GameObjectThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info See in Glossary
TagsA reference word which you can assign to one or more GameObjects to help you identify GameObjects for scripting purposes. For example, you might define and “Edible” Tag for any item the player can eat in your game. More info See in Glossary
PrefabsAn asset type that allows you to store a GameObject complete with components and properties. The prefab acts as a template from which you can create new object instances in the scene. More info See in Glossary
CamerasA 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
Version ControlA system for managing file changes. You can use Unity in conjunction with most common version control tools, including Perforce, Git, Mercurial and PlasticSCM. More info See in Glossary
Plug-insA set of code created outside of Unity that creates functionality in Unity. There are two kinds of plug-ins you can use in Unity: Managed plug-ins (managed .NET assemblies created with tools like Visual Studio) and Native plug-ins (platform-specific native code libraries). More info See in Glossary
Native plug-insA platform-specific native code library that is created outside of Unity for use in Unity. Allows you can access features like OS calls and third-party code libraries that would otherwise not be available to Unity. More info See in Glossary
Property DrawersA Unity feature that allows you to customize the look of certain controls in the Inspector window by using attributes on your scripts, or by controlling how a specific Serializable class should look More info See in Glossary
Fixed Joint 2DA 2D joint type which is completely constrained, allowing two objects to be held together. Implemented as a spring so some small motion may still occur. More info See in Glossary
Relative Joint 2DA 2D joint that allows two game objects controlled by rigidbody physics to maintain in a position based on each other’s location. Use this joint to keep two objects offset from each other, at a position and angle you decide More info See in Glossary
ShadowsA UI component that adds a simple outline effect to graphic components such as Text or Image. It must be on the same GameObject as the graphic component. More info See in Glossary
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
Dynamic resolutionA Camera setting that allows you to dynamically scale individual render targets, to reduce workload on the GPU. More info See in Glossary
TexturesAn image used when rendering a GameObject, Sprite, or UI element. Textures are often applied to the surface of a mesh to give it visual detail. More info See in Glossary
Standard ShaderA built-in shader for rendering real-world objects such as stone, wood, glass, plastic and metal. Supports a wide range of shader types and combinations. More info See in Glossary
Rendering ModeA Standard Shader Material parameter that allows you to choose whether the object uses transparency, and if so, which type of blending mode to use. More info See in Glossary
HeightmapA greyscale Texture that stores height data for an object. Each pixel stores the height difference perpendicular to the face that pixel represents. See in Glossary
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
TreesA GameObject and associated Component that allows you to add tree assets to your scene. You can add branch levels and leaves to trees in the Tree Inspector window. More info See in Glossary
Wind ZonesA 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
Particle SystemsA component that simulates fluid entities such as liquids, clouds and flames by generating and animating large numbers of small 2D images in the scene. More info See in Glossary
Ambient OcclusionA method to approximate how much ambient lighting (lighting not coming from a specific direction) can hit a point on a surface. See in Glossary
Advanced RenderingThe process of drawing graphics to the screen (or to a render texture). By default, the main camera in Unity renders its view to the screen. More info See in Glossary Features
Rendering PathsThe technique Unity uses to render graphics. Choosing a different path affects the performance of your game, and how lighting and shading are calculated. Some paths are more suited to different platforms and hardware than others. More info See in Glossary
LayersLayers in Unity can be used to selectively opt groups of GameObjects in or out of certain processes or calculations. This includes camera rendering, lighting, physics collisions, or custom calculations in your own code. More info See in Glossary
Flare LayerA component that you can attach to Cameras to make Lens Flares appear in the image. By default, a Flare Layer is already attached to a Camera. See in Glossary
HaloThe glowing light areas around light sources, used to give the impression of small dust particles in the air. More info See in Glossary
Lens FlareA 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
