Fog & Volumetric Lights: Which to Use

beginner start here

Volumetric Fog & Mist 2 (URP) · Start Here

Which to pick?

These three assets solve different parts of the same problem. Fog fills the air between the camera and the scene; volumetric lights make an individual light visible inside that air. You can use any of them alone, and they are designed to work together.

Choose Dynamic Fog & Mist 2 when you need a lightweight, fast fog effect for gameplay with simple fog-of-war and minimal setup. Great for mobile, VR/XR and mid/low-end targets.

Choose Volumetric Fog & Mist 2 when you need true volumetric fog volumes that react to lights and shadows, richer interactions (voids, terrain fit, transparency support), and advanced fog-of-war tooling. Best for cinematic or higher-fidelity targets on desktop and console.

Choose Volumetric Lights 2 when what you want is the beam itself: god rays, light shafts and visible light cones on specific spot, point or area lights, with per-light shadow occlusion, cookie projection and dust particles. It does not fill the scene with fog, you pay per light and you place it where the shot needs it.

Tip: They are not mutually exclusive. A common production setup is Dynamic Fog for the scene-wide haze, Volumetric Fog in the areas where the camera spends time, and Volumetric Lights on the few lights that deserve a visible beam. When you purchase Volumetric Fog & Mist, you get Dynamic Fog & Mist included for free.

At a glance

AssetWhat it rendersTypical costBest for
Dynamic Fog & Mist 2Scene-wide animated fog with height falloff, from a single screen-space passLow, one fast passMobile, VR, large open scenes, stylized looks
Volumetric Fog & Mist 2Authored 3D fog volumes with lights, shadows, voids and distant fogModerate to high, scales with samples and resolutionDesktop and consoles, atmosphere-driven games
Volumetric Lights 2Per-light scattering: god rays and light shafts around each lightPay per light, baked shadows and LOD keep it cheapInteriors, night scenes, hero lighting moments

Feature comparison

CategoryDynamic Fog & Mist 2Volumetric Fog & Mist 2Volumetric Lights 2
Rendering modelScreen-space ray-marched fog with height-based densityRaymarched volumetric fog (3D volumes)Raymarched volume attached to each light
Scene coverageGlobal, one pass for the whole cameraAuthored box/sphere volumes plus a distant fog passLocal, one volume per light
Light typesDay/night cycle from the main light onlyNative spot/point/directional lights with shadows, fast point lights (up to 16), APV supportSpot, point and area (rectangle and disc). Directional is simulated with a large area light
Shadows in the mediumNot availableYes, from native lights, with shadow cancellationPer-light shadow occlusion with baked or real-time shadow maps, plus translucent (colored) shadow maps
Light cookiesNot availableDirectional light cookie projected on the fogCookie texture projection on spot lights
Fog of WarYes - square texture, main-thread updates, circle/rect editsYes - separate width/height, optional background-thread updates, circle/rect + collider + mesh stamping, coverage previewNot applicable
Fog voidsNot availableYes - up to 8 tracked voids per volumeNot applicable
Distant/sky fogNot a separate passDedicated distant-fog pass with noise & lightingNot applicable
Terrain fitNot availableHeightmap capture to conform fog to terrain/meshesNot applicable
Noise animation3D noise with wind direction and speedPrimary and detail noise with turbulence3D noise with configurable wind direction
Extras inside the volumeVertical color gradient, noise color blendingSub-volumes, constant density mode, cloudsDust particles, direct light cast on nearby surfaces
ProfilesYes (profile blending)Yes (profile blending)Yes (ScriptableObjects shared between lights)
Follow modeBasic (controller fade)Follow target (Full XYZ / XZ) with offsetsThe volume follows its own light
Distance controlMaximum draw distance"When visible" / "camera inside bounds" update modesAuto Toggle (LOD): distance dimming and deactivation
TransparencyStandard URP passDepth prepass options, transparent/semi-transparent masks, depth peeling, ShaderGraph integrationDepth pre-pass Render Feature for transparent objects
VR / XRYes (Single Pass Instanced)Yes (Single Pass Instanced)Yes (Single Pass Instanced and multi-pass)
PerformanceLower cost - minimal passesHigher cost - raymarch + optional depth prepasses, lights, distant fog, voids, terrain captureCost scales with the number of visible volumetric lights and their quality
Best forGameplay, open worlds, fast weather, mobile, VRCinematics, light shafts, high-fidelity atmosphere, authored volumesInteriors, night scenes, hero lights, god rays through windows

Performance notes

Dynamic Fog: Typically one main pass. Fog of War and blur add modest cost. Good for lower-end GPUs, mobile devices and standalone VR headsets.

Volumetric Fog: Cost scales with sample density, resolution, number of lights (native/point), depth prepasses (transparent/semi-transparent, depth peeling), distant-fog pass, voids, and terrain-fit capture. Use downscaling, edge-aware blur, and update-throttling modes to keep cost under control.

Volumetric Lights: Cost is paid per visible light, not per scene. Ray-march quality, min step size and max steps drive the per-pixel cost; shadow occlusion adds a depth capture that can be baked once with Shadow Bake Interval set to OnStart. Use the Render Feature downscaling, Auto Toggle (LOD) and Simple light mode for background or decorative lights.

Using them together

The three assets render in separate passes and do not conflict. A typical layered setup:

  • Base layer - Dynamic Fog for cheap scene-wide haze and horizon depth, or Volumetric Fog if the whole scene needs true volumetric atmosphere.
  • Local layer - Volumetric Fog volumes in the specific areas where the camera spends time (a cave entrance, a valley, an interior).
  • Accent layer - Volumetric Lights on the handful of lights that need a visible beam: a street lamp, a window shaft, a car headlight.

Volumetric Fog already scatters light from native lights, so adding Volumetric Lights to every light in a foggy scene is redundant. Use it where you want direct control over the shape, cookie, dust and intensity of a specific beam, or where the scene has no scene-wide fog at all.

VR / XR recommendations

All three assets support VR with Single Pass Instanced rendering. For choosing between them in VR projects:

  • Standalone VR - use Dynamic Fog, optionally with one or two volumetric lights. The lower GPU cost leaves headroom for the rest of your scene.
  • PC VR - any of them works. Start with Volumetric Fog for best visuals and switch to Dynamic Fog if you need to reclaim GPU budget.
  • Combining both - use Volumetric Fog for close-range volumes (e.g. a cave entrance) and Dynamic Fog for the distant horizon haze. This gives cinematic quality where it matters while keeping the overall cost manageable.
  • Volumetric Lights in VR - keep ray-march quality low and enable downscaling in the Render Feature.
Was this page helpful?