Effects

Place an effect

• The row of tiles lists the effects: Light, Spotlight, Fire, Embers, Smoke, Sparkles, Fireflies and Mist patch.
• A preview of the effect, at full strength, follows the pointer before you place it.
• Click to place it. You can keep clicking to place more.
• Grid Snapping, in the panel header, puts it in the middle of a grid square.
• Esc leaves the tool. Ctrl+Z, or the Undo button, takes back the last effect.

Presets and custom settings

• A preset sets every setting at once. Light has Lantern, Candle, Fairy lights, Wall torch, Neon, Work lamp and Street lamp (moonlight comes from the sky: set it in Environment). Fire has Candle flame, Torch, Campfire and Bonfire. Smoke has Chimney, Campfire smoke and Steam. Spotlight has Stage, Lamp post and Torch beam.
• Custom settings, the first button in the presets row, opens every setting of the effect: sliders, colours and switches. Changing one makes the preset Custom.
• Colours are named swatches, plus a custom colour that picks any colour you like.
• Each effect has its own settings. A light has colour, brightness, range, flicker and shadows. A spotlight has beam width, edge softness, tilt and turn. Fire has size, flame height, liveliness, colour and whether it gives off light.

Height

• Every effect starts just above the surface you click. Height, in the panel, raises the next one, as it does for models; so do Shift (up) and Ctrl (down), 10 cm at a time.
• A preset doesn't change the height.
• While you place an effect, a dashed line drops from it to the surface, and an outline shows what it covers: a light's reach, a spotlight's cone, the space sparkles, fireflies and mist fill.

Where effects land

• An effect lands on whatever is under the pointer: the ground, a model, a wall, a roof or a tree.
• Effects on the ground follow the hills you sculpt.

Change or remove one (Edit mode)

• In Edit mode every effect shows a small round badge with its icon, and the outline of what it covers.
• Click a badge to open its menu: the presets, the same settings, its Height, and Delete.
• A selected effect shows move arrows: drag one to move it along that line. Dragged along the ground, it stays on the ground.

Lights and performance

• Lights, spotlights and fires that give off light all count. With more than 5 in a scene, a note says that lots of lights can lower the frame rate. It never stops you placing more.
• Lights and spotlights cast shadows. Up to 4 lights and 1 spotlight cast them at once: the first ones placed with Shadows on. Others still light the scene, without a shadow, and the panel says so.
• Shadows are costly. If a scene runs slowly, turn Shadows off for lights that don't need them.
• Moving an effect in Edit mode follows the Effects tool's own Grid Snapping, which is off to start; switch it in the effect's menu.

Wind, night and glow

• Smoke, embers and mist drift with the scene's wind, which you set in Environment.
• Fireflies can be set to Night only.
• Glowing effects glow more with the bloom on. Turn it on in Visual effects, the button at the top right.

Controls

Tips

• Effects are saved with the scene.
• Lights, sparkles and fire placed with the old Model browser in older scenes open as effects.

More guides

• Usage Guide
• Buildings
• Terrain Sculpt
• Terrain Paint
• Grass
• Water
• Trees
• File Compression Guide
• Find 3D Models

Ready to try it? Open the editor.