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Additional Topics

intermediate concepts

Moving Objects (Characters, Vehicles)

By default, Global Snow does not differentiate between static and moving objects. Snow on moving objects can shift as the character or vehicle animates. Follow these steps to handle them correctly:

Step 1 - Exclude the Moving Object

Remove global snow from the object so it does not receive the scene-wide snow effect:

Remove the object's layer from the Layer Mask in the Global Snow inspector, or
Attach the GlobalSnowIgnoreCoverage script to the GameObject.

Scene View vs. Game View: Exclusion results may appear incorrect in the Scene View. Always verify in the Game View.

Step 2 - Apply a Snow Material (Optional)

If you want the object to display snow that stays stable as it moves, use a custom material that integrates snow features directly so the snow does not shift with animation.

Step 3 - Vehicle Wheel Tracks (Optional)

For vehicles, add GlobalSnowColliderExtraInfo to the vehicle root. This script detects wheel-ground contact points and reports them to Global Snow for terrain marks.

Character Footprints & Furrow

Add the GlobalSnowFootsteps component to a character to leave automatic footprints. Feet are auto-detected on humanoid rigs from the Animator; for other rigs, assign the feet transforms manually.

In shallow snow the component stamps a print each time a foot plants. When the snow is deeper than Start Depth, prints turn into a continuous furrow carved along the path, complete with snow spray FX.

Parameter	Description
Feet	Feet transforms. Leave empty to auto-detect humanoid feet.
Foot Radius	Footprint radius in meters.
Sink Depth	Depth of each footprint on deformable snow.
Plant Height / Max Plant Speed	A foot counts as planted when it is low and nearly still, so the mark lands where the foot rests.
Toe Offset	Shifts the mark toward the toes to match the actual contact area.
Furrow Start Depth	Snow depth above which footprints become a continuous furrow.
Furrow Radius	Furrow width. 0 derives it from the snow depth.
Override Sink Depth	Limits how deep the furrow digs, leaving a bed of compacted snow instead of reaching the ground. Works on deformable surfaces and on the deep snow layer.

Alternatively, colliders on foot bones with GlobalSnowColliderExtraInfo and Is Footprint enabled also stamp prints on contact.

Coverage Mask Editor

The Coverage Mask allows you to paint snow on or off using a texture. The alpha channel controls opacity: 1 = full snow, 0 = no snow.

Inspector Setup

Parameter	Description
Coverage Mask	Enable the mask system and assign an alpha texture.
World Center	Center position of the mask in world coordinates.
World Size	Size in meters. Controls the area the mask covers.
Fill Outside	When enabled, areas outside the mask bounds receive full snow.

Scene View Mask Editor

Enable the Mask Editor section in the inspector to paint directly in the Scene View:

Resolution - 1024 for coarse, 2048-8192 for fine detail.
Brush Mode - add or remove snow.
Width / Fuzziness / Opacity - brush settings.
Fill Mask - reset to fully snowed.
Clear Mask - remove all snow from the covered area.

Per-Object Exclusion (GlobalSnowIgnoreCoverage)

Attach this script to any GameObject for fine-grained control over snow coverage. It affects the object and all its children.

Option	Description
Receive Snow	When enabled, forces the object to receive snow even if its layer is excluded from the Layer Mask (acts as an override). When disabled (default), the object is rendered into the exclusion buffer and will not show snow.
Block Snow	When enabled, the object blocks snow on surfaces beneath it during the zenithal pass (use for shelters, roofs, bridges). When disabled (default), the object is temporarily moved to the exclusion layer during the zenithal capture, so it does not cast coverage shadows downward.
Use Fast Mask Shader	Uses an optimized depth-only shader for exclusion rendering. Disable for objects with vertex animation in custom shaders, so the exclusion mask matches the deformed mesh. Default enabled.
Exclusion Cut Off	Alpha threshold for semi-transparent objects. Pixels with alpha below this value are not excluded. Range 0-1.

Tip: To exclude an object on Layer 0 (Default) from snow, add GlobalSnowIgnoreCoverage with Receive Snow disabled. The Layer Mask cannot exclude objects on Layer 0.

Per-Collider Settings (GlobalSnowColliderExtraInfo)

Attach this script to any GameObject with a collider to customize how it interacts with terrain marks and snow surfaces. Also supports WheelCollider automatically - wheel-ground contact points are reported for terrain marks each frame.

Option	Description
Mark Size	Snow mark radius for this specific collider. Default 0.25.
Is Footprint	Stamps a single footprint instead of a continuous trail. Enable for foot colliders on humanoid characters.
Collision Distance Threshold	Minimum distance between consecutive marks. Prevents overlapping stamps. Default 0.1.
Step Max Distance	Maximum distance for trail interpolation between frames. Prevents gaps when moving fast. Default 20. Set to 0 to disable interpolation.
Rotation Threshold	Minimum rotation (in degrees) to trigger a new mark. Default 3.
Ignore This Collider	Completely ignore this collider for snow marks.
Override Sink Depth	Override the SnowSurface sink depth for this collider.
Snow Surface Sink Depth	Maximum deformation depth in meters when overriding. Default 0.05.

Transition / Lerping Between Profiles

All Global Snow properties are animatable. For quick transitions between two snow configurations, use the GlobalSnowLerp script:

Add the Global Snow Lerp component to any GameObject.
Configure Profile 1 and Profile 2 with different snow settings.
Adjust the Transition slider (0 = Profile 1, 1 = Profile 2) to blend between them.

Parameter	Description
Target Global Snow	Auto-detected at Start. Assign manually if you instantiate late.
Transition	Blend factor: 0 = Profile 1, 1 = Profile 2.
Left / Right Key	Keyboard shortcuts to decrease/increase the transition at runtime.
Profile 1 / Profile 2	Complete snow configuration presets to lerp between.

Coverage Update Methods

The zenithal depth pass can be updated in several modes:

Method	When to Use
Every Frame	Scenes with frequently moving dynamic objects over snow areas.
Discrete	Most scenes. Recalculates when the camera moves a threshold distance.
Manual	Fully static scenes. Call `UpdateSnowCoverage()` from script when needed.
Disabled	No coverage updates. Snow placement is fixed.

Tip: Use Discrete for the best balance of quality and performance. Switch to Every Frame only if you have large moving objects that must cast snow occlusion in real time.

Next Steps

Snow Surface - URP-exclusive deformable snow mesh.
Scripting Support (C#) - runtime API for mask painting, footprints, and snow queries.
Troubleshooting - solutions to common issues.

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