Maya help? Shadows and lighting Baking.

Hi. Here again for some advice

So I'm using Direction lights (3) at a intensity of .600 each. for a bed I'm sculpting, and when i render in preview mode it looks awesome... But when i export the textures out,(MEL SCRIPT) they are much much darker. somewhat hard to even see. Can anyone think of something I'm doing wrong. or How to properly back shadows and lighting and which lighting tools to use? I'd appreciate it soooo muuch!

Thanks!

If you're baking moderate to high contrast lighting/shading, then most likely the textures will look best when set to fullbright. That kind of baked lighting, after all, is intended to take the place of in-world dynamic lighting.

That obviously isn't always ideal, though, since for many items, especially those that will be placed outdoors, you want the texturing to appear responsive to dynamic lighting. In those cases, you'll want to keep your baked contrast more subtle. Give it just enough shading to help emphasize or define shapes, no more. Too much shading on a non-fullbright will make it appear too dark, as you've been experiencing.

ahh! okay! now im getting better results when exported. Thanks so much!