Custom models

There are two methods of adding custom models to GLights. If your new models are similar enough to the default ones, you can just replace the meshes. If not, then you'll need to create a short script telling GLights how your lights should behave. The second method is explained in more detail below.

info

Creating custom model scripts requires some scripting knowledge

note

This page is quite long because it explains everything in details. In the end it all comes down to creating a 40 line long script with a bunch of settings.

1. Create a script

Firstly, create a new ModuleScript inside of the Custom > LightTemplates folder. Name the script something meaningful, this name will be used later.

tip

If you just want to make small changes to a light instead of making an entirely new custom model, see the Bonus: override default models section. You might still need to come back here to understand all of the things you can change.

For now paste this into the script:

return {
	CanHaveBeam = true;
	BeamDirection = Vector3.new(1, 0, 0);
	BeamLength = 100;
	BeamWidth0 = 1;
	BeamWidth1 = 80;
	BeamTexture = "rbxassetid://901813002";
	BeamTextureMode = Enum.TextureMode.Stretch;
	DefaultBeamMode = "Beam";

	CanHaveMotors = true;
	HasTiltMotor = true;
	HasPanMotor = true;
	HasGoboMotor = true;

	CanFollow = true;
	FollowTextureLength = 0.5;
	FollowBeamWidth = 0.125;

	IsMultilens = false;
	GetLens = function(model)
		return model.Head.Lens
	end;

	CanHaveLight = true;
	LightTemplate = {
		Type = "SpotLight",
		Angle = 20,
		Face = "Right",
		Range = 60,
		Brightness = 1,
	};

	CanHaveGobo = true;
	GoboSpread = 20;
	GoboBeamWidth0 = 0.5;
	GoboBeamWidth1 = 30;
	GoboBeamTexture = "rbxassetid://901813002";
	GoboBeamTextureMode = Enum.TextureMode.Stretch;

	AddMotors = function(model, motor, weld, unanchor)

	end;
}

This is a template for a light model. It contains basic information about what a light can and can't do. You'll need to edit those properties to fit your light model. Let's go through each of the sections one by one.

1. Beam configuration

The first section contains information about the beam of the light:

CanHaveBeam = true;
BeamDirection = Vector3.new(1, 0, 0);
BeamLength = 100;
BeamWidth0 = 1;
BeamWidth1 = 80;
BeamTexture = "rbxassetid://901813002";
BeamTextureMode = Enum.TextureMode.Stretch;
DefaultBeamMode = "Beam";

CanHaveBeam tells GLights whether or not this light model can have a beam. If your custom model shouldn't have beams, then set this setting to false. If it's false, you can ignore or remove all the other settings in this category

BeamDirection is the direction in which the beam is facing relative to the lens. Generally you can just experiment with setting one of the numbers to either 1 or -1 until it's correct

BeamLength is the default length of the beam, it can be overriden in Settings later

BeamWidth0 and BeamWidth1 are the Width0 (at the start) and Width1 (at the end) properties of the beam

BeamTexture is the ID of a texture of the beam

BeamTextureMode is the texture mode used by the beam

DefaultBeamMode is the default beam visibility mode on the panel, this can be either "NoBeam", "Beam" or "Gobo"

2. Motor configuration

The next section includes information on which motors should be generated

CanHaveMotors = true;
HasTiltMotor = true;
HasPanMotor = true;
HasGoboMotor = true;

CanHaveMotors tells GLights whether or not this light model has motors in general. You should set this to false if the lights shouldn't have motors

HasTiltMotor, HasPanMotor and HasGoboMotor changes whether or not those motors get generated. The gobo motor is used for gobo rotate

3. Follow spotlight configuration

The next section contains information about follow spotlight functionality

CanFollow = true;
FollowTextureLength = 0.5;
FollowBeamWidth = 0.125;

CanFollow decides whether or not the lights can follow players or points at all.

FollowTextureLength is the length of the beam texture when following. By default, the beam is dimmer at the end, so it wouldn't be visible when following someone. The smaller this number is, the more visible the beam will be. You should keep this number at 0.99 or lower

FollowBeamWidth decides how much the width of the beam will change when following someone. The beam changes its length so it would look wrong if it stayed the same width. This number should be higher than 0 and smaller or equal to 1

You'll have to experiment with the FollowTextureLength and FollowBeamWidth properties until they look right

4. Lens configuration

The next section contains the function that's responsible for getting the lens part or a list of lens parts in your custom model. A lens is a part (or a mesh, union or anything similar) that will hold the light source, the beam and will change its colour when turning on/off

IsMultilens = false;
GetLens = function(model)
	return model.Head.Lens
end;

IsMultilens decides whether the model has one lens or multiple lenses. Set this to true if you have a model with multiple lenses / beams / etc.

