Difference in lighting between 2.91 and 3.0.0 (New revised title)

[paulhart2]

I have returned to a project that I had stepped away from that some of you may remember. It is a children’s book, and I was dissatisfied by the review copies and want to try again. I was using 2.91, just fine, and now open the same files in 4.24 LTS and they are overly dark. I shouldn’t have to add a bunch of lights as someone suggested, but there must be some profound settings in how these are being evaluated in the more recent versions. I have tried 4.3.1 revisions and 4.4 versions, same results. anybody have any ideas.

Thank you all for any ideas.

[thorn]

If you’re using Eevee, note that renderer was removed in 4.2, and replaced with a new version called Eevee Next. You should probably read through this, and see how to work with it.

https://developer.blender.org/docs/release_notes/4.2/eevee_migration/

Alternately, you could try using blender 3.6 LTS.

[paulhart2]

I appreciate the response. I don´t use EeVee, but will explore to see if it makes a difference. I had not tried 3.6 LTS, just did now, unfortunately, no change. At least it narrows it down between 2.91 and 3.6.18 LTS. This is useful, and I will explore this question more closely in the morning. Thank you again.

[oo_1942 (Kim)]

It can’t be this big of a difference.
You should check the settings.

For the material node, there are some changes and others.

Aren’t you using HDRI or other preferences?
The shadow of 2.9 doesn’t seem to be just a shadow made by lighting.

[paulhart2]

I tried Blender 2.93.18 LTS version and it rendered fine, no darkening noted? I may have to move through each version to see when the big change happened? And, what was the change, and how can I correct for it. Strange process, as I might have to stick with an older versions of Blender, but I would like to know how to correct for the change noted, as I do routinely open older files.

[zeauro]

2.93 Cycles has been replaced by Cycles X, with a different sampling technique, in Blender 3.x.
Shading nodes may have been changed, too.

[paulhart2]

Zeauro . . Good timing. I just downloaded Blender 3.0.0 and the Viewport and render show the immediate change in the lighting, now the ‘dark’ version shows up. So it was 3.0.0 where the change happened. Now I am challenged to figure out what got altered and how to correct for it, as all of the later version show the same ‘darkening’ of the Viewport and renders. Research and response from the community is welcome, as I scratch my head furiously . . . .
I appreciate that the Blender site has all of the older version still available.

[MartinZ (Martynas Žiemys)]

I think this is what I would expect to be honest. Versions change. Full compatibility cannot be expected. I would just use the version it was originally created in if consistency was absolutely needed or try to adjust the thing using functionality of the current version which depending on the complexity of the project might not be practical at all. Don’t we all deal with this? I mean… I also have old projects and I know stuff from version 2.x will not work in 4.x. In most cases I wouldn’t even try beyond opening the file to find out what the file version is just to know which old version to download… (If we are talking about a full project. Single asset might be worth the trouble.)

@paulhart2

Now I am challenged to figure out what got altered and how to correct for it

I wouldn’t expect there will be a single thing you can just correct and get identical results either. And on top of that, even if you somehow get it to work in 3.0, it doesn’t mean it would give identical results when opening it in 4.3 after saving in 3.0… I bet it changed further. I think chances are, it might be faster to just adjust it in 4.3 until you get similar results if similar is acceptable. If you need identical, just use the original version.

[paulhart2]

MartinZ, Hello…
Something about your post sent me searching, and I found a video about adding an HDRI to the Color parameter in the World. It immediately made a global difference in the overall lighting of the subject, as noted below. I will try it on some of the other files on this project and let all know. Looks like a significant and productive way to correct the lighting and work with the features and speed of a newer version of Blender. Thanks all for the attention and discussion.

[paulhart2]

So, not totally solved as checked, but I have isolated the change to the shift from 2.9 series to the 3.0 series. Some global change was involved that darkened all of my older images. I would like to know what that change was and how to consistently correct for it in opening my old files. I appreciate features of the latest versions of Blender and would like to make the adjustments to move on. Any suggestions or understandings by more informed users out there?? Thank you.

[MartinZ (Martynas Žiemys)]

If you want help from more informed people, inform them more first. Share the file. Nobody knows what features you are using there.

Also the devs are quite informed in this area and they usually try to keep compatibility between versions, if it’s not kept and if the next version fails to convert data correctly to be compatible there might be reasons for it.

[paulhart2]

MartinZ, Thank you for the suggestion, gladly share and invite suggestions.
I put it in a Zip file for ease, 25mgs.
[Raccoon blend model from 2.91, opens dark in 3.0 or later??]
(https://www.hartworks.net/blender/raccoon_v11.zip)