# Recommending auto exposure settings while lighting

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/recommending-auto-exposure-settings-while-lighting/474918>\
**Category:** Rendering\
**Tags:** Eye-Adaptation, unreal-engine, Auto-Exposure, Lighting, question\
**Created:** [November 23, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/recommending-auto-exposure-settings-while-lighting/474918 "2020-11-23T20:42:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![StrayDorian](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@StrayDorian](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/StrayDorian)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/recommending-auto-exposure-settings-while-lighting/474918/1 "2020-11-23T20:42:05Z")

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Hello, internal to my studio we’re attempting a lighting pass on all levels to get consistent lighting and consistent PP settings across all maps to start as a baseline. In doing so questions about correct auto exposure settings came up.

I’m using these two docs as the primary source of truth but doesn’t quite answer a couple questions:

> **[How Epic Games is handling auto exposure in 4.25](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/tech-blog/how-epic-games-is-handling-auto-exposure-in-4-25)**
>
> Auto exposure in Unreal Engine 4.25.

> **[Auto Exposure (Eye Adaptation)](https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.27/en-US/RenderingAndGraphics/PostProcessEffects/AutomaticExposure/)**
>
> Automatic adjustment of scene exposure to simulate eye adaptation from changes in brightness

I also downloaded the sun temple example from the epic launcher which is used as an example in the documentation above.

**So the main question I have, what exposure settings should be used when doing an initial lighting pass?**

I believe the answer is to turn it off, but not sure and it would be great for a lighting/exposure expert at Epic to confirm.

**It would also be great to get recommended starting values for min/max brightness after initial lighting pass.**

In the sun temple example it appears min/max should be set to 1/1? (According to documentation this disables auto-exposure correct?)

[[Album] PP settings example ![](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/3/2/3/3234f1630f432aef5e1392284e895de21b3de6d6.jpeg "PP settings example") ](https://imgur.com/a/o45G9eO)

The sun temple example also has smaller PP volumes for each area that adjust the exposure compensation but does not override the min/max brightness of 1/1.

Hearing from an expert at Epic for a definite answer here would be greatly appreciated.

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**Author:** ![StrayDorian](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@StrayDorian](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/StrayDorian)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 11:19am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/recommending-auto-exposure-settings-while-lighting/474918/2 "2020-11-27T11:19:43Z")

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Here’s a better link to the image above:

 ![](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/7/6/1/76179ee33d4b14ce379cd162535229a8bebdeaa2.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![nande](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/nande/32/1057698_2.png) [@nande](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/nande)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 8:20am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/recommending-auto-exposure-settings-while-lighting/474918/3 "2025-04-23T08:20:39Z")

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id also love to know.

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**Author:** ![ZacD](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@ZacD](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ZacD)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 12:08pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/recommending-auto-exposure-settings-while-lighting/474918/4 "2025-04-23T12:08:59Z")

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> [@StrayDorian](#):
>
> recommended starting values for min/max brightness

What I do is go to the darkest part of the scene, and then the lightest part of a scene and set those two values to what looks best and most natural. Should be pretty straight forward for uniform scenes, like a interior with similar lighting levels or an open world, but for indoor/outdoor scenes you’ll likely have to make sub zones to tune those values further.