lens flares tutorial

[ultra tree 85!]

I was setting up a bunch of lights that I wanted to give flares to, but there's a problem. They're too far away from the camera to appear. Is there any way to increase the camera range that they affect? I tried changing some settings around, but it didn't work. Thanks.

[RG]

Whoa! You've entered an area that I have avoided all these years. So, I have very little practical advice to give you here but two stabs in the dark(so to speak). One, would be to put a map_settings entity in your map and change the farclip setting, starting at about 100,000 and increasing to see if that helps.
Two, try larger size shaders of the lens flares and see if that works. If not, you may be able to increase the size of the pics they are based on and then make a new, larger size flare shader in shaderlab. That's it from me.

Otherwise, I know that Slate used lens flares in some of his maps and maybe he will read your post and reply. Or, maybe you could email him and ask him if he has any suggestions.

Sorry I wasn't very helpful, but good luck!

[ultra tree 85!]

Thanks for the advice. I'll see about changing the farclip setting with a map settings entity.

Even if it doesn't work, I still have a bunch of flares that are close enough to the camera to show up.

[[TBN]oak man]

How do you put lens flares?

[RG]

For UT85, I was just goofing with the flare properties for a light on my mining car and discovered that if you drop the flare_attenuation setting to just 0.1, you can see the flare from a further distance. Try it, if you haven't already. You may have to adjust the flare_size and _brightness settings to get it right.

For oak man, for the light entity you want to give a lens flare, just hit the properties tab for your light and you will see the settings for the flare there. For flare_name you have to go to the effects directory in your shader listing and choose one of the shaders labeled flare. Then read the above paragraph. Then, make sure you set 'enlight_object' to true. You will probably have to experiment with the other settings until you get the effect you want.

I am still learning about flares so if UT85 or anyone else wants to correct me or add anything, please do. Hope this helps. Cheers!

[ultra tree 85!]

rg said:

For UT85, I was just goofing with the flare properties for a light on my mining car and discovered that if you drop the flare_attenuation setting to just 0.1, you can see the flare from a further distance. Try it, if you haven't already. You may have to adjust the flare_size and _brightness settings to get it right.

Thanks for the help! I was able to see the lens flares that I was having trouble with by using the attenuation 0.1 setting.

[RG]

Cool! Say, when you come across solutions to problems in the threads, please post them so that others can learn. That way, in a way, we are all contributing to an on-line tutorial.

Thanks for the feedback, UT85.

[[TBN]oak man]

Are lens flares visible while in prism3d?

[prowler4]

Are lens flares what make a light look like it's on? Because I'm putting lighting in Underground and would like to do that.

[[TBN]oak man]

yes

[ultra tree 85!]

oakman said:

Are lens flares visible while in prism3d?

No, I think you have to run the map ingame to see them, although I haven't checked out all of the camera view modes, so I might be wrong.

[RG]

Agreed. The only mode that might render flares would be the button at the top for 'Lit with shadows'. Haven't tried it, though.

Hey, Ultra Tree, why don't you write a mini-tutorial here about how to set up and use lens flares? You seem to know more than any one else, through experience. I know I and the others would appreciate the effort. ;D

[ultra tree 85!]

Okay, here's my mini tutorial:

-If you want a lens flare in your map, you have to create a light entity first. I've only used lens flares with plainlights and random lights, so I don't know if they work properly with the other types. I tried one on a controlled light, but it didn't show up, so I don't know if lens flares will work with everything. The effect with random lights is cool. The flare dissapears and appears as the light flashes on and off.
-After you have made the normal light size adjustments, go to the info tab for your light entity. The first thing to change is the lens_flare option. It starts on "false". Select this option and change it to "true".
-Then, you need to select the shader that you want to appear in the map as the lens flare. Using the flare_name option right below the lens_flare option, go to the shader list. The lens flares are found in the "effects" section. I've used a few different shaders for flares in my map:
-the "flare_e01_blue2.shd
-flare_e01_green.shd
-flare_e01_yellow.shd
-flare_e01_red.shd
I haven't used any of the others yet, but there are also the "lensflare_01.shd" and the "lensflare_02.shd" shaders.
-After you choose the flare that you want, you might want to change the color of the actual light to match the flare. In the first tab for a light entity, at the bottom, there is a R,G,B, color adjustment section. An example of a color for the "flare_e01_yellow.shd" would be to set the color values to:
-178
-157
-63
This will make the light give off a yellow color that will be lightmapped to the textures around it, and it matches up with the color of the yellow flare shader. You can always play around with the color values so that they are the way you want them.
-Next, under the info tab, there is an option for the size of the flare. You can change the flare_size value to make the flare bigger or smaller. For a nice, small flare, I would usually set it to something like "1.000". For a bigger one, you could change it to "2.000". Get the flare to the size you want by adjusting this value. You will have to compile and run the map to test how the flare looks, but don't do that until you've set up a few more things.
-The "Flare_brightness" setting adjusts how bright the flare looks. I usually set it to about 1.000 for a normal light, and about 2.000 for a really bright light.
-This next step is really important. RG showed me that if you want to be able to see a flare when it's at a distance from the camera, you need to change the "flare_attenuation" setting to "0.100". If you don't the flare will not appear when it's not very close to the camera.
-Then, if you are using the flare with a random_light, you might want to change the rate that the light and flare go on and off at. Here are some examples of different options of changes to the min/max delay values:
-a light that is off most of the time but flickers on every few seconds: Change the off_min value to be "0.500", and the off_max value to "6.000". Put on_min to 0.100, and on_max to "0.250". You can change it around to different values and test it out, but for a light that flickers on every few seconds, you need a low off_min value, and a higher off_max value. If you want the light to just flicker on, then the on_min must be low, and the on_max has to also be very low, but higher than the on_min. If you change the on_max value to a higher value like "0.800", then the light and flare may stay on for a little longer before they go off again, instead of just flickering on.
-a light that is usually on but flickers off:
Example:
off_min: 0.200
off_max:0.400
on_min: 0.100
on_max:10.000
-Test your flare out in the game!

Let me know if you find a mistake with this mini-tutorial, and I'll fix it. Good luck putting flares in your maps

[RG]

Excellent work!!! ;D Thanks UT.

I was just wondering if you have experimented with the flares and particles you put with the cars while they are moving, either with a utility track or a mover_adv entity, and whether they still work? I have had success with the particles, but haven't tried the flares yet.

[ultra tree 85!]

rg said:

Excellent work!!! ;D Thanks UT.

I was just wondering if you have experimented with the flares and particles you put with the cars while they are moving, either with a utility track or a mover_adv entity, and whether they still work? I have had success with the particles, but haven't tried the flares yet.

It's cool that you got the particles to move along with the tracks. I've never tried to use the flares/particles with a moving car before. I guess I'll try it out.