This page contains information on feature support in the Built-in Render PipelineA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info
See in Glossary, the Universal Render Pipeline (URP), and the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP). It also contains suggested alternatives for certain features.
For ease of reference, features are broken down into the following categories:
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Yes | Yes | Yes DirectX 11. DirectX 12, Vulkan |
| MacOS | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes Vulkan |
| XBox One | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| XBox Series | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PlayStation 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PlayStation 5 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nintendo Switch | Yes | Yes | No |
| iOS | Yes | Yes | No |
| Android | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop VRVirtual Reality More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile VR | Yes | Yes | No |
| Hololens | Yes | Yes | No |
| WebGLA JavaScript API that renders 2D and 3D graphics in a web browser. The Unity Web build option allows Unity to publish content as JavaScript programs which use HTML5 technologies and the WebGL rendering API to run Unity content in a web browser. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directional | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spot | Yes Supported shapes: Cone |
Yes Supported shapes: Cone |
Yes Supported shapes: Cone, Pyramid, Box |
| Point | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Area | Yes Supported shapes: Rectangle (only with Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination), Disc (baked only) |
Yes Supported shapes: Rectangle (baked only), Disc (baked only) |
Yes Supported shapes: Rectangle (real-time and baked), Tube (real-time only), Disc (baked only) |
| Inner Spot angle | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shading technique | Yes Multiple passes |
Yes Single pass only |
Yes Hybrid tile and cluster |
| Culling Per Object | Yes | Yes | No |
| Culling Per Tile | No | No | Yes |
| Culling Per Layer | Yes Based on GameObject layers |
Yes Based on dedicated Rendering layers (32 layers available) |
Yes Based on dedicated Rendering layers (only the first 16 are used) |
| Multiple directional lights | Yes | Yes Supports shadowing for one directional light at a time. |
Yes Supports shadowing for one directional light at a time. To simulate more, use Spot light with a Box shape. |
| Number of real-time lights per object | Unlimited | Forward: 1 Directional light + up to 8 lights per-object depending on the settings in the Render Pipeline asset. Deferred: Unlimited lights for opaque objects. For transparents or objects that shade in forward mode the same limit as above applies. Forward+: Not Applicable. Forward+ shade lights per-tile, see “Number of real-time lights per Camera” below. For more information check: Render Path Comparison |
Unlimited (HDRP doesn’t classify lights per object, see bellow the “Number of real-time lights per Camera” section). |
| Number of real-time lights per Camera | Unlimited | On mobile platforms: 32. On other platforms: 256 (configurable to improve build time and performance adding the package Packages/com.unity.render-pipelines.universal-config, and changing the value of MAX_VISIBLE_LIGHT_COUNT_DESKTOP in Runtime/ShaderConfig.cs.hlsl and k_MaxVisibleLightCountDesktop in Runtime/ShaderConfig.cs). |
In Deferred: 63 per 8x8 pixel tile. In Forward: 63 per 16x16 pixel cluster. You can disable the cap for the deferred rendering path in Frame Settings > Light Loop Debug > Deferred Tile. This will affect performance. |
| Light attenuation type | Yes Legacy |
Yes InverseSquared |
Yes InverseSquared |
| Vertex Lights | Yes | Yes | No |
| SH Lights | Yes | No | No |
| Light Cookies | Yes Only shape, no color (Alpha channel). |
Yes Colored cookie (RGB) |
Yes Colored cookie (RGB) |
| IES Lights | No | No | Yes |
| Light Distance Fade | No | No | Yes |
| Physical light units | No | No | Yes |
| Light anchor tool | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directional Light Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Directional Light Shadows | Yes | No | No |
| Directional Light Cascade Shadows | Yes 1, 2, or 4 cascades, control by percentage only. |
Yes 1 to 4 cascades. Control by percentage, or switch to meters. Settings are in URP asset. |
Yes 1 to 4 cascades. Control by percentage or distance. Settings are in Volumes. |
| Shadow Cascade Blending | No | No | Yes |
| Spot Light Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Point Light Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Area Light Shadows | No | No | Yes Only for rectangle shape |
| Stable Fit Shadow Projection | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Close Fit Shadow Projection | Yes | No | No No support for orthographic projection. Use wide field of view to emulate. |
| Shadow Screen Space Pass | Yes | Yes | Yes Mostly used for Raytracing. |
| Shadow bias | Yes Supported types: Constant clip space offset. Normal bias |
Yes Supported types: Offsets shadowmap texels in the light direction, Normal bias |
Yes Supported types: Slope bias, Normal bias |
| PCF filtering (Percentage Closer Filtering) | No | Yes PCF Tent 5x5 |
