MLS Manager Window

This is the main plugin control window. Using this window, you can bake and store lightmaps, and customize lighting scenarios.

By default, it looks like this.

Storing Tab

1. Workflow

This option gives you the opportunity to choose in which mode the plugin should work, two options are available - "Single Scene" and "Multi-Scene".

If only one scene is loaded in the hierarchy, then the mode will automatically be held on "Single Scene".

2. Active Scene

When the "Multi-Scene" workflow is selected, the "Active Scene" option is also available to you. It allows you to select an active scene for baking or testing. The active scene is set automatically depending on its state in the hierarchy, but be careful in any case.

3. Storing Mode

The "Storing Mode" parameter allows you to select the mode in which lightmaps will be baked and stored.

Value	Description
Once	In this mode, the ilightmap with the current settings will be baked and stored under the name you specified. You can also bake a lightmap yourself using the standard Unity "Lighting" window. To save the lightmap, click the "Store Baked Lightmap" button.
Queue	In this mode, baking and storing occurs in automatic mode for each saved preset sequentially. Each stored lightmap will have the name of the preset from which the settings were taken.

4. Presets

Presets allow you to save various scene lighting settings and then quickly switch between its, for example, you can set up scene lighting presets for day, evening, night, etc., and then bake its separately or use a queue to bake and store sequentially.

To create a preset, click the "Create New..." button. After pressing the button, the preset manager window will automatically open. Learn more about the preset manager.

5. Baking

Option	Description
Create Ligtmap Scenario	Automatically create a blending scenario and add all stored lightmaps to it
Scenario To Replace Data	This option allows you to overwrite the data in the Scenario Blending Queue. If "-None-" is selected, a new scenario will be created. If a scenario name is selected, the settings for that scenario will be reset and the blending queue will be filled with newly baked lightmaps. This option is available only if you have at least one saved Lightmap Scenario.
Clear Default Data Folder	If checked, stored copies of lightmaps will be automatically removed from the default folder.
Store Path	The path where the lighting data will be stored. This is always in the "Resources\" folder.

Switching/Blending tab

This tab contains a list of all generated lighting scenarios. Each scenario contains settings for blending lightmaps.

Option	Description
Scenario Name	The name of the Lightmap Scenario. The prefix is ​​assigned automatically and is equal to the name of the scene for which the script was created.
Cyclic Blend	If true, a lightmap at index 0 will be added to the end of the blend queue.

Blendable Lightmaps Queue

To add or remove a lightmap, press "+" or "-". The blending will occur in the order in which the lightmaps are added to the queue. You can change the order in the list by simply dragging and dropping.

Column	Description
№	Lightmap index in the blend queue.
Short Name	The abbreviated name, contains only the name given before baking.
Asset Name	Full name and link to the saved data asset.
Target Value	The amount that the global blend factor must reach for the lightmap to have full weight in the scene.
Switching	Click the "Load" button to instantly load the lightmap in the editor.

Blending Configurator

The configurator allows you to customize some of the blending details such as the "Reflection Blending Range" and the "Lightmap Blending Range".

Option	Description
Cycle Length	The "Cycle Length" parameter is only used for previewing in the editor. Set the desired time in seconds and click "Play".
Ranges Setting Mode	Allows you to choose how to customize the blending ranges. There are three options available. Separate - each range is adjusted separately. Mirror - changes in one range will be mirrored to the range with the index counted from the end of the queue. Copy - changes in one range will be copied to the range with the index counted from the end of the queue.
Global Blend	A value between 0 and 1 that reflects the blending state between the first and last lightmap.
Reflections/Lightmaps Blending Range	The range in which to blend a specific lightmap. By changing the ranges, you can set when the lightmap blend starts to weigh and when it starts to have maximum weight.

The "Open Blending Configurator" button opens the configurator in a separate window, this will allow you to adjust the ranges more precisely if necessary.

Events

Events allow you to link your own scripts to the MLS lightmap blending system. This works like regular events in Unity.

For demonstration, the script ChangeObjectStateOnEvent.cs was created, which is located in the Magic Lightmap Switcher ➞ Examples ➞ Scripts folder.

Create a new Cube object on scene and attach this script to it.

Then go to the MLS Manager Window, add a new listener and drag the just created object there. Set up the listener as shown below.

Now move the Global Blend slider. When the Global Blend Value reaches 0.5 (middle of the scale), the objects will be deactivated. The script code contains a condition that is met when the Global Blend value reaches a certain value.