GetLens is a function responsible for getting the lens inside of the model. If your custom model has the same structure as the official lights, you don't need to worry about this. If you have a light with multiple lenses, you should change GetLens to GetLenses and return a table of all lenses

5. Light configuration

The next section contains information about the light source

CanHaveLight = true;
LightTemplate = {
	Type = "SpotLight",
	Angle = 20,
	Face = "Right",
	Range = 60,
	Brightness = 1,
};

CanHaveLight controls whether or not your model can have a light source

LightTemplate contains the light source configuration:

Type is the type of light, "SpotLight", "SurfaceLight" or "PointLight"
Angle is the angle of the light
Face is the direction the light is facing, "Top", "Bottom", "Left", "Right", "Front" or "Back"
Range is the range of the light, 60 at most
Brightness is how bright the light gets when it's turned on

LightTemplates can also have an optional Offset property which tells GLights to offset the light in a certain direction, for example:

LightTemplate = {
	Type = "SpotLight",
	Angle = 20,
	Face = "Right",
	Range = 60,
	Brightness = 1,
	Offset = Vector3.new(20, 0, 0),
};

6. Gobo configuration

The next section contains information about gobo beams

CanHaveGobo = true;
GoboSpread = 20;
GoboBeamWidth0 = 0.5;
GoboBeamWidth1 = 30;
GoboBeamTexture = "rbxassetid://901813002";
GoboBeamTextureMode = Enum.TextureMode.Stretch;

CanHaveGobo decides whether or not your custom model can have gobo beams

GoboSpread decides how far away from the middle (in studs) the gobo beams will reach

GoboBeamWidth0 and GoboBeamWidth1 decide how wide gobo beams are at the beginning and end

GoboBeamTexture is the ID of a texture used for gobo beams

GoboBeamTextureMode is the texture mode used by the gobo beams

7. AddMotors function

The last section contains a function that's responsible for creating motors, welding the light together and unanchoring relevant parts

model is your custom light model, motor is a function that creates a motor, weld creates a weld and unanchor unanchors a part. For example this function could look like this:

AddMotors = function(model, motor, weld, unanchor)
	motor(
		"Tilt",
		model.Arm.Arm,
		model.Head.Head,
		CFrame.new(0, 0.6, 0) * CFrame.Angles(0, math.rad(-90), math.rad(180)),
		CFrame.new(0, 0, 0) * CFrame.Angles(0, math.rad(-90), math.rad(-180))
	)
	motor(
		"Pan",
		model.Base.Base,
		model.Arm.Arm,
		CFrame.new(0, 1.3, 0) * CFrame.Angles(math.rad(90), 0, 0),
		CFrame.new(0, 0, 0) * CFrame.Angles(math.rad(90), 0, 0)
	)
	motor(
		"Gobo",
		model.Head.Head,
		model.Head.Lens,
		CFrame.new(0, 1.05, 0) * CFrame.Angles(math.rad(90), 0, math.rad(-90)),
		CFrame.new(0, 0, 0) * CFrame.Angles(0, math.rad(-90), math.rad(180))
	)
	unanchor(model.Head.Head)
	unanchor(model.Head.Lens)
	unanchor(model.Arm.Arm)
end;

Motors can be annoying to work with but you basically just need to guess their rotations until they're correct

2. Use your custom model

After finishing your work with the script, you can use the name of the script in the BaseModel setting of your panels. For example, you might change

BaseModel = "Wash",

BaseModel = "CustomWash",

info

You need to set the ModelStreamingMode property of your model (the one named something like Fix1 specifically) to Atomic if you want your models to work with streaming.

Bonus: override default models

If you want to just make small changes to a light, for example change the light angle or how the motors are generated, you can use an Inherit property in your custom model script to copy over all properties from that light model. For example if you wanted to change the light angle of washes to 10, your custom model script can look like this:

return {
	Inherit = "Wash";

	LightTemplate = {
		Type = "SpotLight",
		Angle = 10,
		Face = "Right",
		Range = 60,
		Brightness = 1,
	};
}

Summary

To create a custom GLights model, create a new ModuleScript in Custom > ModelTemplates, copy the code from the first section and edit all of the necessary properties. Alternatively add an Inherit = "different model name"; property to copy over all properties from that model and only add the stuff you want to override. Then you can use the name of your module script in the BaseModel setting

1. Create a script​

1. Beam configuration​

2. Motor configuration​

3. Follow spotlight configuration​

4. Lens configuration​

5. Light configuration​

6. Gobo configuration​

7. AddMotors function​

2. Use your custom model​

Bonus: override default models​

Summary​