Yes For Point and Spot lights in “Low” (PCF 3x3 4 taps) and “Medium” (PCF 5x5 9 taps) quality settings, and for Directional lights in “Low” (PCF 5x5 9 taps) and “Medium” (PCF Tent 5x5 9 taps) quality settings. |
| PCSS filtering (Percentage Closer Soft Shadows) | No | No | Yes For Point and Spot lights, Directional lights and Area lights when in “High” quality in the HDRP settings for each kind of light. |
| EVSM filtering (Exponential Variance Shadow Mapping) | No | No | Yes For area lights only in all quality settings except “High”. |
| Shadow update modes | No | No | Yes Every frame, On Enable, On Demand. Each cascade can be updated independently using the API (RequestSubShadowMapRendering) |
| Resolution settings | Yes Configured in Quality Settings. |
Yes Configured in URP Lighting Settings. |
Yes Configure shadowmap resolution or budget per Light, and configure shadow atlas size in HDRP Asset. |
| Dynamic rescale | No | No | Yes |
| Directional light shadow caching | No | No | Yes |
| Punctual and Area lights shadow caching | No | No | Yes |
| Dynamic Shadow Casters | No | No | Yes |
| Static Shadow Casters | No | No | Yes |
| Contact Shadows | No | No | Yes |
| Micro Shadows | No | No | Yes |
| Shadow Cascade Volume Controller | No | No | Yes |
| Shadow Distance Fade | Yes | Yes | Yes Configure in Shadows Volume. |
| Shadow Mask | Yes Configure per scene. |
Yes Configure per scene. |
Yes Configure per Light. |
| Distance Shadow Mask | Yes Configure per scene. |
Yes Forward Rendering Path only. |
Yes Configure per Light. |
| Transparent objects casting shadows | Yes Use the Transparent Cutout shaders for objects with “gaps” such as fences, vegetation, etc. or custom pixel-lit shaders using the Geometry render queue. Opacity can affect shadow intensity using dithering. |
No Alpha clipping only. |
Yes Raytracing only (incl support of colored shadows). For raster, alpha clipping only (use Alpha clipping > Shadow threshold option). |
| Transparent objects receiving shadows | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shadow tint | No | No | Yes Shadow tint or penumbra tint options |
| Shadow matte | No | No | Yes Use Unlit master node and “Enable Shadow Matte” |
| Shadow Layers | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baked Global IlluminationA group of techniques that model both direct and indirect lighting to provide realistic lighting results. See in Glossary: Progressive CPU LightmapperA tool in Unity that bakes lightmaps according to the arrangement of lights and geometry in your scene. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Baked Global Illumination: Progressive GPU Lightmapper | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Baked Global Illumination: Enlighten Lightmapper | No Deprecated |
No Deprecated |
No Deprecated |
| Baked Global Illumination: Mixed Lighting modes | Yes Subtractive, Baked indirect, Shadow Mask, Distance Shadow mask |
Yes Subtractive, Baked indirect, Shadow Mask, Distance Shadow mask |
Yes Baked indirect, Shadow Mask (per light setting), Distance Shadow mask (per light setting) |
| Baked Global Illumination: Double Sided GI | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Realtime Global Illumination: Pre-computed (Enlighten) | Yes Support ends after Unity 2024 LTS |
Yes Support ends after Unity 2024 LTS |
Yes Support ends after Unity 2024 LTS |
| Realtime Global Illumination: Screen space GI | No | No | Yes |
| Screen Space Reflections | Yes | No | Yes |
| Planar Reflections | No | No | Yes |
| Raytraced Reflections | No | No | Yes |
| Screen Space Refractions | No | No | Yes |
| Non directional lightmapA pre-rendered texture that contains the effects of light sources on static objects in the scene. Lightmaps are overlaid on top of scene geometry to create the effect of lighting. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Directional lightmap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light ProbesLight probes store information about how light passes through space in your scene. A collection of light probes arranged within a given space can improve lighting on moving objects and static LOD scenery within that space. More info See in Glossary: Blending |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Probes: Custom provided | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Probes: Occlusion Probes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Probes: Proxy volumes (LPPV) | Yes | No Deprecated |
Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Probe Volumes: Per pixelThe smallest unit in a computer image. Pixel size depends on your screen resolution. Pixel lighting is calculated at every screen pixel. More info See in Glossary lighting |
No | Yes | Yes |
| Probe Volumes: Per vertex lighting | No | Yes | No |
| Probe Volumes: Blending | No | Yes | Yes |
| Probe Volumes: Touchup volumes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Probe Volumes: Stream from disk | No | Yes Incl. non compute pass for lower end devices. |
Yes |
| Probe Volumes: Sky occlusion | No | Yes | Yes |
| Probe Volumes: Reflection ProbesA rendering component that captures a spherical view of its surroundings in all directions, rather like a camera. The captured image is then stored as a Cubemap that can be used by objects with reflective materials. More info See in Glossary Normalization |
