Working on my latest pic using spectral atmos/render mode GI or GA when I preview the scence via preview render mode it looks fine....When I up the quality to final and above the pic becomes very dark & doesn't even remotely look like the preview render.  I can't brighten the pic using the balance slider as then the textures become almost glowing & washed out. This has happened in fact with all the pics I've done, but this one to date is by far the worst case scenerio.

Why is this happening?  Have I missed a setting? Or is this a bug?  This is totally frustrating :(

Thanks :)

Preview mode doesn't make proper use of the light qualities in spectral/GI/GR etc, hence why it's a preview & which is quick to render. I understand this but it can be awkward if you don't get a proper example of what your final render might look like. What I tend to do is after a quick preview, I will then render at final but at a smaller size or cropped  so I can get a feel for what the final image will look like regarding light & atmosphere settings. This smaller render shouldn't take that long to render compared to the final piece at full size & with user settings.

Good idea Stormchaser - I still believe preview render should somewhat resemble the final - the lighting differences on this pic I'm doing are enormous :(

I reported this just a couple of days ago. I hope it will be fixed one day.

Thanks for the comfirm Wabe - What is most bizzare is that in this particular render(I did let it run all night) the light areas became dark & the dark became light. 

That sounds interesting, never had that. Maybe full moon and something turned into a werwolf?

LOL - I think I'd been happier seeing the werewolf :blink:  What made this render strange is my sky was about 90% covered with clouds.  I'll have to get back to it tomorrow, we have storms moving in this PM,  so I do not  want to get started & then shut down.

I also have had this problem and posted it a few weeks ago. Please let E-on know of this so it can be fixed.