Lighting + HDRI LightAssistant

LightAssistant v1.4 — Update Notes​

Directional Light Protection (Community Feedback)​

Problem: The plugin was grabbing Directional lights (sun/ambient) and repositioning them along with all other scene lights. This made it impossible to leave the plugin loaded as a Scene Plugin — on reload, your sun light would get forced to a wrong position.


Fix: Directional lights are now intelligently protected across the entire plugin:


What's now protected:

• Scene reload — your sun stays exactly where you put it
• Presets — applying a preset won't move existing Directional lights
• Distance sliders — adjusting Global/Key/Fill/Rim distance won't affect Directional lights
• Follow mode — real-time follow won't drag your sun around with the person's head
• Disco Orbit/Wave — Directional lights won't orbit around during disco mode
• Loading saved presets — won't override your sun's position from file

What still works on Directional lights:

• Rotation (sun direction) is still applied when using presets like Natural Window or Cinematic that intentionally set sun angles
• Color and intensity changes from presets, disco mode, and manual controls
• Shadow settings
• They still appear in scan and light list
• Loading a preset file still restores saved sun direction

Safe to leave loaded in Scene Plugins — the plugin will no longer touch your sun's position on scene reload.

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Save/Load System (Complete Rewrite)​

Problem: The old system used a broken SubScene atom approach that didn't work.


Fix: Replaced with VaM's standard file browser pattern:

• Save opens VaM's native file browser with text entry for naming
• Load opens VaM's native browser filtered to .json files
• Presets stored at Saves/PluginData/Kimowal/LightAssistant/
• No more manual text field — just click Save/Load and use the browser

What's saved per light: type, intensity, range, spot angle, color (HSV), shadows, shadow strength, position, rotation


What's saved globally: Global Brightness, Global Distance, Shadow Strength


Smart loading: If preset has more lights than your scene, it applies what it can and tells you to add more.

LightAssistant v1.3 — Update Notes​

Disco Mode Improvements (Community Feedback)​

Disco Brightness Control

• Added dedicated Disco Brightness slider (0–10) in the DISCO tab
• Disco lights now respect the Global Brightness setting from the LIGHTS tab
• All four patterns (Cycle, Strobe, Pulse, Random) use the brightness value

Strobe Minimum Brightness

• Added Strobe Min Brightness slider — strobe no longer goes pitch black
• Adjustable floor so the effect goes from "dim" to "bright" instead of "off" to "bright"

Neon Palette Saturation Fix

• Neon palette was ignoring the Color Saturation slider (hardcoded to 1.0)
• Now properly uses whatever saturation value you set

Custom Color Palette

• Added "Custom" option in the palette dropdown
• When selected, 3 color pickers appear (Custom Color 1/2/3)
• Colors are assigned based on light index — each light gets a consistent color

Palette Color Distribution Fix

• All palettes (Rainbow, Warm, Cool, Neon, Custom) now distribute colors evenly across your lights
• Previously used hardcoded offsets that ignored how many lights you had
• Now calculates spread = lightIndex / lightCount for proper even spacing

Light Exclusion System

• New Exclude/Include controls in the SETUP tab
• Dropdown lists all scene lights — select one and click "Exclude" to prevent the plugin from controlling it
• Excluded lights are skipped during scan, so volumetric/ambient lights stay untouched
• Exclusion list persists with scene save/load

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Save/Load System (Complete Rewrite)​

Problem: The old system tried to create SubScene atoms and parent lights into them — this was broken and unreliable.

Fix: Replaced with VaM's standard file system pattern:

• Save opens VaM's native file browser where you type a preset name
• Load opens VaM's native file browser where you pick a .json file
• Presets stored at Saves/PluginData/Kimowal/LightAssistant/
• No more manual text field for preset names

What's saved per light:

• Light type (Spot/Point)
• Intensity, range, spot angle
• Color (H/S/V)
• Shadow enabled + shadow strength
• World position (X/Y/Z)
• World rotation (X/Y/Z)

What's saved globally:

• Global Brightness value
• Global Distance value
• Shadow Strength value

Smart loading: If your preset has 5 lights but the scene only has 3, it applies the first 3 and tells you to add more lights. No crashes or errors.

