The Lighting Scalability Manager in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) is used to hide and show lights and post process volumes (PPV) based on specific scalability settings (cinematic, epic, high, medium and low). This allows you to customize and optimize your lighting per platform and situation.
Behind the scenes the Lighting Scalability Manager is listening to changes in Global Illumination Quality.
Using the Lighting Scalability Manager
The Lighting Scalability Manager can be found in the ContentBrowser under All > Fortnite > Lighting > Tools.

To use the Lighting Scalability Manager:
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From the Content Browser search for the Lighting Scalability Manager in the search bar, drag the Lighting Scalability Manager thumbnail into the viewport. The thumbnail is replaced with an Editor Icon in the scene.
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Open the Actor dropdown menu in the toolbar and select a light actor to add to the scene.
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In the Outliner, rename your lighting actor Low.
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In the Outliner duplicate the lighting actor until you have two more copies, then rename them:
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Medium
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High
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In the Outliner select the Lighting Scalability Manager, this opens the scalability manager options in the Details panel. Click the Actor Array Element icon (plus sign) to add elements into the Actor array.
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In the Details panel, click the arrow next to the Array Index property. This opens the Actor Options panel.
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Select the Actor dropdown menu and select one of your light actors from the list.
Alternatively, you can also hit the dropper next to the arrow and select the object you want loaded in the viewport.
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Check the proper scalability setting for the actor according to whether the lighting is meant for low scalability, medium scalability, high scalability, or epic/cinematic scalability. Uncheck the other scalability settings that don’t belong with the light actor.
In the image below, the PointLight_Low is paired with Low settings for lower performing platforms.

The actors work as expected in-game for the platforms that make use of the associated scalability settings.
Repeat steps 5-7 to set the scalability for the other two lighting actors. Playtest on multiple platforms to see the scalability manager at work.
Lighting Scalability Manager Options
These are the Lighting Scalability Manager’s options:

Number | Option | Description |
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1. | Refresh Scalability | Refreshes the scalability settings in the editor. |
2. | Actor Array Element Icon | Adds an array field to the Actor option. |
3. | Delete Icon | Deletes the actor array from the Actor options. |
4. | Actor Dropdown Menu | Loads the selected actor into the slot. |
5. | Scalability Checkboxes | Selects or deselects the scalability for the actor. |
6. | Use Selected Actor Icon | Uses the selected actor from the level editor. |
7. | Select and Frame Actor Icon | Selects and frames the actor in the viewport. |
8. | Pick Actor Icon | Picks an actor from the viewport. |
You should rename actors according to the scalability setting you intend to use with that actor. For example, PointLight_00_CineEpicHigh and PointLight_00_Medium_Low. These both share the prefix PointLight_00_ but have a different suffix to designate the scalability setting they are used with.
Custom Indoor Lighting Example
You can hide and show specific lights according to scalability settings. This allows you to have custom indoor lighting tailored to each scalability setting for a consistent user experience regardless of platform.
The light pool and color are matched by using duplicate light actors and the Scalability Manager in the scalability examples below.
No Scalability in Use
The custom indoor lighting example uses the Tilted Towers map inside a prefab building that has no windows and a few lights to demonstrate the power of the Scalability Manager at work.

In the image above is an example of the Lighting Scalability Manager used with the Cine_Spotlight without adding any scalability settings in the manager.
Scalability in Use
Nothing can be done about matching the scene lighting in low scalability. However, something can be done about matching the scene better on Medium and High settings using the Lighting Scalability Manager.
Create 3 Spotlights for the TV, one for Medium scalability, one for High scalability, and one for Epic/Cine scalability.
Create 2 Point Lights for the desk lamp, one for Medium scalability, and one for High scalability.
Set up the Lighting Scalability Manager for the spotlights as follows:
Actor Settings | Scalability Settings | Explanation | Image |
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SpotLight_Medium Intensity: 80.0 cd |
Medium | The setting works well for providing some shallow lighting highlights on the ground. | [CAPTION] Medium SpotLight [/CAPTION] |
SpotLight_High Intensity: 12.0 cd |
High | The setting works well for providing some lighting highlights on the ground. | [CAPTION] High SpotLight [/CAPTION] |
SpotLight_Epic Intensity: 8.0 cd |
Epic, Cinematic | The setting works well for providing some realistic lighting highlights on the ground. | [/CAPTION] Epic/Cine SpotLight [/CAPTION] |
Click on images to enlarge.
This allows you to match the light intensity and color across each scalability setting to make the scene match as closely as possible for all players across platforms.
Set up the Lighting Scalability Manager for the point lights as follows:
Actor Settings | Scalability Settings | Explanation | Image |
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PointLight_Medium Intensity: 10.0 cd |
Medium | The setting works well to provide fill lighting on the wall and deeper shadows. | [CAPTION] Medium PointLight [/CAPTION] |
PointLight_High Intensity: 0.05 cd |
High | The setting works well for providing fill lighting with fog highlights on the wall and deeper shadows. | [CAPTION] High PointLight [/CAPTION] |
You can see the results of the Light Scalability Manager with the different scalability light actors below. The results show the Lighting Scalabaility Manager without using any scalability settings and with tuning the proper scalability for each light actor:
Epic Scalability


High Scalability


Medium Scalability


Low Scalability


Low scalability looks like this no matter what settings are used in the Lighting Scalability Manager.
With the Lighting Scalability Manager you can use custom lighting to match your scene at different scalability to Lumen.
Multiple Usage Example
You can use multiple Lighting Scalability Managers to further organize, categorize, and name your custom lighting as you see fit.
For Instance, in the same example below, two Lighting Scalability Managers are used. One named _SpotLight and second named _PointLight. The lights are loaded the same way as above and the scalability is assigned for each light.

