VFX type reference

This page references all the types the Visual Effect Graph uses. Some of these are standard C# and Unity types whereas others are unique to the Visual Effect Graph.

Base types

Base types refer to standard C# and Unity types that you can use to store basic data.

Attribute-compatible types

Attribute-Compatible Types are types that you can use for attribute storage in Systems or SpawnEvent payloads.

Type	Description
float	A 32-bit floating-point value.
int	A 32-bit signed integer value.
uint	A 32-bit unsigned integer value.
bool	A 1-bit boolean value.
Vector2	A two-dimensional 32 bit Floating Point Vector.
Vector3	A three-dimensional 32 bit Floating Point Vector.
Vector3	A four-Dimensional 32 bit Floating Point Vector.
Color	A four-component (Red, Green, Blue, Alpha) 32-bit floating-point linear Color.

Other base types

The following base types are not attribute-compatible which means you can not use them as attributes for particles, but you can set them on the Visual Effect component if they are exposed properties.

Type	Description
Gradient	Unity's Gradient type.
AnimationCurve	Unity's AnimationCurve type.
Texture2D	Unity's Texture2D type.
Texture3D	Unity's Texture3D type.
TextureCube	Unity's CubeMap type.
Texture2DArray	Unity's Texture2DArray type.
TextureCubeArray	Unity's CubeMapArray type.
Mesh	Unity's Mesh type.

Advanced types

This section describes the advanced types that the Visual Effect Graph includes. These are either advanced versions of the base types or composite types (made up of multiple properties).

Spaceable base types

Spaceable base types are Vector types that embed a space alongside their value. They also use a vector semantic when performing space transformations.

Type	Description
Position	A world-space or local-space three-component position vector. For more information on this type and its properties, see Position.
Vector	A world-space or local-space three-component vector. For more information on this type and its properties, see Vector.
Direction	A world-space or local-space three-component normalized direction. Values of this type are always normalized when you retrieve them. For more information on this type and its properties, see Direction.

Shape types

Shape Types are Advanced types that define a shape based on a composition on base types.

Type	Description
Sphere	A sphere defined by a center position and a radius. For more information on this type and its properties, see Sphere.
ArcSphere	A solid-arc of a sphere, defined by an angle and a Sphere. For more information on this type and its properties, see ArcSphere.
AABox	An axis-aligned 3D Box, defined by a center and a 3D size. For more information on this type and its properties, see AABox.
Plane	A 3D infinite plane, defined by a position and a normal vector. For more information on this type and its properties, see Plane.
OrientedBox	An oriented box defined by a position, a Euler angle (in degrees), and a scale. For more information on this type and its properties, see OrientedBox.
Circle	A 3D circle oriented on the XY plane, defined by a position and a radius. For more information on this type and its properties, see Circle.
ArcCircle	A solid-arc of a circle, defined by an angle and a Circle. For more information on this type and its properties, see ArcCircle.
Torus	A 3D torus oriented on the XY plane, defined by a position, a major radius (torus radius), and a minor radius (torus thickness). For more information on this type and its properties, see Torus.
ArcTorus	A solid-arc of a torus defined by an angle and a 3D Torus. For more information on this type and its properties, see ArcTorus.
Cone	A 3D cone defined by a height, an upper radius, and a lower radius. For more information on this type and its properties, see Cone.
ArcCone	A solid-arc of 3D Cone defined by an angle and a Cone. For more information on this type and its properties, see ArcCone.
Line	A line defined by two positions. For more information on this type and its properties, see Line.
Transform	A translation, rotation, and scaling component defined by a position, a Euler angle (expressed in degrees), and a scale. For more information on this type and its properties, see Transform.

Other types

Type	Description
TerrainType	A Unity Terrain defined by a set of bounds, a heightmap, and a height. For more information on this type and its properties, see TerrainType.
Camera	A Unity Camera defined by a Transform, field of view, near-plane, far-plane, aspect ratio, resolution. You can also access the color and depth buffer. For more information on this type and its properties, see Camera.