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Earlier Fixes In This Update​

• Global Brightness — Fixed compounding bug, now 0–10 range with non-destructive multiplier
• Key/Fill/Rim Intensity — Were completely disconnected (no callbacks), now functional
• Master Intensity (All) — Removed (redundant with Global Brightness)
• Distance Controls — Fixed duplicate system conflict, removed broken Back/Top/Bottom/Side1/Side2 distances
• Scan Recommendations — Expanded from 4 basic checks to 14+ contextual recommendations with lighting score and star grade

LightAssistant v1.4 — Changelog​

NEW: Tab System​

• Reorganized entire UI into 4 tabs: SETUP, LIGHTS, POSITION, DISCO
• VR-friendly navigation — no more endless scrolling
• Each tab only shows relevant controls

NEW: Advanced Scan & Recommendations​

• Lighting Score — 0-100 rating with star grades (★★★★★ Excellent → ★☆☆☆☆ Basic)
• Light role detection — auto-identifies Key, Fill, Rim/Back based on intensity & position
• Color analysis — warm/cool balance, saturation level, temperature palette
• Key-to-Fill ratio — tells you if lighting is flat, balanced, dramatic, or extreme contrast
• Spot angle analysis — warns about too narrow or too wide beams
• Shadow analysis — detects missing shadows or too many shadow casters
• Smart preset suggestion — recommends the best preset based on your current scene
• Expanded from 4 basic checks → 14+ context-aware recommendations with explanations

NEW: Disco Customization​

• 5 patterns: Orbit, Strobe, Pulse, Random, Wave
• 7 palettes: Rainbow, Warm, Cool, Neon, Fire, Ocean, White Strobe
• Speed, color cycle speed, intensity, bounce controls
• Quick presets for one-click disco setups

FIXED: Global Brightness​

• Range changed from 0.1–3.0 → 0–10 (0 = off, 5 = original, 10 = 2x bright)
• No longer compounds , uses stored base intensities for non-destructive control
• Resets to neutral after applying presets

FIXED: Key/Fill/Rim Intensity Sliders​

• Were completely broken (had no callbacks), now actually work
• Range expanded to 0–10 to match Global Brightness
• Auto-sync to show correct values after scanning or applying presets

REMOVED: Master Intensity (All)​

• Was redundant with Global Brightness, removed to reduce confusion

FIXED: Distance Controls​

• Removed duplicate distance system (named sliders vs array sliders were conflicting)
• Removed non-functional Back/Top/Bottom/Side 1/Side 2 distance sliders
• POSITION tab now cleanly has: Global Distance + Key/Fill/Rim distances
• Apply Preset button moved next to preset dropdown

LightAssistant v1.3 - Update Notes​

New: Tabbed UI​

Completely reorganized the UI into 4 tabs for cleaner navigation and VR friendliness:

• SETUP - Person selection, presets, scene scanning, save/load
• LIGHTS - Intensity, color, brightness, color temperature, shadows
• POSITION - Alignment, follow mode, all distance controls
• DISCO - All disco light controls in one place

New: Expanded Disco Light Customization​

• 5 Patterns: Orbit, Strobe, Pulse, Random, Wave
• 7 Color Palettes: Rainbow, Warm, Cool, Neon, Fire, Ocean, White Strobe
• Speed (BPM): Control animation speed from 5-200 BPM
• Color Cycle Speed: Fine-tune how fast colors change
• Color Saturation: Adjust vividness of disco colors
• Bounce Amount: Control vertical light movement
• Quick Presets: One-click setups (Rainbow Orbit, Neon Strobe, Warm Pulse, Fire Wave)

Improved: Apply Preset Button​

Moved to sit directly next to the preset dropdown for quick access (was buried among other action buttons)

Bug Fix​

Fixed UI element cleanup not handling toggles and popups properly

LightAssistant v1.2 — Major Lighting System Overhaul​

This update brings a complete upgrade to the lighting workflow inside VaM.
The goal of LightAssistant 1.2 is to make lighting easier, smarter, more cinematic, and more intuitive for both beginners and power users.

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1. Scene Analysis 2.0 (Improved Scanner)​

The scene scanner has been rebuilt for deeper, more accurate light detection.


It now analyzes:

• InvisibleLights
• Spot, Point, and Directional lights
• Intensity, range, angle, and shadow settings
• Total light energy
• Average scene brightness
• Overexposure / underexposure
• Smart improvement recommendations

The new system gives you a clear overview of scene lighting health at a glance.

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2. Auto-Distance System​

LightAssistant now automatically calculates ideal light distance based on:

• Room size
• Atom spacing
• Nearest detected Person
• Rig size and preset type

All lights reposition and recalibrate instantly for a balanced cinematic result.

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3. Enhanced Presets (Rebalanced & Expanded)​

Every preset has been refined for improved realism and tone:

• Realistic
• Studio Soft
• Warm Skin
• Anime Light
• Cinematic
• Dramatic
• Natural Window
• Rim Light Special

Each preset now includes:

• Updated intensities
• Sharper falloff profiles
• Improved color temperature
• Better head-follow alignment
• Support for up to 8 lights

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🎛 4. Individual Distance Sliders (8-Layer Control)​

Fine-tune each light independently:

• Key
• Fill
• Rim
• Back
• Top
• Bottom
• Side 1
• Side 2

All adjustments update in real time.

