GPU instancing is a draw call optimization method that renders multiple copies of a 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 with the same material in a single draw call. Each copy of the mesh is called an instance. This is useful for drawing things that appear multiple times in a 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, for example, trees or bushes.
GPU instancing renders identical meshes in the same draw call. To add variation and reduce the appearance of repetition, each instance can have different properties, such as Color or Scale. Draw calls that render multiple instances appear in the Frame Debugger as Render Mesh (instanced).
This section includes information about the platform, 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, and SRP Batcher compatibility of GPU instancing.
GPU instancing is available on every platform. However, the performance benefits of GPU instancing depend on the platform and the GPU you’ve chosen. For example, the performance benefits are more prominent on mobile platforms than on desktop platforms.
Feature | Universal Render Pipeline (URP) | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) | Custom Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP) | Built-in Render Pipeline |
---|---|---|---|---|
GPU instancing | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | Yes |
Notes:
GPU instancing supports Unity’s Baked Global Illumination system. Unity Standard Shaders and surface shadersA streamlined way of writing shaders for the Built-in Render Pipeline. More info
See in Glossary in the Built-In Render Pipeline support GPU instancing and Unity’s Baked Global IlluminationA group of techniques that model both direct and indirect lighting to provide realistic lighting results.
See in Glossary system by default.
Each GPU instance supports global illumination from one of the following sources:
GPU instancing automatically works with: