03. SU Podium V2.6 Quick Start - Intensity / exposure

Video 03 in the Quick Start sequence

The intensity/exposure sliders are one of several ways to manipulate the exposure/brightness of an image.

As shown in the video, the "interior bright" presets are one way to boost the exposure of an interior image with relatively little natural light.
The SketchUp date/time plays an important role in image tone and brightness when using either of the Podium physical skies.
Hidden LEM materials, can be used to increase the amount of light in a natural, organic way. If you must use artificial "fill lighting" to brighten up a room, hidden light emitting materials are a better choice than omni lights. This is demonstrated in the video labeled LEM examples.
Some visualizers will remove/hide a wall behind the camera to allow more light into an interior — just one more option to consider if you need to significantly increase the amount of light in your space.
If a render is only slightly underexposed, it is often faster and easier to simply brighten the image in post-processing, instead of wrangling with the iterative process of making adjustments and re-rendering (which could take several hours).

Troubleshooting tip — Why is my render so over-exposed?

Preset choice - If you use an interior preset for an exterior scene, it will end up overexposed.
Accidental LEM material - Another common mistake is applying LEM properties to a material, but not realizing that several other objects in your model are using the same SketchUp material. For example: You apply LEM properties to a light-bulb, without realizing that the walls share that same material. Solution is to create unique materials every time you make an LEM.
Make sure the "clay" option is not turned on. When this option is checked in the environment tab, all textures are turned off and surfaces will appear pure white.

Resources: Download the models used in the Quick Start videos

Additional sample models can be found here: Sample models and test scenes