create flashing light effect for ambulance

Hello, I’m working on a traffic game (3D). And I need to implement ambulance siren light effect. I have read other posts on forum but no one served the purpose. They all tend to discuss the switching lights on and off pattern and scripting side of the problem. I am having issues with the lights setup in the unity editor.

What I have tested:

  • used self Illumination shader on light modal and put a point light inside it.
  • used glass shaders found on asset store, for light modal and putting point light in it.
  • tried rotating a spot light on the ambulance roof.
  • used Halo effect
  • particle system that emits only one particle and use default-particle material. I’m changing the ‘size over life time’ property to mimic light spreading in environment.

Glass Shader Link :
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Glass_Shader

Rotating Spot Light link:
http://www.ytpak.com/?component=video&task=view&id=AKJZVzkX4d8

What is the main issue in all approaches:

light becomes visible only when casted on a mesh. I want the light to go out in environment (in the air).

I have also tried using a quad with default-particle material and casted light on it with a spot light to show light spreading in air, but it doesn’t produce a 3D effect.

What I actually need:

Flashing ambulance lights which produce 3d effect and is easily visible in the traffic of around 10-15 other vehicles from at least 50 units above the ground.
It would be very grateful if someone could help me find a better solution.

I think you need a lightcone.
it`s basically just a simple cone to simulate lightshafts.

In this post you can even find a working example.
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/how-to-create-a-light-cone-or-shaft-of-light.2660/