How to: Lens Flare : Ignore Layers programatically? (C#)

Basically I am trying to change Lens Flare -> Ignore Layers programatically in c#. But it seams, I can not see the relevant methods, or value to do so.

So I try to grab lensFlare from object:

Code (CSharp):

1. LensFlare lensFlare = gameObjectWithLensFlare.GetComponent <LensFlare> () ;

And then search for anything, related to layer, ignore, or mask. But I can not find it (via Visual Studio) ;
lensFlare has other exposed components, like Flare, Color, Brightness, Fade Speed.
But Neither Ignore Layers, nor Directional options are available via script.

Does anyone knows, where they are hidden?

PS.
Reference to API:LensFlare
https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-LensFlare.html

 

LensFlare is a component. Components plug into GameObjects. GameObjects expose all the common things like tags and layers and whatnot.

Code (csharp):

1.          LensFlare lensFlare = gameObjectWithLensFlare.GetComponent <LensFlare> () ;
2.  
3.         lensFlare.gameObject.tag = "MySpiffyTag";
4.         lensFlare.gameObject.layer = 13;

Although in your case above you already HAVE the gameObjectWithLensFlare, so just use that directly!

 

Ooop-edit: re-read your post a bit more. It does not appear the actual in-component Ignore Layers property is exposed, at least not in my 2017.3.1 Unity. The docs are currently for 2018.2 so it's possible they did expose more in the latest Unity.

 

Thx for a response.
Indeed you initial response, is not what I was after.

Regarding dock for 2018, this is Unity version that I am working on.
Here is dock for 2017.4. But I believe, the lens flare component is even older. But I may be wrong, if I don't see docks prior to 2017.4. By quick look at, there is little to no difference between both docs.

Just for better clarification, I can do for example

Code (CSharp):

1. LensFlare lensFlare = gameObjectWithLensFlare.GetComponent <LensFlare> () ;
2. lensFlare.fadeSpeed = 1 ;

But as have you noticed, I can NOT, do

Code (CSharp):

1. LensFlare lensFlare = gameObjectWithLensFlare.GetComponent <LensFlare> () ;
2. lensFlare.ignoreLayers = 10 ;

or equivalent, since the property is not exposed.

At the moment, this puts me at the position, that instead having one elegant object, with simple mask switch via code, I may end up with anything between 5 to even 20 extra flare objects, with preset relevant masks via inspector for each, which I simply enable, or disable then via code.
Also, that creates potential future development problem, as if I add new layers, I need explicitly remember, to adjust Ignored Layers mask for each of the flare object.
Additionally, since I cannot see the variable for these flare masks in C#, I cannot create programatically all of these flare objects.

I still hope there is some hidden way.
Maybe even via reflections, since I would call switch method no more often, than once a few min.

 

That's probably the best way. Having thought on this even more I seem to remember there was a property like this in WindZones that was not exposed and we ended up reflecting on it to get at it.

On the one hand it's not the best idea and subject to future breakage, but on the other hand, it is a documented property visible in the Unity inspector, which of course gets at it with reflection too.

Good luck!

 

I tried reflection

Code (CSharp):

1. System.Reflection.MethodInfo [] methods = typeof(LensFlare).GetMethods();
2. System.Reflection.PropertyInfo [] properties = typeof(LensFlare).GetProperties();

To get both properties and methods and unless I am blind, I don't see there anything, which referees to layers.
I may come back to this later, with some fresher ideas.
Didn't expected to be so troublesome.

 

Ah that's reflection in a nutshell my friend.

I concur with your findings. I did some more digging, asked for more binding flags and still got nothing useful that looked like ignoring stuff.

I also looked into UnityEngine.Flare but got nothing useful there.

This was my snippet of working code (it's a mess, bunch of commented-out things I tried):

