Render Lab / 01

Material. Light. Exposure.

One scene. Three different reasons it changes.

Self-contained · Works offline
What changed—and what stayed the same?

Every comparison starts from Original. Each card changes only its named category.

01

Original

The fixed reference

Gray sphere, neutral key + fill.
No exposure adjustment.

02

Material changed

Rendering…
Same lights · Same exposure

The sphere’s material is edited.
The reference cube’s material stays fixed.

03

Light changed

Rendering…
Same materials · Same exposure

The key light is edited.
A neutral fill stays on for comparison.

04

Exposure changed

Same materials · Same lights

The entire image is adjusted.
No light or surface has changed.

Choose what to edit
Only the selected group is editable. Click any image to compare it larger.

Material

How the surface responds

Active
Sphere material controls
#9D5244
0.64
0.00

Watch the reflection become sharp or broad. Roughness changes the reflection—not the shape of the sphere.

Light

What illuminates the scene

Frozen
Key light controls
1.40×
#FFC68B
32°
−65°

Watch both objects and their shadows. Turning off the key does not turn off the fixed fill light.

Camera exposure

How bright the image appears

Frozen
Image exposure controls
+1.0
2.00×
scene-linear image values
+1 stop
before the display transform

Lit image × 2stops → fixed display transform.
+1 stop doubles the linear values; −1 stop halves them. Displayed pixel values do not double in the same way.

Watch the sphere, cube, floor, and background together. Highlight and shadow positions do not move.

Can you tell what changed?

Compare an original and a mystery render. Decide whether the change came from the material, light, or exposure.

Compare with Original

Original · Fixed reference
Material changed
Visual check / 01

Which category changed?

Only one category was edited. Look for what stayed the same.

Original
Mystery render

This is a visual reasoning exercise, not a test of renderer settings.