FlareThe source asset used by Lens Flare Components. The Flare itself is a combination of a texture file and specific information that determines how the Flare behaves. More info See in Glossary
Billboard RendererRenders Billboard Assets, either from a pre-made Asset (exported from SpeedTree) or from a custom-created file that you create using a script at runtime or from a custom editor, for example. More info See in Glossary
Billboard AssetAn asset that is a collection of pre-rendered images of a more complicated Mesh intended for use with the Billboard Renderer, in order to render an object at some distance from a Camera at a lower level of detail (LOD) to save on rendering time. More info See in Glossary
MaterialAn asset that defines how a surface should be rendered, by including references to the Textures it uses, tiling information, Color tints and more. The available options for a Material depend on which Shader the Material is using. More info See in Glossary
Mesh FilterA mesh component that takes a mesh from your assets and passes it to the Mesh Renderer for rendering on the screen. More info See in Glossary
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
CubemapA collection of six square textures that can represent the reflections in an environment or the skybox drawn behind your geometry. The six squares form the faces of an imaginary cube that surrounds an object; each face represents the view along the directions of the world axes (up, down, left, right, forward and back). More info See in Glossary
SkyboxA special type of Material used to represent skies. Usually six-sided. More info See in Glossary
JointsA physics component allowing a dynamic connection between rigidbodies, usually allowing some degree of movement such as a hinge. More info See in Glossary
Character ControllersA simple, capsule-shaped collider component with specialized features for behaving as a character in a game. Unlike true collider components, a rigidbody is not needed and the momentum effects are not realistic. More info See in Glossary
Box ColliderA cube-shaped collider component that handles collisions for GameObjects like dice and ice cubes. More info See in Glossary
Capsule ColliderA capsule-shaped collider component that handles collisions for GameObjects like barrels and character limbs. More info See in Glossary
Character JointAn extended ball-socket joint which allows a joint to be limited on each axis. Mainly used for Ragdoll effects. More info See in Glossary
Configurable JointAn extremely customizable joint that other joint types are derived from. It can be used to create anything from adapted versions of existing joints to custom designed and highly specialized joints. More info See in Glossary
Constant ForceA simple component for adding a constant force or torque to game objects with a Rigidbody. More info See in Glossary
Fixed JointA joint type that is completely constrained, allowing two objects to be held together. Implemented as a spring so some motion may still occur. More info See in Glossary
Hinge JointA joint that groups together two Rigidbodies, constraining them to move like they are connected by a hinge. It is perfect for doors, but can also be used to model chains, pendulums and so on. More info See in Glossary
Mesh ColliderA free-form collider component which accepts a mesh reference to define its collision surface shape. More info See in Glossary
RigidbodyA component that allows a GameObject to be affected by simulated gravity and other forces. More info See in Glossary
Sphere ColliderA sphere-shaped collider component that handles collisions for GameObjects like balls or other things that can be roughly approximated as a sphere for the purposes of physics. More info See in Glossary
Spring JointA joint type that connects two Rigidbodies together but allows the distance between them to change as though they were connected by a spring. More info See in Glossary
Wheel ColliderA special collider for grounded vehicles. It has built-in collision detection, wheel physics, and a slip-based tire friction model. It can be used for objects other than wheels, but it is specifically designed for vehicles with wheels. More info See in Glossary
Terrain ColliderA terrain-shaped collider component that handles collisions for collision surface with the same shape as the Terrain object it is attached to. More info See in Glossary
IL2CPPA Unity-developed scripting back-end which you can use as an alternative to Mono when building Projects for some platforms. More info See in Glossary
Event SystemA way of sending events to objects in the application based on input, be it keyboard, mouse, touch, or custom input. The Event System consists of a few components that work together to send events. More info See in Glossary Reference
Audio ClipA container for audio data in Unity. Unity supports mono, stereo and multichannel audio assets (up to eight channels). Unity can import .aif, .wav, .mp3, and .ogg audio file format, and .xm, .mod, .it, and .s3m tracker module formats. More info See in Glossary