No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reflection Probes: Baked | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Real-time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Real-time time sliced all faces at once | Yes | Yes | No |
| Reflection Probes: Real-time time sliced individual faces | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: On-demand API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Proxy volumes | No | No | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Simple sampling | Yes Choose per-object how to sample reflection probes. |
Yes Choose in the URP asset whether URP always performs simple sampling from reflection probes, or if it blends. |
No See Reflection Hierarchy. |
| Reflection Probes: Blend probes sampling | Yes Choose per-object how to sample reflection probes. Blend up to 2 reflection probes. |
Yes Choose in the URP asset whether URP always performs simple sampling from reflection probes, or if it blends. If blending is enabled, URP always blends sky + 1 local probe, or 2 probes if there is no sky. |
Yes No blending limit. All reflections including planar blend between each other. |
| Reflection Probes: Blend probes and skybox sampling | Yes | Yes | Yes See Reflection Hierarchy. |
| Reflection Probes: Distanced based roughness | No | No | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Box Projection | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Oriented Box Projection | No | No | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Sphere Projection | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reflection Probes: Per probe resolution | Yes | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ray-traced Ambient OcclusionA method to approximate how much ambient light (light not coming from a specific direction) can hit a point on a surface. See in Glossary |
No | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Contact Shadows | No | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Global Illumination | No | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Reflections | No | No | Yes Incl. decals |
| Ray-traced Shadows | No | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Recursive Rendering | No | No | Yes |
| AxF (automotive material) | No | No | Yes |
| Terrain | No | No | Yes Heightmap only. No support for terrain details and terrain trees. For vegetation on terrain, we recommend using mixed rendering modes for ray traced GI and reflections which allow to support foliage/vegetation & deformation, and for shadows using raster shadows. |
| VFX Graph particles | No | No | Yes |
| Windows | No | No | Yes Requires DX12, and platforms with hardware supporting RTX. |
| Linux | No | No | No |
| PS5 | No | No | Yes |
| XBox Series | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lit (Pathtracing support) | No | No | Yes |
| Hair (Pathtracing support) | No | No | Yes |
| Eye (Pathtracing support) | No | No | No |
| Fabric (Pathtracing support) | No | No | Yes |
| AxF (Pathtracing support) | No | No | Yes |
| Decals (Pathtracing support) | No | No | Yes Except emissive decals. |
| Punctual lights (point, spot, directional) | No | No | Yes Incl. box spot light |
| Area Lights | No | No | Yes Incl. volumetric fog control |
| Tube and Disc Lights | No | No | Yes |
| Depth of fieldA post-processing effect that simulates the focus properties of a camera lens. More info See in Glossary (Pathtracing support) |
No | No | Yes |
| Exponential FogA fog model that emulates realistic fog behaviour by simulating light absorption over distance by a certain attenuation factor. See in Glossary (Pathtracing support) |
No | No | Yes |
| Anisotropic fog (Pathtracing support) | No | No | Yes |
| Local Volumetric fog (Pathtracing support) | No | No | No |
| HDRIhigh dynamic range image See in Glossary sampling |
No | No | Yes |
| Denoiser | No | No | Yes NVidia Optix™ AI accelerated denoiser or Intel® Open Image Denoise. |
| Recorder integration | No | No | Yes |
| VFX Graph particles | No | No | No |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skybox | Yes Per project. Set in the Lighting window. |
Yes Per project. Set in the Lighting window. |
Yes Configure in Visual Environment Volume. Choose from HDRI sky, physical sky or custom sky. |
| Gradient | Yes Per project. Set in the Lighting window. |
Yes Per project. Set in the Lighting window. |
Yes Configure in Visual Environment Volume. |
| Color | Yes Per project. Set in the Lighting window. |
Yes Per project. Set in the Lighting window. |
No Alternative: use Gradient sky. |
| Real-time Ambient Mode | Yes By script. |
Yes By script. |
Yes Configure in Visual Environment Volume. |
| Baked Ambient Mode | Yes By default |
Yes By default |
Yes Configure in Visual Environment Volume. Uses the environment stored in Lighting > Environment settings. |
| Indirect Lighting Controller | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDRhigh dynamic range See in Glossary rendering |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HDR output | No | Yes Only certain devices are supported, see URP Documentation for more information. |
Yes Use the HDROutputSettings API to configure HDR output options and HDRP’s tonemapping HDR options. See HDRP HDR documentation for more information. |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linear | Yes Requires OpenGLES3.0 |
