Documentation

Placing Lights

Lights add realistic illumination to your track, especially useful for night racing. TreCorsa offers fixture lights as well as export-only naked lights that can illuminate custom scenery without adding a pole model.

Light Tool Modes

The Light tool has two modes:

• Place Light - Click on terrain to place fixture lights; naked lights can also be placed directly on roads, walls, buildings, and 3D models
• Select Light - Click on existing lights to select and edit them

Light Tool Controls

• Left click - Place a light (in Place mode) or select a light (in Select mode)
• Scroll wheel - Rotate the light while placing
• Right click - Delete a placed light

Light Types

TreCorsa includes several light types to choose from:

• Street Light - Standard street light pole with adjustable settings
• Tall Light Pole - Taller light pole for wider coverage
• Short Light Pole - Shorter light pole for path lighting
• Floodlight - Powerful wide-angle floodlight for pit lanes and large areas
• Triple Floodlight - Three floodlights mounted together for 180° coverage
• Ground Spot - Ground-mounted spotlight (no pole)
• Naked Light - A CSP light with no pole or housing. It can remain in world space or attach to a placed custom-model instance

Light Settings

When placing or editing lights, you can adjust various settings:

• Color - The color of the light (use the color picker)
• Intensity - Light brightness (0-100)
• Distance - Maximum light distance in meters (5-100m)
• Pole Height - Height of the light pole in meters (4-30m). Not available for ground spots or naked lights
• Arm Tilt / Wedge Angle - Angle of the light arm or ground spot wedge (5-60°). Label changes based on light type
• Shape - Naked lights can be spotlights with a directional cone or point lights that shine in every direction
• Insert Glowing Sphere - Optionally exports a small low-poly emitter at a naked light's position so the source is visible, especially for point lights. Glow Diameter controls its size
• Pitch - Naked spotlight direction from straight down (0°) through horizontal (90°) to straight up (180°)
• Lift - Raises a naked light above the clicked surface while placing it. World lights save that final position; attached lights convert it to a model-local anchor
• World Height - Directly adjusts the Y position of a selected naked light
• Attach to Clicked Model - Stores the naked light relative to the root of the custom model you click, so moving, rotating, or scaling that instance also moves the light. Choose Clicked Instance or All Instances of This Model under Apply To. Local Height replaces World Height while attached
• Active Mode - When the light is active:
  • Always - Light is always on
  • Night Only - Light only activates during night/dark conditions

While placing a naked spotlight, scroll to change yaw and hold Ctrl while scrolling to change pitch.

Choosing All Instances of This Model while placing immediately creates one linked light on every current and future instance of that model asset. An individually attached light can also be promoted later with Use on All Model Instances. Editing any linked light updates the template and all linked instances. Make Unique excludes one instance and leaves its light independently attached; Remove from All deletes the template and all lights it created. Detach to World preserves the current world position and aim while removing model ownership.

Advanced Settings

For fine-tuning light appearance, you can access advanced settings:

• Spot Angle - The cone angle of the spotlight (15-90°). Larger angles create wider light coverage
• Penumbra (Soft Edge) - Controls the softness of the light edge (0-1). Higher values create softer, more gradual light falloff

Spot Angle and Penumbra do not apply to naked point lights.

Color Presets

Quick color presets are available for common light colors. Click a preset button to instantly apply that color and intensity combination to your light.

Editing Existing Lights

To edit a placed light:

1. Activate the Select Light tool
2. Click on the light you want to edit
3. The light picker panel will show the light's current settings
4. Adjust any settings - changes apply instantly
5. Click "Deselect" to finish editing

Note: You cannot change the light type when editing an existing light. To change the type, delete the light and place a new one.

Best Practices

• Use "Night Only" mode for most lights to save performance during daytime
• Place lights strategically along straight sections and corners for good visibility
• Use floodlights for large areas like pit lanes or paddock areas
• Adjust intensity based on distance - lights that are far from the track may need higher intensity
• Use the scroll wheel to rotate lights so they point in the desired direction
• Consider using different light types for variety - mix street lights with floodlights for realistic track lighting