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. using System.Collections;
3. using System.Collections.Generic;
4. using UnityEngine;
5. using UnityEngine.UI;
6. using System.Reflection;
7.  
8. public class TestLensflare : MonoBehaviour
9. {
10.     public Text text;
11.  
12.     void Start ()
13.     {
14.         System.Reflection.FieldInfo [] fields = typeof(LensFlare).GetFields( BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public);
15.  
16.         System.Reflection.MethodInfo [] methods = typeof(LensFlare).GetMethods( BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public);
17. //        System.Reflection.MethodInfo [] methods = typeof(Flare).GetMethods( BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public);
18.  
19.         System.Reflection.PropertyInfo [] properties = typeof(LensFlare).GetProperties( BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public);
20. //        System.Reflection.PropertyInfo [] properties = typeof(Flare).GetProperties( BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public);
21.  
22.         string s = "Entire list:\n";        // StringBuilder is welcome to bite me
23.  
24.         text.text = "Fields:";
25.         s += "\nFields:";
26.  
27.         foreach( var f in fields)
28.         {
29.             Debug.Log( "field:" + f.ToString());
30.             text.text += "\n" + f.ToString();
31.             s += "\n" + f.ToString();
32.         }
33.  
34.         text.text += "\nMethods:";
35.         s += "\nMethods:";
36.  
37.         foreach( var m in methods)
38.         {
39.             Debug.Log( "method:" + m.ToString());
40.             text.text += "\n" + m.ToString();
41.             s += "\n" + m.ToString();
42.         }
43.  
44.         text.text += "\nProperties:";
45.         s += "\nProperties:";
46.  
47.         foreach( var p in properties)
48.         {
49.             Debug.Log( "property:" + p.ToString());
50.             text.text += "\n" + p.ToString();
51.             s += "\n" + p.ToString();
52.         }
53.  
54.         System.IO.File.WriteAllText( "TestLensflare.txt", s);
55.     }
56. }
57.  
58.  

And this was my final output list of methods:

Entire list:

Fields:
Methods:
UnityEngine.Flare get_flare()
Void set_flare(UnityEngine.Flare)
Single get_brightness()
Void set_brightness(Single)
Single get_fadeSpeed()
Void set_fadeSpeed(Single)
Color get_color()
Void set_color(Color)
Void INTERNAL_get_color(Color ByRef)
Void INTERNAL_set_color(Color ByRef)
Boolean get_enabled()
Void set_enabled(Boolean)
Boolean get_isActiveAndEnabled()
UnityEngine.Transform get_transform()
UnityEngine.GameObject get_gameObject()
UnityEngine.Component GetComponent(System.Type)
Void GetComponentFastPath(System.Type, IntPtr)
T GetComponent[T]()
UnityEngine.Component GetComponent(System.String)
UnityEngine.Component GetComponentInChildren(System.Type, Boolean)
UnityEngine.Component GetComponentInChildren(System.Type)
T GetComponentInChildren[T]()
T GetComponentInChildren[T](Boolean)
UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInChildren(System.Type)
UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInChildren(System.Type, Boolean)
T[] GetComponentsInChildren[T](Boolean)
Void GetComponentsInChildren[T](Boolean, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
T[] GetComponentsInChildren[T]()
Void GetComponentsInChildren[T](System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
UnityEngine.Component GetComponentInParent(System.Type)
T GetComponentInParent[T]()
UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInParent(System.Type)
UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInParent(System.Type, Boolean)
T[] GetComponentsInParent[T](Boolean)
Void GetComponentsInParent[T](Boolean, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
T[] GetComponentsInParent[T]()
UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponents(System.Type)
Void GetComponents(System.Type, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[UnityEngine.Component])
Void GetComponents[T](System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
System.String get_tag()
Void set_tag(System.String)
T[] GetComponents[T]()
Boolean CompareTag(System.String)
Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String, System.Object, SendMessageOptions)
Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String, System.Object)
Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String)
Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String, SendMessageOptions)
Void SendMessage(System.String, System.Object, SendMessageOptions)
Void SendMessage(System.String, System.Object)
Void SendMessage(System.String)
Void SendMessage(System.String, SendMessageOptions)
Void BroadcastMessage(System.String, System.Object, SendMessageOptions)
Void BroadcastMessage(System.String, System.Object)
Void BroadcastMessage(System.String)
Void BroadcastMessage(System.String, SendMessageOptions)
UnityEngine.Component get_rigidbody()
UnityEngine.Component get_rigidbody2D()
UnityEngine.Component get_camera()
UnityEngine.Component get_light()
UnityEngine.Component get_animation()
UnityEngine.Component get_constantForce()
UnityEngine.Component get_renderer()
UnityEngine.Component get_audio()
UnityEngine.Component get_guiText()
UnityEngine.Component get_networkView()
UnityEngine.Component get_guiElement()
UnityEngine.Component get_guiTexture()
UnityEngine.Component get_collider()
UnityEngine.Component get_collider2D()
UnityEngine.Component get_hingeJoint()
UnityEngine.Component get_particleEmitter()
UnityEngine.Component get_particleSystem()
System.String get_name()
Void set_name(System.String)
HideFlags get_hideFlags()
Void set_hideFlags(HideFlags)
System.String ToString()
Int32 GetInstanceID()
Int32 GetHashCode()
Boolean Equals(System.Object)
Void Finalize()
System.Type GetType()
System.Object MemberwiseClone()
IntPtr obj_address()
Properties:
UnityEngine.Flare flare
System.Single brightness
System.Single fadeSpeed
UnityEngine.Color color
System.Boolean enabled
System.Boolean isActiveAndEnabled
UnityEngine.Transform transform
UnityEngine.GameObject gameObject
System.String tag
UnityEngine.Component rigidbody
UnityEngine.Component rigidbody2D
UnityEngine.Component camera
UnityEngine.Component light
UnityEngine.Component animation
UnityEngine.Component constantForce
UnityEngine.Component renderer
UnityEngine.Component audio
UnityEngine.Component guiText
UnityEngine.Component networkView
UnityEngine.Component guiElement
UnityEngine.Component guiTexture
UnityEngine.Component collider
UnityEngine.Component collider2D
UnityEngine.Component hingeJoint
UnityEngine.Component particleEmitter
UnityEngine.Component particleSystem
System.String name
UnityEngine.HideFlags hideFlags

