Projector component

Use a Projector component to create effects such as:

Decal effects, like bullet holes or paint splatters
Blob shadows
Stylized lighting effects
The effect of a real-world projector, using another 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 that renders to a 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

Note: This workflow is compatible only with the Built-in Render Pipelne. For similar functionality in other render pipelinesA 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, see Decals and projectors.

A Projector creates a Blob Shadow for a robot

Using the Projector component

A Projector works by projecting a material onto all objects that intersect its frustum. The material must use the Projector/Light or Projector/Multiply shadersA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary, available in Unity’s Standard Assets.

Material configuration

When configuring a material to use with the Projector/Light and Projector/Multiply shaders, be aware of the following:

Cookie texture:

Make sure texture wrap mode is set to “Clamp”
Turn on “Border Mipmaps” option in import settings
Use uncompressed texture format
Projector/Shadow also requires alpha channel to be present (typically Alpha from Grayscale option is ok)

Falloff texture (if present):

Data needs to be in alpha channel, so typically Alpha8 texture format
Make sure texture wrap mode is set to “Clamp”
Make sure leftmost 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 column is black; and “Border mipmaps” import setting is on.

Projector Inspector reference

*Property:*	*Function:*
Near Clip Plane	Objects in front of the near clip plane will not be projected upon.
Far Clip Plane	Objects beyond this distance will not be projected upon.
Field Of View	The field of view in degrees. This is only used if the Projector is not Orthographic.
Aspect RatioThe relationship of an image’s proportional dimensions, such as its width and height. See in Glossary	This allows you to tune the height and width of the Projector.
Orthographic	If enabled, the Projector will be Orthographic instead of perspective.
Orthographic Size	The Orthographic size of the Projection. This is only used if Orthographic is enabled.
MaterialAn asset that defines how a surface should be rendered. More info See in Glossary	The Material that will be projected.
Ignore Layers	Objects in Layers that you specify here will not be projected upon. The default value is None.

Projector

Decals and projectors

Lens flares and halos