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5. Expanded Master Controls​

The Master Panel now includes:

• Global HSV color control
• Master intensity
• Scene brightness scaling
• Auto-shadow optimization
• “Apply to all lights” tinting
• Improved shadow blending

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6. Disco Mode (New Fun Feature)​

A playful, animated lighting mode:

• Rotating lights
• Vertical pulsing
• Color cycling
• Automatic head tracking

One click transforms your scene into a party environment.

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7. Real-Time Follow (Improved Tracking)​

Lights now follow a Person’s head with:

• Faster refresh
• Smoother interpolation
• More reliable angle compensation
• Better results during animations

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8. Preset Save/Load (Early Access)​

You can now save full lighting rigs as SubScenes:

• Save entire rigs to .json
• Load rigs into any scene
• Missing lights created automatically
• Session/Scene plugin compatible

(Note: Some preset-save behaviors are still being refined.)

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9. Light Cleanup Tool (Improved)​

A safer and more robust cleanup system:

• Removes all InvisibleLights correctly
• Backwards-safe iteration
• Automatic rescan after cleanup
• Shows number of removed lights

Perfect when starting a new lighting setup.

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10. Performance Tools (Optimized)​

Designed especially with VR in mind:

• Limit shadows to the 2 brightest lights
• Smart fallback for low-performance rigs
• Auto reduction on extreme brightness
• Overall smoother real-time behavior

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Note on Sliders​

Some sliders (like Global Brightness Profile) have a powerful impact on lighting.
Adjust gently for best results.

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License Update​

LightAssistant is now released under CC BY-SA, making it fully compatible with VaM Hub licensing standards and allowing community-driven extensions while preserving attribution.

New in v1.2​

Scene Analysis 2.0 (Improved)​

The scene scanner has been fully upgraded. It now performs a much deeper analysis of your lighting environment:

• Counts all InvisibleLights
• Detects Spot / Point / Directional
• Reads intensity, range, angle, shadows
• Calculates total light energy
• Calculates average scene brightness
• Detects extreme values (too bright / too dark)
• Provides smart recommendations for better results

The new analysis is more accurate and easier to read directly in the UI.

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Auto-Distance System​

LightAssistant now calculates ideal light distance automatically based on:

• Room size
• Spacing between atoms
• Nearest Person (auto-detection)
• Rig size and preset type

All lights reposition and recalibrate instantly.

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Improved Presets​

All presets have been rebalanced for better color, falloff, and cinematic feel:

• Realistic
• Studio Soft
• Warm Skin
• Anime Light
• Cinematic
• Dramatic
• Natural Window
• Rim Light Special

Each preset now includes:

• Updated intensities
• Optimized shadow logic
• Better color temperature
• Improved head-aligned positioning
• Support for up to 8 lights

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🎛 Individual Distance Sliders (8 lights)​

You can now fine-tune the distance of each light independently:

• Key
• Fill
• Rim
• Back
• Top
• Bottom
• Side 1
• Side 2

All sliders update in real-time.

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Master Controls Expanded​

The master tools now control the entire lighting system:

• Master Color (HSV)
• Master Intensity
• Global brightness scaling
• Auto-shadow optimization
• Apply color to all lights
• Improved shadow blending

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Disco Mode (New Fun Feature)​

A new animated lighting mode for parties and fun scenes:

• Lights orbit around the scene
• Vertical pulsing
• Color cycling
• Automatic lookAt tracking

This mode requires only one click to start.

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Real-Time Follow (Improved)​

Lights now follow the selected Person’s head more smoothly:

• Faster updates
• Cleaner interpolation
• More reliable angle tracking
• Better behavior with animations

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Full Preset Save/Load(Not working yet..well correctly..)​

You can now save complete lighting rigs as SubScenes:

• Save any rig into a .json preset
• Load the preset into any scene
• Missing lights are created automatically
• Full support for Session / Scene plugins
• Perfect for building reusable lighting libraries

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Light Cleanup Tool​

The cleanup system has been improved:

• Removes all InvisibleLights safely
• Backwards-iteration safe
• Automatically rescans the scene
• Shows how many lights were removed

Perfect for resetting or testing new looks.

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Performance Tools (Improved)​

• Limit shadows to the 2 brightest lights
• Smart fallback for VR users
• Auto-reduce high-intensity rigs
• Overall smoother behavior

Guys! some of the sliders still might not be perfectly ballanced, Example is the "Global Brightness Profile"(move it GENTLY as it can have big impact on the lights)​