 

Thats great contribution and log dump to txt.
I used your code, to look also inside FlareLayer, since LensFlare requires it on the camera.
I thought maybe there is something hidden. But neither found anything useful.
Therefore, I have no idea, what a black magic is there in play?

Code (CSharp):

1. Entire list:
2.  
3. Fields:
4. Methods:
5. Boolean get_enabled()
6. Void set_enabled(Boolean)
7. Boolean get_isActiveAndEnabled()
8. UnityEngine.Transform get_transform()
9. UnityEngine.GameObject get_gameObject()
10. UnityEngine.Component GetComponent(System.Type)
11. Void GetComponentFastPath(System.Type, IntPtr)
12. T GetComponent[T]()
13. UnityEngine.Component GetComponent(System.String)
14. UnityEngine.Component GetComponentInChildren(System.Type, Boolean)
15. UnityEngine.Component GetComponentInChildren(System.Type)
16. T GetComponentInChildren[T](Boolean)
17. T GetComponentInChildren[T]()
18. UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInChildren(System.Type, Boolean)
19. UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInChildren(System.Type)
20. T[] GetComponentsInChildren[T](Boolean)
21. Void GetComponentsInChildren[T](Boolean, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
22. T[] GetComponentsInChildren[T]()
23. Void GetComponentsInChildren[T](System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
24. UnityEngine.Component GetComponentInParent(System.Type)
25. T GetComponentInParent[T]()
26. UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInParent(System.Type, Boolean)
27. UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponentsInParent(System.Type)
28. T[] GetComponentsInParent[T](Boolean)
29. Void GetComponentsInParent[T](Boolean, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
30. T[] GetComponentsInParent[T]()
31. UnityEngine.Component[] GetComponents(System.Type)
32. Void GetComponents(System.Type, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[UnityEngine.Component])
33. Void GetComponents[T](System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T])
34. System.String get_tag()
35. Void set_tag(System.String)
36. T[] GetComponents[T]()
37. Boolean CompareTag(System.String)
38. Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String, System.Object, SendMessageOptions)
39. Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String, System.Object)
40. Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String)
41. Void SendMessageUpwards(System.String, SendMessageOptions)
42. Void SendMessage(System.String, System.Object)
43. Void SendMessage(System.String)
44. Void SendMessage(System.String, System.Object, SendMessageOptions)
45. Void SendMessage(System.String, SendMessageOptions)
46. Void BroadcastMessage(System.String, System.Object, SendMessageOptions)
47. Void BroadcastMessage(System.String, System.Object)
48. Void BroadcastMessage(System.String)
49. Void BroadcastMessage(System.String, SendMessageOptions)
50. UnityEngine.Component get_rigidbody()
51. UnityEngine.Component get_rigidbody2D()
52. UnityEngine.Component get_camera()
53. UnityEngine.Component get_light()
54. UnityEngine.Component get_animation()
55. UnityEngine.Component get_constantForce()
56. UnityEngine.Component get_renderer()
57. UnityEngine.Component get_audio()
58. UnityEngine.Component get_guiText()
59. UnityEngine.Component get_networkView()
60. UnityEngine.Component get_guiElement()
61. UnityEngine.Component get_guiTexture()
62. UnityEngine.Component get_collider()
63. UnityEngine.Component get_collider2D()
64. UnityEngine.Component get_hingeJoint()
65. UnityEngine.Component get_particleEmitter()
66. UnityEngine.Component get_particleSystem()
67. Int32 GetInstanceID()
68. Int32 GetHashCode()
69. Boolean Equals(System.Object)
70. System.String get_name()
71. Void set_name(System.String)
72. HideFlags get_hideFlags()
73. Void set_hideFlags(HideFlags)
74. System.String ToString()
75. Void Finalize()
76. System.Type GetType()
77. System.Object MemberwiseClone()
78. IntPtr obj_address()
79.  
80.  
81. Properties:
82. System.Boolean enabled
83. System.Boolean isActiveAndEnabled
84. UnityEngine.Transform transform
85. UnityEngine.GameObject gameObject
86. System.String tag
87. UnityEngine.Component rigidbody
88. UnityEngine.Component rigidbody2D
89. UnityEngine.Component camera
90. UnityEngine.Component light
91. UnityEngine.Component animation
92. UnityEngine.Component constantForce
93. UnityEngine.Component renderer
94. UnityEngine.Component audio
95. UnityEngine.Component guiText
96. UnityEngine.Component networkView
97. UnityEngine.Component guiElement
98. UnityEngine.Component guiTexture
99. UnityEngine.Component collider
100. UnityEngine.Component collider2D
101. UnityEngine.Component hingeJoint
102. UnityEngine.Component particleEmitter
103. UnityEngine.Component particleSystem
104. System.String name
105. UnityEngine.HideFlags hideFlags

