Using Lighting Layers
Illumination layers can require significant computing power. To limit this, lighting layers have been optimized for certain uses.
Substitution
Use a lighting layer when you have multiple geometric versions of your model. For example, you might be working on a seat that can be marketed with or without a headrest. Without a lighting layer, you must calculate the lightmap for the whole model. When you view the version with no headrest, however, the zone where the headrest would have been remains black: no lightmap was calculated for this zone.
To correct this, use a lighting layer.
Configuration
Use a lighting layer when your light sources need to be animated or configurable.
Put only the lights that must be turned on or off together in a separate layer.
The activation of layers is configurable. As with other types of layers, lighting layers can be dropped onto the Configurations editor.
The set of color and intensity values of each layer is also configurable. The lighting color set can also be dropped onto the Configurations editor.
Recommendations
To improve performance, follow these recommendations:
Put all related lights in the same layer.
Make sure that it isn't possible to have multiple layers containing sky lights active at the same time.
Use the minimum number of layers that you can.
Avoid using multiple sky lights to create the effect of an exterior environment. This effect can be created in Matter with a lighting environment and a real-time sun.