Yes | Yes |
| Gamma | Yes | Yes | No |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi display | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware Dynamic resolution | Yes | Yes Limited platform support. |
Yes Limited platform support. |
| Software Dynamic resolutionA Camera setting that allows you to dynamically scale individual render targets to reduce workload on the GPU. More info See in Glossary |
No | No | Yes |
| Nvidia Deep learning super sampling (DLSS) | No | No | Yes |
| AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 1.0 | No | Yes | Yes |
| AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 2.0 | No | No | Yes |
| TAA upsampler | No | No | Yes |
| Unity Spatial Temporal Post Process (STP) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mip bias | No | Yes | Yes |
| Compositing multiple cameras | Yes Use multiple cameras |
Yes Use Camera stacking |
Yes Use HDRP Compositor |
| Physical camera | Yes Affects field of view only |
Yes Affects field of view only |
Yes Affects field of view, exposure, bloom, and depth of field |
| Multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA) | Yes Forward rendering path only |
Yes Forward rendering path only |
Yes Forward rendering path only |
| Fast approximate anti-aliasing (FXAA) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subpixel morphological anti-aliasing (SMAA) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) | Yes Additional pass to render all object’s motion vectors. No override support for transparents. |
Yes Additional pass to render all object’s motion vectors. No override support for transparents. No custom motion vectors in ShaderGraph. Not compatible with Dynamic Resolution, MSAA nor Camera Stacking. 16-bits. |
Yes Uses per-shader motion vectors and the stencil buffer to only render motion vectors where needed. Allows custom motion vectors in shaders, for example using the ShaderGraph or Alembic packages. 32-bits (float). |
| Depth Texture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Depth + Normal Texture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Depth + Normal Texture (affected by decals) | No | No | Yes Except if MSAA is enabled. |
| Color Texture | No | Yes | Yes |
| Motion Vectors | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thickness Pass | No | No | Yes Optional |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material Variants | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ShaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info See in Glossary Graph |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ShaderLab | Yes | Yes Hand-coded shaders are supported, but not recommended. Shader Graph is recommended (more easily upgradable). |
Yes Hand-coded shaders are supported, but not recommended. Shader Graph is recommended (more easily upgradable). |
| ShaderLabUnity’s language for defining the structure of Shader objects. More info See in Glossary Command: UsePass |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ShaderLab Command: GrabPass | Yes | No Alternative: Scene color node in ShaderGraph / create a Renderer Feature |
No Alternative: Scene color node in ShaderGraph / create a Custom Pass |
| Surface ShadersA streamlined way of writing shaders for the Built-in Render Pipeline. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | No | No |
| Diffusion Profiles | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera-relative rendering | No | No | Yes |
| Material type: Metallic / Standard | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Material type: Specular | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Opaque | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Faded (Alpha Blend) | Yes | Yes | Yes Also supports premultiplied alpha. |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Transparent | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Cutout | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Additive | No | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Multiply | No | Yes | No Not compatible with half res transparent optimization and offscreen UI blending. |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode: Translucence | No | No | Yes Translucent Material Type in the Lit shaders |
| Surface Inputs: Albedo (Base Map) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Inputs: Specular | Yes | Yes | Yes Base map when using Material Type Specular |
| Surface Inputs: Metallic | Yes | Yes | Yes Stored in the R channel of the Mask Map. |
| Surface Inputs: Ambient Occlusion | Yes | Yes | Yes Stored in the G channel of the Mask Map. |
| Surface Inputs: Smoothness | Yes | Yes | Yes Stored in the A channel of the Mask Map. |
| Surface Inputs: Normal MapA type of Bump Map texture that allows you to add surface detail such as bumps, grooves, and scratches to a model which catch the light as if they are represented by real geometry. See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Inputs: Bent Normal Map | No | No | Yes |
| Surface Inputs: Detail Map | Yes | Yes | Yes Albedo stored in the R channel of the Detail Map. Smoothness stored in the B channel. |
| Surface Inputs: Detail Normal Map | Yes | Yes | Yes Y axis stored in the G channel of the Detail Map. X axis stored in the A channel. |
| Surface Inputs: Heightmap | Yes Pixel displacement only. |
Yes Pixel displacement only. |
