Unity Manual

Welcome to Unity.

Unity is made to empower users to create the best interactive entertainment or multimedia experience that they can. This manual is designed to help you learn how to use Unity, from basic to advanced techniques. It can be read from start to finish or used as a reference.

The manual is divided into different sections. The first section, User Guide, is an introduction to Unity's interface, asset workflow, and the basics of building a game. If you are new to Unity, it is recommended that you start learning by reading the Unity Basics subsection.

The next section, FAQ, is a collection of frequently asked questions about performing common tasks that require a few steps.

The last section, Advanced, addresses topics such as game optimization, shaders, file sizes, and deployment.

When you're done reading, be sure to take a look at the Reference Manual and the Scripting Reference for further details about the different possibilities of constructing your games with Unity.

If you find that any question you have is not answered in this manual please ask on Unity Answers or Unity Forums. You'll definitely find your answer there.

Happy reading,
The Unity team

The Unity Manual Guide contains some sections that apply only to certain platforms. Please select which platforms you want to see. Platform-specific information can always be seen by clicking on the disclosure triangles on each page.

Table of Contents

• User Guide
  • Unity Basics
    • Learning the Interface
    • Customizing Your Workspace
    • Asset Workflow
    • Creating Scenes
    • Publishing Builds
    • Tutorials
    • Unity Hotkeys
    • Preferences
  • Building Scenes
    • GameObjects
      • The GameObject-Component Relationship

• The Component-Script Relationship

• Using the Inspector

• Assigning References
• Multi-Object Editing
• Inspector Options

• Using the Scene View
  • Scene View Navigation
  • Positioning GameObjects
  • View Modes
  • Gizmo and Icon Display Controls
• Searching
• Prefabs
• Lights
• Cameras
• Terrain Engine Guide

• Asset Import and Creation
  • Importing Assets
  • Meshes

• Materials and Shaders
• Texture 2D
• Procedural Materials
• Movie Texture
• Audio Files
  • Tracker Modules
• Using Scripts
• Asset Store
• Asset Server (Pro Only)
  • Cache Server (Team license only)
  • Cache Server FAQ
• Behind the Scenes

• Creating Gameplay
  • Instantiating Prefabs at runtime
  • Input
  • Transforms
  • Physics
  • Adding Random Gameplay Elements
  • Particle Systems
    • Particle System Curve Editor
    • Colors and Gradients in the Particle System (Shuriken)
    • Gradient Editor
    • Particle System Inspector
    • Introduction to Particle System Modules (Shuriken)

• Particle Effects (Shuriken)

• Navmesh and Pathfinding (Pro only)
  • Navmesh Baking
• Sound
• Game Interface Elements
• Networked Multiplayer

• Getting Started with Native Client Development
• Getting Started with Flash Development
  • Flash: Setup
  • Flash: Building & Running
  • Flash: Debugging
  • Flash: What is and is not supported
  • Flash: Embedding Unity Generated Flash Content in Larger Flash Projects
  • Example: Supplying Data from Flash to Unity
  • Example: Calling Flash Functions from Unity
  • Example: Browser JavaScript Communication
  • Example: Accessing the Stage
• FAQ
  • Unity 3.5 upgrade guide
  • Upgrading your Unity Projects from 2.x to 3.x
    • Physics upgrade details
    • Mono Upgrade Details
    • Rendering upgrade details
    • Unity 3.x Shader Conversion Guide
  • Activation
    • Step-by-Step Guide to Manual Activation of Unity
    • Step-by-Step Guide to Online Activation of Unity
  • Game Code Questions
    • How to make a simple first person walkthrough
  • Graphics Questions
    • How do I Import Alpha Textures?
    • How do I Use Normal Maps?
    • How do I use Detail Textures?
    • How do I Make a Cubemap Texture?
    • How do I Make a Skybox?
    • How do I make a Mesh Particle Emitter? (Legacy Particle System)
    • How do I make a Splash Screen?
    • How do I make a Spot Light Cookie?
    • How do I fix the rotation of an imported model?
    • How do I use Water?
  • HOWTO-exportFBX
  • HOWTO-ArtAssetBestPracticeGuide
  • How do I import objects from my 3D app?
    • Importing Objects From Maya
    • Importing Objects From Cinema 4D
    • Importing Objects From 3D Studio Max
    • Importing Objects From Cheetah3D
    • Importing Objects From Modo
    • Importing Objects From Lightwave
    • Importing Objects From Blender
  • Workflow Questions
    • Getting started with Mono Develop
    • How do I reuse assets between projects?
    • How do I install or upgrade Standard Assets?
    • Porting a Project Between Platforms
• Advanced
  • Vector Cookbook
    • Understanding Vector Arithmetic
    • Direction and Distance from One Object to Another
    • Computing a Normal/Perpendicular vector
    • The Amount of One Vector's Magnitude that Lies in Another Vector's Direction
  • AssetBundles (Pro only)
    • AssetBundles FAQ
    • Building AssetBundles
    • Downloading Asset Bundles
    • Loading resources from AssetBundles
    • Keeping track of loaded AssetBundles
    • Storing and loading binary data in an AssetBundle
    • Protecting Content
    • Managing asset dependencies
    • Including scripts in AssetBundles
  • AssetDatabase
  • Build Player Pipeline
  • Rendering Paths
  • Profiler (Pro only)
  • Lightmapping Quickstart
    • Lightmapping In-Depth
    • Custom Beast Settings
    • Lightmapping UVs
    • Light Probes
  • HDR (High Dynamic Range)
  • Linear Lighting (Pro Only)
  • Occlusion Culling (Pro only)
  • Level of Detail (Pro Only)
  • Camera Tricks
    • UnderstandingFrustum
    • The Size of the Frustum at a Given Distance from the Camera
    • Dolly Zoom (AKA the "Trombone" Effect)
    • Rays from the Camera
    • Using an Oblique Frustum
    • Creating an Impression of Large or Small Size
  • Loading Resources at Runtime
  • Modifying Source Assets Through Scripting
  • Generating Mesh Geometry Procedurally
    • Anatomy of a Mesh
    • Using the Mesh Class
    • Example - Creating a Billboard Plane

• Using Mono DLLs in a Unity Project
• Execution Order of Event Functions
• Optimizing Graphics Performance
  • Draw Call Batching
  • Modeling Characters for Optimal Performance
  • Rendering Statistics Window
• Reducing File Size
• Understanding Automatic Memory Management
• Platform Dependent Compilation
• Generic Functions
• Debugging
  • Console
  • Debugger
  • Log Files
    • Accessing hidden folders
• Plugins (Pro/Mobile-Only Feature)
  • Building Plugins for Desktop Platforms
  • Building Plugins for iOS
  • Building Plugins for Android
  • Low-level Native Plugin Interface
• Textual Scene File Format (Pro-only Feature)
  • Description of the Format
  • YAMLSceneExample
  • YAML Class ID Reference
• Streaming Assets
• Command line arguments
• Running Editor Script Code on Launch
• Shaders
  • Shaders: ShaderLab & Fixed Function shaders
  • Shaders: Vertex and Fragment Programs
• Graphics Emulation
• Network Emulation
• Security Sandbox of the Webplayer
• Overview of available .NET Class Libraries
• Visual Studio C# Integration
• Using External Version Control Systems with Unity
• Analytics
• Check For Updates
• Trouble Shooting

Page last updated: 2012-07-25