Recommendations To Use
For small scenes in most cases, it is enough to place one volume with size of the whole scene. The default values of all parameters are suitable for most situations.
If your scene is large enough, it’s good practice to place one volume with size of the whole scene and adjust it so that the spacing between the probes is maximized. This will fill large spaces on the scene quite quickly and correctly. Pay attention to the "Corners Detection Threshold" parameter, it directly affects the calculation speed and the number of sub-volumes into which the main volume will be divided.
You should also place individual volumes in those places where more accurate placement of probes is required. The settings for such volumes depend on the situation, but in most cases the default settings will do.
You should not place one large volume with small spacing on large scenes, firstly, it will inevitably lead to a long calculation time, and secondly it will limit you in the ability to configure individual parts of your scene for a more detailed calculation.
In addition, the size of the volume is limited programmatically in order to avoid RAM overload. When such a restriction works, you will see the corresponding warning in the main component of the plugin, as well as in the component of the editable volume. You will also be offered options to correct the situation.
Using Prefabs
Starting from version 1.95.2 Magic Light Probes supports the generation of probes in prefabs. The workflow is no different from the workflow in the main scene.
To generate probes inside a prefab, follow these steps:
Create a prefab from the objects you need.
Switch to prefab edit mode.
Add volume using MLP Manager.
MLP Manager in prefab edit mode will display only volumes that belong directly to the prefab.
Important!
The prefab root must be located in coordinates (X:0; Y:0; Z:0)
Volumes generated in prefab mode can only be calculated in prefab edit mode. This means that when using the MLP Manager "Calculate All Volumes" option, only the volumes that are created directly in the scene will be calculated, and the volumes that are created in the prefab mode will be skipped.
Optimization For Mixed Mode
If your scene uses light sources in mixed mode, then be sure to use the "Optimize For Mixed Lighting" option this will remove all parts of the volume that do not contain geometry and reduce the calculation time.
Light Source Management
If your scene has many light sources, then use the "Lights" tab in the manager. It displays all the light sources in your scene, sorted by type and mode. Right from there, you can switch between them on the scene and add or remove the "MLP Light" component.
Quick Volume Editing
Use the “MLP Quick Editing” component to edit some volume parameters after calculating it. These changes are processed at the GPU (if your configuration supports compute shaders), so it is very fast. If the volume is divided into sub-volumes, then they are calculated one by one.
In most cases, the volume can be adjusted using this component.
Defining Scene Bottom
The system needs to know which of your objects are bounding below. It can be ground, terrain or the floor of the lower floor of a building.
To quickly mark such objects, use the "MLP Helper" - this is the object that appears in the scene view. To enable it, use the menu Tools -> Magic Light Probes -> Scene GUI -> Enable.
In the main component of the plugin go to the tab "Basic Parameters" and use the group of elements "Ground And Floor Objects". Click on the "Add Object" button and select an object.
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