Yes Pixel or vertex displacement. |
| Surface Inputs: Detail Mask | Yes | Yes | Yes Stored in the B channel of the Mask Map. |
| Surface Inputs: Emissive Map | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Inputs: Transmission Mask | No | No | Yes Also available in Shader Graph. |
| Surface Inputs: Specular Occlusion | No | No | Yes |
| Surface Inputs: Planar & Triplanar mapping | No Alternative: Use ShaderGraph Triplanar node |
No Alternative: Use ShaderGraph Triplanar node |
Yes |
| Included Lighting models: ClearCoat | No | Yes | Yes |
| Included Lighting models: SubSurface Scattering | No | No | Yes Includes Dual Lobe multipliers and diffuse shading power for skin. |
| Included Lighting models: Colored Translucent | No | No | Yes |
| Included Lighting models: Anisotropy | No | No | Yes |
| Included Lighting models: Irridescence | No | No | Yes |
| Included Lighting models: Fabric | No | No | Yes |
| Included Lighting models: Eye | No | No | Yes Eye caustics available in High quality mode. |
| Included Lighting models: Hair (Approximate) | No | No | Yes Based on Kajiya Kay parametrization |
| Included Lighting models: Hair (Physical) | No | No | Yes Based on Marshner-Disney parametrization. Cinematic option available to trade performance vs quality. |
| Add custom Lighting model as a plugin | Yes | No | Yes Pluggable Master Node (undocumented) |
| Features: Light Cookies | Yes Supports grayscale textures |
Yes Supports RGB textures |
Yes Supports RGB textures |
| Features: Parallax Mapping | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Features: Light Distance Fade | No | No | Yes |
| Features: Shadow Distance Fade | Yes | Yes | Yes Configure in Shadows Volume. |
| Features: Shadow Cascade Blending | No | No | Yes |
| Features: GPU Instancing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Features: Double Sided GI | Yes | No | Yes |
| Features: Two Sided | No | Yes Configure with the RenderFace property. |
Yes Configure with the Double Side toggle. |
| Features: Material sorting priority | No | Yes | Yes |
| Features: Renderer sorting priority | No | No Not exposed (use debug mode of the inspector). |
Yes |
| Features: GPU Tesselation | No | No | Yes Use the LitTesselation Shader. |
| Features: Specular Occlusion | No | No | Yes Use only the ambient occlusion map, or both bent and ambient occlusion maps. |
| Features: Geometric Specular Anti-Aliasing | No | No | Yes |
| Features: Add precomputed velocity | No | Yes | Yes Requires per vertex velocity information (eg: Alembic, or using ShaderGraph custom velocity option) |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI(User Interface) Allows a user to interact with your application. Unity currently supports three UI systems. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full screen master node | No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom post-processingA process that improves product visuals by applying filters and effects before the image appears on screen. You can use post-processing effects to simulate physical camera and film properties, for example Bloom and Depth of Field. More info post processing, postprocessing, postprocess See in Glossary |
No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom render textureA special type of Texture that is created and updated at runtime. To use them, first create a new Render Texture and designate one of your Cameras to render into it. Then you can use the Render Texture in a Material just like a regular Texture. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text MeshThe main graphics primitive of Unity. Meshes make up a large part of your 3D worlds. Unity supports triangulated or Quadrangulated polygon meshes. Nurbs, Nurms, Subdiv surfaces must be converted to polygons. More info See in Glossary Pro |
No | Yes | No |
| Decals | No | Yes Affect opaque objects only. |
Yes Affect opaque and transparent objects. |
| Fog Volume | No | No | Yes |
| TerrainThe landscape in your scene. A Terrain GameObject adds a large flat plane to your scene and you can use the Terrain’s Inspector window to create a detailed landscape. More info See in Glossary |
No | No | No |
| Physically Based Sky | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terrain system: Physically Based Shader | No | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain system: Simple Lit (Blinn-Phong) Shader | Yes | No | No |
| Terrain system: SpeedTree Shader | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain system: Paint Trees | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain system: Vegetation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain system: Terrain Details | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain system: number of Terrain Layers | Yes Unlimited |
Yes With height-based blending: 4 With alpha blending: unlimited |
Yes 8 |
| Terrain system: GPU Instanced Rendering | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain system: Terrain Holes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Water system: Physically Based Shader | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Compute based wave simulation | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: CPU wave simulation for gameplay integration | No | No | Yes Simulation on CPU (no latency) or on GPU with GPU readback (low latency but high performance). |
