Lens Flares simulate the effect of lights refracting inside camera lens. They are used to represent really bright lights or, more subtly, just to add a bit more atmosphere to your scene.
The easiest way to setup a Lens Flare is just to assign the Flare property of the Light. Unity contains a couple of pre-configured Flares in the Standard Assets package.
Otherwise, create an empty GameObject with from the menu bar and add the Lens Flare Component to it with . Then and choose the Flare in the Inspector.
To see the effect of Lens Flare in the Scene View, check the button in the Scene View toolbar:
Flare | The Flare to render. The flare defines all aspects of the lens flare's appearance. |
Color | Some flares can be colorized to better fit in with your scene's mood. |
Brightness | How large and bright the Lens Flare is. |
Directional | If set, the flare will be oriented along positive Z axis of the game object. It will appear as if it was infinitely far away, and won't track object's position, only the direction of Z axis. |
You can directly set flares as a property of a Light Component, or set them up separately as Lens Flare component. If you attach them to a light, they will automatically track the position and direction of the light. To get more precise control, use this Component.
A Camera has to have a Flare Layer Component attached to make Flares visible (this is true by default, so you don't have to do any set-up).
Page last updated: 2013-07-12