# Path-tracing - all objects are totally dark, except for the sky **URL:** \ **Category:** Rendering\ **Tags:** unreal-engine\ **Created:** [February 21, 2024, 8:12am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410 "2024-02-21T08:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AdamEm01](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@AdamEm01](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/AdamEm01)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 8:12am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410/1 "2024-02-21T08:12:51Z")
So this scene I’m working on is based on IndyStry’s excellent course for making a city in Unreal Engine for cinematics. The scene is rendering fine in Lumen, but when I switch to the path-tracer, the buildings and every prop in the scene goes completely black. Any idea how to solve this? (Win 11, 4070 TI, 13700KF, 32 GB RAM) ![ScreenShot00000](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/7/1/9/7195dbe75ed9cc3b9ecdf1154c7ea6547ecc2c96.png) ---
**Author:** ![Jimbohalo10](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/jimbohalo10/32/961440_2.png) [@Jimbohalo10](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Jimbohalo10)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410/2 "2024-02-21T13:47:52Z")
hi @AdamEm01 , There was a similar problem for Landscapes which needed a patch, which is basically about light and Pathtracing is about that [GPU Lightmass not working on Landscape](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/gpu-lightmass-not-working-on-landscape/1371174) Have you enable Hardware Ray tracing have you enabled Direct x 12 and SM6 Shader Model 6 in your project see also [Enabling Path Tracer in Unreal Engine 5.3 | Unreal Engine 5.3 Documentation](https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.3/en-US/path-tracer-in-unreal-engine/#enablingthepathtracerinyourproject) ---
**Author:** ![AdamEm01](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@AdamEm01](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/AdamEm01)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 9:54am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410/3 "2024-02-24T09:54:54Z")
Hi Jimbo, thanks for helping out. HWRT is on, and DX12 and SM6 are both enabled and set as the defaults. I went through and made sure everything that was supposed to be on was on, but it was all already as it should be. I looked at the options in the post-processing volume, and same again. I’m honestly stumped. ---
**Author:** ![Jimbohalo10](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/jimbohalo10/32/961440_2.png) [@Jimbohalo10](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Jimbohalo10)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 7:49am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410/4 "2024-02-25T07:49:30Z")
hi @AdamEm01 Looking through the manual I found the quote > **Denoised Radiance** Stores the denoised radiance if denoising is turned on in the post processing settings for the path tracer, and completes for the current frame, otherwise it is **black**. The only other way is you Extract Zip the project in failing state and upload Personal Message. I will then try and figure out why, by baking etc ---
**Author:** ![AdamEm01](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@AdamEm01](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/AdamEm01)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410/5 "2024-02-26T14:45:14Z")
Thanks @Jimbohalo10 I may have found the answer in this link after digging a bit deeper: [Twinmotion](https://twinmotionhelp.epicgames.com/s/question/0D54z00007eZLa2CAG/black-screen-when-path-tracing-is-enable?language=en_US) The short of it is that very complex scenes can’t be rendered in the path tracer. And there were a lot of objects and complex meshes in my scene. The path tracer actually worked when I initially loaded up the scene, and the background landscapes would start to get rendered. But then all the massive buildings would load in, and everything went black. So I think it’s only going to be suitable for smaller to medium sized scenes. ---
**Author:** ![World-Kraken](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/world-kraken/32/1017212_2.png) [@World-Kraken](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/World-Kraken)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/path-tracing-all-objects-are-totally-dark-except-for-the-sky/1703410/6 "2025-06-09T19:56:00Z")
One of my PostProcessingVolumes was causing the darkness. Hopefully, that helps solve this issue for others.