Audio ListenerA component that acts like a microphone, receiving sound from Audio Sources in the scene and outputting to the computer speakers. More info See in Glossary
Audio SourceA component which plays back an Audio Clip in the scene to an audio listener or through an audio mixer. More info See in Glossary
Audio FiltersAny audio filter that distorts the sound from an Audio Source or sounds reaching the Audio Listener. More info See in Glossary
Audio Low Pass FilterAn audio filter that passes low frequencies of an Audio Source or all sound reaching an Audio Listener while removing frequencies higher than the Cutoff Frequency. More info See in Glossary
Audio High Pass FilterAn audio filter that passes high frequencies of an AudioSource and cuts off signals with frequencies lower than the Cutoff Frequency. More info See in Glossary
Audio Distortion FilterAn audio filter that distorts the sound from an Audio Source or sounds reaching the Audio Listener by simulating the sound of a low quality radio transmission. More info See in Glossary
Audio EffectsAny effect that can modify the output of Audio Mixer components, such as filtering frequency ranges of a sound or applying reverb. More info See in Glossary
AnimationA collection of images that create a moving image when played sequentially. In Unity, an animation is the result of adding two different animation keys, at two different times, for the same animatable property. More info See in Glossary
Animation ClipsAnimation data that can be used for animated characters or simple animations. It is a simple “unit” piece of motion, such as (one specific instance of) “Idle”, “Walk” or “Run”. More info See in Glossary
Animator ControllersControls animation through Animation Layers with Animation State Machines and Animation Blend Trees, controlled by Animation Parameters. The same Animator Controller can be referenced by multiple models with Animator components. More info See in Glossary
Animation State MachinesA graph within an Animator Controller that controls the interaction of Animation States. Each state references an Animation Blend Tree or a single Animation Clip. More info See in Glossary
Animation ParametersUsed to communicate between scripting and the Animator Controller. Some parameters can be set in scripting and used by the controller, while other parameters are based on Custom Curves in Animation Clips and can be sampled using the scripting API. More info See in Glossary
State Machine BehavioursA script that attaches to a state within a state machine to control what happens when the state machine enters, exits or remains within a state, such as play sounds as states are entered. More info See in Glossary
Animation LayersAn Animation Layer contains an Animation State Machine that controls animations of a model or part of it. An example of this is if you have a full-body layer for walking or jumping and a higher layer for upper-body motions such as throwing an object or shooting. The higher layers take precedence for the body parts they control. More info See in Glossary
Target MatchingA scripting function that allows you to move characters in such a way that a hand or foot lands in a certain place at a certain time. For example, the character may need to jump across stepping stones or jump and grab an overhead beam. More info See in Glossary
Animator Override ControllersAllows you to create multiple variants of an Animator Controller, with each variant using a different set of animations, while retaining the original Controller’s structure, parameters and logic. More info See in Glossary
TextA non-interactive piece of text to the user. This can be used to provide captions or labels for other GUI controls or to display instructions or other text. More info See in Glossary
Raw ImageA Visual UI Component that displays a non-interactive image to the user. This can be used for decoration, icons, etc, and the image can also be changed from a script to reflect changes in other controls. More info See in Glossary
MaskCan refer to a Sprite Mask, a UI Mask, or a Layer Mask More info See in Glossary
Unity Cloud BuildA continuous integration service for Unity Projects that automates the process of creating builds on Unity’s servers. More info See in Glossary
Universal Windows PlatformAn IAP feature that supports Microsoft’s In App Purchase simulator, which allows you to test IAP purchase flows on devices before publishing your application. More info See in Glossary
WebGLA JavaScript API that renders 2D and 3D graphics in a web browser. The Unity WebGL 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
Custom EventsCustom events are freeform events that you can dispatch when an appropriate standard event is not available. Custom events can have any name and up to ten parameters. Use standard events in preference to custom events where possible. More info See in Glossary