 

It really could be anything: they could have a few accessor functions in the lowest C++ level engine code and reveal them through some other adjunct mechanism that the Unity Editor can discover using some other dark corner of their API that we don't have insight into.

 

It doesn't even have bindings for the ignore layers in the source code, which is very odd: https://github.com/Unity-Technologi...Runtime/Export/GraphicsComponents.bindings.cs (or for directional for some reason?)

I wonder where it's getting the values from.

Anyways -- to fix your actual issue -- set your flare ignore layers to Everything so that it never turns off manually and set the Brightness to 0. Use a manual raycast from your camera to the light source and if nothing blocks the raycast, lerp the Brightness to the desired value using the fade speed. That's exactly how the flare works internally anyways.

 

One one side, I do wonder, why this Ignore Layers property is so hidden from the world. This also apples to Lens Flare Directional Boolean flag (irrelevant for my need atm.).
On other hand,

This seams very interesting and I am urged to try it out as soon as possible. Sounds like actual effective solution. Many thanks.

I will come back later, to report results.

 

After previous discussion I have resolved the problem, as GroZZleR suggested, using raycast. Therefore, I managed to get down, to one object per flare. Many thanks.

Lens Flare in the Project
Just out of curiosity, if anyone would ask regarding discussed application and need for it.
In my project I use Lense Flares for multiple suns in single solar system. In the future, possibly something else as well may be source of flare. This normally is not the issue.

Multiple Parallel Worlds
However, as solar system is expected, it contains multiple celestial bodies. In my case that extra 4 planets, as per current prototype. Each planet, or I call them also worlds, can have own gravity and objects. These are active on each planet at the same time, but without interacting between worlds.

Large Distances
Providing planets are small, it is easy to make them offset in Cartesian space, so physics and light do not clashes. Yet in my project, each planet may be as big as 1000 diameter. This means, if using large distances, I would be running int floating point issues.

Avoiding Floating Origin
To avoid floating point issue, yet having physics going on each planet, without floating origin shifting, my each planet and related objects are in 0 origin. This means each planet shares space, with other planets. Hence, requirement for setting different layers for each planet and their objects.

Lens Flare - Ignoring Layer Case Study
Here is the Lens Flare matter coming to play. Normally, Lens Flare is colliding with every active collider, with consideration of the ignore layers on lens flare itself. However, if I am on one of the planet, the Lens Flare can be obstructed by any object. Even from other active, but invisible planets and their objects. Then I can "travel" to another planet, by simply switching programatically the camera culling mask. This is by allowing camera see only objects on relevant world at given time.

Lens Flare With Raycast
Therefore, here comes idea of setting Ignore Layers prgrammatically for Lens Flares as well, so I can have same source of flare as one object, for multiple worlds, without switching collides of each object, or additional trickery, with layers and colliders. Now by using raycast, I can easly provide relevant mask, to which flare should fade in and out. And additionally, I got more flexibility, when to add and fade flares.

Extra: Interplanetary Travel
In my project I use another layer and camera, for rendering scalled down the solar system, with has orbiting planets. From there, I can click on every planet, and zoom in to the relevant world (layer switch).

And screenshot from a prototype, with selected multiple worlds and their vertical spinning axis (as cylinder). They are all overlapping (since at 0 origin) and their cubes as well, without physics clashing. And in same scene, partial trailed orbits of traveling planets.