Performance Tips
intermediate performanceVolumetric Lights 2 (Built-in) · Troubleshooting & FAQ
Performance Tips
Volumetric Lights 2 uses a highly optimized ray-marching algorithm. The following tips help you achieve the best balance between visual quality and frame rate.
Per-Light Settings
| Optimization | How | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Reduce ray-march quality | Lower Raymarch Quality or use a faster preset (Faster, EvenFaster, LightSpeed). | High |
| Increase min step size | Raise Min Step Size to skip small increments. | Medium |
| Decrease max steps | Lower Max Steps to cap iterations for long rays. | Medium |
| Limit shadow layers | Set Shadow Culling Mask to include only necessary layers. Exclude Transparent FX (volumetric lights' default layer). | Medium |
| Disable blue noise | Turn off Use Blue Noise to save one texture fetch per pixel. | Low |
| Reduce light range | Enable Use Custom Size and specify a smaller range or bounding box. | Medium |
| Bake shadows once | Set Shadow Bake Interval to OnStart for static scenes. | High |
| Use Simple mode | Switch Light Mode to Simple for less critical lights. | High |
| Auto-Toggle (LOD) | Enable Auto Toggle with appropriate Distance Start Dimming and Distance Deactivation values. | High |
Global Settings (Post Process Component)
| Optimization | How | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Downscaling | Set Downscaling to 2 on the Post Process component. Renders volumetrics at half resolution. | High |
| Blur passes | Add 1–2 Blur Passes to smooth the lower-resolution output. Combine with Blur Downscaling for efficiency. | Medium |
Mobile-Specific Tips
- Use Simple light mode for all but hero lights.
- Keep Raymarch Quality below
32. - Avoid Shadow Occlusion on mobile if possible, or use OnStart bake interval with low resolution (
64–128). - Disable Dust Particles or reduce particle count.
- Use Auto Toggle aggressively to disable distant lights.
Profiling
Use Unity's Frame Debugger (Window > Analysis > Frame Debugger) to see exactly how many draw calls each volumetric light adds. The Profiler (Window > Analysis > Profiler) shows GPU time per effect.
See Also
- Build Optimizations — reduce shader variant count for faster builds.
- Post Process Feature — global downscaling and blur settings.
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