I have a pair of outdoor maps with identical lighting setups. Each map is using the UltraDynamicSky, a directional light for the sun, exponential height fog, and a post-process volume. What has me stumped is that one map has soft grey shadows while the other has near totally black shadows. I can’t figure out why they are so different. I want the softer grey shadows. I have the GI checked on the post-process volume for both maps. But it doesn’t seem to have any effect on the dark map. What’s going on?
Never mind. Found the problem. There is a setting in the world settings for the environment color. It was set to black which was making the shadows very dark.
Usually a skylight actor is used for the actual ambient lighting. It also captures a basic reflection environment.
The skylight actor wasn’t getting the job done.