

these settings are NOT the best, there are better ways but this is a quick way for you to get your job done.

[actrask]

Do you have a reference pic that shows the feel you're aiming for?