# Scene Color Node Too Dark?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/scene-color-node-too-dark/459546>\
**Category:** Rendering\
**Tags:** dark, bug, unreal-engine, question\
**Created:** [December 15, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/scene-color-node-too-dark/459546 "2019-12-15T11:26:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Shrooblord](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/shrooblord/32/88712_2.png) [@Shrooblord](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Shrooblord)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/scene-color-node-too-dark/459546/1 "2019-12-15T11:26:14Z")

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Hey there,

I’ve been trying to design some Materials using the Scene Color node, but I’ve hit a bit of a snag. The Materials are way too dark. In all video footage I’ve seen of this node, it causes the Material to effectively become invisible. But mine is clearly visible, and tinted to what looks like 80% grey or so.

This is what it looks like in-game and in-Editor:

 ![293989-scenecolortoodark1.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/6/3/e/63ef834f1f1f962e5d9b6de888b6985a2ac4106c.png)

It’s just a sphere with the Material slapped on it. To the right is a BP with the Material I had been designing.

But, as you can see, the Material Editor seems to believe this Scene Color node should work as expected, showing an almost invisible Material:

 ![293990-scenecolortoodark2.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/c/3/6/c3690a7a307c0666a3582505f35734e11fc63fa9.png)

This is quite annoying, as it completely messes up the appearance of the Material I was going for.

Any ideas on what’s going on?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shrooblord](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/shrooblord/32/88712_2.png) [@Shrooblord](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Shrooblord)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/scene-color-node-too-dark/459546/2 "2019-12-18T03:32:21Z")

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I’ve made some progress. Turns out, some Actors that were using SceneColor that I _know_ work correctly in their Projects of origin were also displaying this behaviour in my Project. So I decided to create a new Level with nothing in it but a skybox, and test again.

This time, SceneColor worked as expected.

This leads me to believe my issue is with my Post-Processing Volume, or other lighting setup.

I will report back once I’ve located the cause.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shrooblord](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/shrooblord/32/88712_2.png) [@Shrooblord](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Shrooblord)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/scene-color-node-too-dark/459546/3 "2019-12-18T11:50:07Z")

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Turns out the culprit was **Eye Adaptation** and the **Post Processing Volume** ’s&nbsp; **EV100** settings under **Lens \> Exposure**.  
​​​​​​​

 ![294148-scenecolortoodark-fix3.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/f/a/8fa0a1849d5fa6d543d09202d88eea02119d1ffe.png)

Here you can see my original setup. With **Min EV100** and **Max EV100** both set to 1,0, the effect is as described in the original post, with **Scene Color Materials** showing up as being too dark.

 ![294149-scenecolortoodark-fix2.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/c/d/2cdd37f8bedd3f0dd6fbe4cce55feabb0759d1fb.png)

Here is a screenshot with those settings turned off (default auto-exposure settings). Now the **SceneColor Materials** look too bright.

 ![294150-scenecolortoodark-fix1.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/0/5/a/05a92d42404831bfc7e872bb707339f716cb5e15.png)

Finally, after some tweaking, you almost can’t even see the **Materials** using **SceneColor** anymore, as expected. The **EV100** settings I settled on are **Min EV100** of -0,3 and **Max EV100** of 0,0.

I am still a total newbie at everything **Lighting-** and&nbsp; **Post-Processing** -related in _Unreal Engine 4_, and many of these settings not only confuse me, but drive me into a corner that makes me think I’ll never get the project to look like what I want it to. But sometimes it’s just as simple as finding the right two dials, and setting them appropriately. I’m sure I’ll get more of a hang of it with time… or I’ll end up hiring someone who has the proper know-how. 😉

Thanks for your attention. I hope this helps someone else in the future.