Universal Renderer
This page describes the URP Universal Renderer settings.
For more information on rendering in URP, refer to Rendering in the Universal Render Pipeline.
Rendering Paths
The URP Universal Renderer implements two Rendering Paths:
Forward Rendering Path.
Rendering Path comparison
The following table shows the differences between the Forward and the Deferred Rendering Paths in URP.
Feature | Forward | Deferred |
---|---|---|
Maximum number of real-time lights per object. | 9 Lights per object. | Unlimited number of real-time lights. |
Per-pixel normal encoding | No encoding (accurate normal values). | Two options:
|
MSAA | Yes | No |
Vertex lighting | Yes | No |
Camera stacking | Yes | Supported with a limitation: Unity renders only the base Camera using the Deferred Rendering Path. Unity renders all overlay Cameras using the Forward Rendering Path. |
How to find the Universal Renderer asset
To find the Universal Renderer asset that a URP asset is using:
Select a URP asset.
In the Renderer List section, click a renderer item or the vertical ellipsis icon (⋮) next to a renderer.
Universal Renderer asset reference
This section describes the properties of the Forward Renderer asset.
Filtering
This section contains properties that define which layers the renderer draws.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Opaque Layer Mask | Select which opaque layers this Renderer draws |
Transparent Layer Mask | Select which transparent layers this Renderer draws |
Rendering
This section contains properties related to rendering.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Rendering Path | Select the Rendering Path. Options:
|
Depth Priming Mode | Specify whether Unity uses scene depth data to identify pixels the camera can't see, then skips the shader fragment stage for those pixels. This speeds up rendering, but has an upfront memory and performance cost. The amount rendering speeds up depends on how many pixels are hidden, and the complexity of the fragment shader code Unity skips. The options are:
Depth priming isn't compatible with the following:
|
Accurate G-buffer normals | Indicates whether to use a more resource-intensive normal encoding/decoding method to improve visual quality. This property is available only if Rendering Path is set to Deferred. |
Depth Texture Mode | Specifies the stage in the render pipeline at which to copy the scene depth to a depth texture. The options are:
|
Native RenderPass
This section contains properties related to URP's Native RenderPass API.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Native RenderPass | Indicates whether to use URP's Native RenderPass API. When enabled, URP uses this API to structure render passes. As a result, you can use programmable blending in custom URP shaders. Enable Native RenderPass if you use Vulkan, Metal or DirectX 12 graphics APIs, so URP automatically reduces how often it copies render textures into and out of memory. For more information about the RenderPass API, refer to ScriptableRenderContext.BeginRenderPass. Note: Enabling this property has no effect on OpenGL ES. |
Shadows
This section contains properties related to rendering shadows.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Transparent Receive Shadows | When this option is on, Unity draws shadows on transparent objects. |
Overrides
This section contains Render Pipeline properties that this Renderer overrides.
Stencil
With this check box selected, the Renderer processes the Stencil buffer values.
For more information on how Unity works with the Stencil buffer, refer to ShaderLab: Stencil.
Compatibility
This section contains settings related to backwards compatibility.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Intermediate Texture | Controls when URP renders via an intermediate texture. Options:
|
Renderer Features
This section contains the list of Renderer Features assigned to the selected Renderer.
For information on how to add a Renderer Feature, refer to How to add a Renderer Feature to a Renderer.
URP contains the pre-built Renderer Feature called Render Objects.