| Water system: Local currents | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Local foam | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Surface deformer | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Water excluder | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Support for decals (eg: Foam) | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Underwater Caustics | No | No | Yes |
| Water system: Under water rendering | No | No | Yes Includes Water line rendering. |
| Water system: Under water volumetrics | No | No | Yes |
| SpeedTree 8 | Yes | Yes Both Shader Graph and ShaderLab shaders available. |
Yes Shader Graph shader only. Support for subsurface map and motion vectors. |
| SpeedTree 9 | Yes | Yes Shader Graph shaders only. |
Yes Shader Graph shaders only. |
| Wind ZoneA GameObject that adds the effect of wind to your terrain. For instance, Trees within a wind zone will bend in a realistic animated fashion and the wind itself will move in pulses to create natural patterns of movement among the tree. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procedural Skybox | Yes | Yes | No This sky type is deprecated, but you can still use if if you install the Procedural Sky Sample. |
| 6 sided Skybox | Yes | Yes | Yes HDRI Sky supports cubemaps. Unity can build cubemaps from this type on import. |
| Cubemap | Yes | Yes | Yes HDRI Sky supports cubemaps. |
| Panoramic | Yes | Yes | Yes HDRI Sky supports cubemaps. Unity can build cubemaps from this type on import. |
| Physical Sky | No | No | Yes |
| Gradient Sky | No | No | Yes |
| Sky distortion | No | No | Yes Procedural or Flowmap |
| Cloud layers | No | No | Yes |
| Atmospheric Scattering | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volumetric Clouds | No | No | Yes |
| Linear Fog | Yes Configure in Graphics Settings. |
Yes Configure in Graphics Settings. |
No |
| Exponential Fog | Yes Configure in Graphics Settings. |
Yes Configure in Graphics Settings. |
Yes Configure with the Fog Override. |
| Exponential Squared | Yes Configure in Graphics Settings. |
Yes Configure in Graphics Settings. |
No |
| Local Volumetrics | No | No | Yes |
| 3D Render texture for local volumetric fog | No | No | Yes |
| Volumetric Material (use ShaderGraph for local volumetric fog) | No | No | Yes |
| Fog Scattering & Atmospheric scattering | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feature support | Yes Uses separate package: Post-Processing V2 |
Yes Uses integrated post-processing solution |
Yes Uses integrated post-processing solution |
| Per-project default effects | No | Yes A default volume can be applied to the project using HDRP default settings. |
Yes A default volume can be applied to the project using HDRP default settings. |
| Ambient Occlusion | Yes Supported types: Multi-scale ambient occlusion |
Yes Supported types: Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (Depth or normal) |
Yes Supported types: Screen Space Ground Truth Ambient Occlusion (Normal + temporal, tinted multi bounced, specular occlusion), Ray-traced ambient occlusion |
| Exposure | Yes Supported types: Fixed, Automatic |
Yes Supported types: Fixed |
Yes Supported types: Fixed, Automatic (Eye adaptation), Curve Mapping, Physical Camera settings and Histogram. |
| Bloom | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chromatic Aberration | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TonemappingThe process of remapping HDR values of an image into a range suitable to be displayed on screen. More info See in Glossary (Neutral, ACES, Custom) |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| White balance | No | Yes | Yes |
| Color Channel Mixer | No | Yes | Yes |
| Color Adjustments | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Color Curves | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lift, Gamma, Gain | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shadows, Midtones, Highlights | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Split Toning | No | No | Yes |
| Depth of Field | Yes Supported types: Bokeh |
Yes Supported types: Bokeh and Gaussian |
Yes Supported types: Bokeh |
| Physical Depth of Field | No | No | Yes |
| Film Grain | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lens Distortion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CameraA component which creates an image of a particular viewpoint in your scene. The output is either drawn to the screen or captured as a texture. More info See in Glossary Motion Blur |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Object Motion Blur | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space Reflections | Yes | No | Yes |
| Screen Space Refractions | No | No | Yes |
| Vignette | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Panini Projection | No | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space Lens FlaresA component that simulates the effect of lights refracting inside a camera lens. Use a Lens Flare to represent very bright lights or add atmosphere to your scene. More info See in Glossary |
No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom post-processing | Yes | Yes Available with Full Screen Pass Renderer Feature. |
Yes Either with script or ShaderGraph. |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feature support | Yes | Yes | Yes GPU instancing is not supported. Distortion and flipbook blending can be done with Shader Graph. No standard particle shader available, but example particles ShaderGraph shaders can be found in the HDRP package samples. |
| Lit Particles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Simple lit particles | Yes Uses Blinn Phong. |
Yes | Yes |
| Unlit particles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Soft Particles | Yes | Yes | Yes Available via Shader Graph. Examples available in the particles system shader samples in the HDRP package sample. |
| Distortion | Yes | Yes | Yes Available via Shader Graph. Examples available in the particles system shader samples in the HDRP package sample. |
| Flipbook blending | Yes | Yes | Yes Available via Shader Graph. Examples available in the particles system shader samples in the HDRP package sample. |
| Trail | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Instancing | Yes | Yes | No |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feature support | No | Yes Compute capable hardware only. OpenGL ES not supported. |
Yes Compute capable hardware only. |
| Supported Shader graph shaders | No | Yes VFX Shader Graph, Lit, Unlit, 2D Sprite Lit, 2D Custom Lit |
Yes VFX Shader Graph, Lit, Unlit, Hair, Fabric (no support for tessellation, nor decal) |
| Renders with 2D | No | Yes 3D particles and support for sorting layers and sprites. No support for 2D Physics, 2D sprites emitters, nor 2D Lights |
No |
| Lit Particles | No | Yes | Yes |
| Simple lit particles | No | No | Yes |
| Unlit particles | No | Yes | Yes |
| Soft ParticlesParticles that create semi-transparent effects like smoke, fog or fire. Soft particles fade out as they approach an opaque object, to prevent intersections with the geometry. More info See in Glossary |
No | Yes | Yes |
| Distortion | No | No | Yes |
| Flipbook blending | No | Yes Linear interpolation or flipbook motion vectors |
Yes Linear interpolation or flipbook motion vectors |
| Trail | No | Yes Experimental |
Yes Experimental |
| Half-resolution | No | No | Yes |
| Decals | No | Yes VFX Graph Forward decals (limited), URP decals |
Yes VFX Forward decals (limited), HDRP Decals |
| Motion Vectors | No | Yes | Yes |
| Camera Buffer | No | Yes Depth collision, Color buffer |
Yes Depth collision, Color buffer |
| Instancing | No | Yes | Yes |
| Skinned Mesh Sampling | No | Yes | Yes |
| 6-way lighting | No | Yes | Yes |
| Volumetric Fog Output | No | No | Yes |
| Custom HLSL Blocks | No | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decals | No Suggested alternative: Projector component. |
Yes Projector decals (Forward + DBuffer) or Screen Space Decals (Deferred), decal layers, no emissive decals |
Yes Projector decals (Forward & Deferred + DBuffer) or Mesh decals, support on transparents (Cluster decals), support decal layers, surface gradients, emissive decals |
| Decal layers | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Projector component | Yes | No Use the Decal Renderer Feature instead. |
No Use the Decal Projector instead. |
| Line RendererA component that takes an array of two or more points in 3D space and draws a straight line between each one. You can use a single Line Renderer component to draw anything from a simple straight line to a complex spiral. More info See in Glossary component |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trail Renderer component | Yes | Yes You can also use VFX Graph to create a custom trail effect. |
Yes You can also use VFX Graph to create a custom trail effect. |
| Billboard Renderer component | Yes | Yes | No Suggested alternative: Use VFX Graph. |
| Halo component | Yes | No Suggested alternative: Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component. |
No Suggested alternative: Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component, or use a celestial body in a directional light. |
| Lens flares | Yes Use a Flare asset and either a Light component or a Lens Flare component. |
Yes Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component. Also check Screen Space Lens Flares (Post processing) that offer an alternative or complementary solution for lens flares. |
Yes Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component. Also check Screen Space Lens Flares (Post processing) that offer an alternative or complementary solution for lens flares. |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpriteA 2D graphic objects. If you are used to working in 3D, Sprites are essentially just standard textures but there are special techniques for combining and managing sprite textures for efficiency and convenience during development. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | No |
| TilemapA GameObject that allows you to quickly create 2D levels using tiles and a grid overlay. More info See in Glossary |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Sprite Shape | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pixel-Perfect | Yes Using the “2D Pixel Perfect” package. |
Yes Using the “2D Pixel Perfect” package. |
No |
| 2D Lights | No | Yes Available when Using 2D Renderer |
No |
| 2D Shadows | No | Yes Available when Using 2D Renderer |
No |
| VFX Graph | No | Yes Supports 3D particles, sorting layers, ShaderGraph Sprite Lit and Custom Lit targets, Alpha Clipping with Shadergraph Sprite Lit, Unlit and Custom Lit targets. Does not support 2D Physics, 2D sprites emitters, or 2D Lights. |
No |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Space - Overlay | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space - Camera | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| World Space | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text MeshA Mesh component that displays a Text string More info See in Glossary Pro |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multipass | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Single Pass (double-wide) | Yes | No Deprecated |
No Deprecated |
| Single Pass Instanced | Yes | Yes | Yes Windows and PSVR only |
| Multiview | Yes | Yes | No |
| ARAugmented Reality More info See in Glossary Foundation |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Foveated Rendering | No | Yes Compatible with Forward, Deferred and Forward+, on Oculus Quest (Fixed foveated rendering), PSVR2 and VisionPro (eye tracking). |
Yes PSVR2 only. |
| HDR | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera.RenderWithShader | Yes | No Suggested alternative: ScriptableRenderPass |
No Suggested alternative: CustomPass with material override |
| Camera.AddCommandBuffer (Camera.Remove[All]CommandBuffer) | Yes | No | No Alternative: Custom Passes |
| Camera.Render | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light.AddCommandBuffer (LightRemove[All]CommandBuffer) | Yes | No | No |
| OnPreCull | Yes | No Suggested alternative: RenderPipelineManager.beginCameraRendering or ScriptableRenderPass |
No |
| OnPreRender | Yes | No Suggested alternative: RenderPipelineManager.beginCameraRendering or ScriptableRenderPass |
No |
| OnPostRender | Yes | No | No |
| OnRenderImage | Yes | No Suggested alternative: ScriptableRenderPass |
No Suggested alternative: Fullscreen CustomPass |
| OnRenderObject | Yes | Yes RenderPipelineManager.endCameraRendering or ScriptableRenderPass API |
No RenderPipelineManager.endCameraRendering or Custom Pass |
| OnWillRenderObject | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OnBecameVisible | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OnBecameInvisible | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Camera Replacement Material | No | No Suggested alternative: use Render Feature to replace materials per-Pass. |
No Suggested alternative: Custom Pass with Shader override |
| RenderPipeline.BeginFrameRendering | No | Yes | Yes |
| RenderPipeline.EndFrameRendering | No | Yes | Yes |
| RenderPipeline.BeginCameraRendering | No | Yes | Yes |
| RenderPIpeline.EndCameraRendering | No | Yes | Yes |
| UniversalRenderPipeline.RenderSingleCamera | No | Yes | No |
| ScriptableRenderPass | No | Yes This is similar to the CustomPass feature in HDRP. |
No |
| Custom Renderers | No | Yes | No |
| CustomPass | No | No | Yes This is similar to the ScriptableRenderPass feature in URP. |
| Custom Post Process Pass | No | No | Yes |
| Arbitrary Output Variables (AOV) API | No | No | Yes |
| Recording API | No | No | Yes |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batching By Shader | No | Yes | Yes |
| Batching By Material | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Batching by Material Property Blocks | Yes | Yes Batched separately from the SRP Batcher |
Yes Batched separately from the SRP Batcher |
| Dynamic batchingAn automatic Unity process which attempts to render multiple meshes as if they were a single mesh for optimized graphics performance. The technique transforms all of the GameObject vertices on the CPU and groups many similar vertices together. More info See in Glossary (without SRP Batcher) |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time batching with SRP Batcher | No | Yes Requires OpenGLES 3.1. On unsupported graphics APIs, falls back to Dynamic Batching. |
Yes |
| Dynamic Shadows Batching | Yes | No Deprecated. |
Yes |
| GPU Resident Drawer | No | Yes Disabled by default. Only available for Forward+. Requires compute support. |
Yes Enabled by default. |
| GPU Occlusion CullingA process that disables rendering GameObjects that are hidden (occluded) from the view of the camera. More info See in Glossary |
No | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Instancing | Yes | Yes Disabled by default when SRP Batcher is enabled. |
Yes Disabled by default when SRP Batcher is enabled. |
| Render Graph | No | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Render Pass Culling | No | Yes | Yes Disabled by default. |
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | URP | HDRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| SceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info See in Glossary View Modes |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Volume Explorer | No | Yes | Yes |
| Rendering debugger | No | Yes | Yes |
| Runtime GPU profilerA window that helps you to optimize your game. It shows how much time is spent in the various areas of your game. For example, it can report the percentage of time spent rendering, animating, or in your game logic. More info See in Glossary |
No | Yes | Yes |
| Render Graph viewer | No | Yes | Yes |
| Probe volume debugger | No | Yes | Yes |
| Color Monitors | No Use post processing stack v2 |
No | Yes Waveform, Parade, Vectorscope |
| Shader Graph Heatmap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VFX Graph profiler | No | Yes | Yes |