Line Renderer
Switch to ScriptingThe Line Renderer component takes an array of two or more points in 3D space, and draws a straight line between each one. A single Line Renderer component can therefore be used to draw anything from a simple straight line to a complex spiral. The line is always continuous; if you need to draw two or more completely separate lines, you should use multiple GameObjects, each with its own Line Renderer.
The Line Renderer does not render one-pixel-wide lines. It renders billboardA textured 2D object that rotates as it, or the Camera, moves so that it always faces the Camera. See Billboard RendererRenders Billboard Assets, either from a pre-made Asset (exported from SpeedTree) or from a custom-created file that you create using a script at runtime or from a custom editor, for example. More info
See in Glossary
See in Glossary lines (polygons that always face the camera) that have a width in world units and can be textured. It uses the same algorithm for line renderingThe process of drawing graphics to the screen (or to a render texture). By default, the main camera in Unity renders its view to the screen. More info
See in Glossary as the Trail RendererA visual effect that lets you to make trails behind GameObjects in the Scene as they move. More info
See in Glossary.
Properties
| Property | Function |
|---|---|
| Cast Shadows | Determines whether the line casts shadows, whether they should be cast from one or both sides of the line, or whether the line should only cast shadows and not otherwise be drawn. See Renderer.shadowCastingMode in the Scripting API reference documentation to learn more. |
| Receive Shadows | If enabled, the line receives shadows. |
| Motion Vectors | Select the Motion Vector type to use for this Line Renderer. See Renderer.motionVectorGenerationMode in the Scripting API reference documentation to learn more. |
| MaterialsAn asset that defines how a surface should be rendered, by including references to the Textures it uses, tiling information, Color tints and more. The available options for a Material depend on which Shader the Material is using. More info See in Glossary |
These properties describe an array of Materials used for rendering the line. The line will be drawn once for each material in the array. |
| Light Parameters | Reference a Lightmap Parameters AssetAny media or data that can be used in your game or Project. An asset may come from a file created outside of Unity, such as a 3D model, an audio file or an image. You can also create some asset types in Unity, such as an Animator Controller, an Audio Mixer or a Render Texture. More info See in Glossary here to enable the line to interact with the global illumination system. |
| Positions | These properties describe an array of Vector3 points to connect. |
| Use World Space | If enabled, the points are considered as world space coordinates, instead of being subject to the transform of the GameObject to which this component is attached. |
| Loop | Enable this to connect the first and last positions of the line. This forms a closed loop. |
| Width | Define a width value and a curve to control the width of your line at various points between its start and end. The curve is only sampled at each vertex, so its accuracy is limited by the number of vertices present in your line. The overall width of the line is controlled by the width value. |
| Color | Define a gradient to control the color of the line along its length. |
| Corner Vertices | This property dictates how many extra vertices are used when drawing corners in a line. Increase this value to make the line corners appear rounder. |
| End Cap Vertices | This property dictates how many extra vertices are used to create end caps on the line. Increase this value to make the line caps appear rounder. |
| Alignment | Set to View to make the line face the CameraA component which creates an image of a particular viewpoint in your scene. The output is either drawn to the screen or captured as a texture. More info See in Glossary, or Local to align it based on the orientation of its Transform componentA Transform component determines the Position, Rotation, and Scale of each object in the scene. Every GameObject has a Transform. More info See in Glossary. |
| Texture Mode | Control how the Texture is applied to the line. Use Stretch to apply the Texture Map along the entire length of the line, or use Wrap to make the Texture repeat along the length of the line. Use the Tiling parameters in the Material to control the repeat rate. |
| Shadow Bias | Move shadows along the direction of the light to remove shadowing artifacts cused by approximating a volume with billboarded geometry. |
| Generate Lighting Data | If enabled (the box is checked), the Line geometry is built with Normals and Tangents included. This allows it to use Materials that use the sceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info See in Glossary lighting, for example via the Standard ShaderA built-in shader for rendering real-world objects such as stone, wood, glass, plastic and metal. Supports a wide range of shader types and combinations. More info See in Glossary, or by using a custom shaderA small script that contains the mathematical calculations and algorithms for calculating the Color of each pixel rendered, based on the lighting input and the Material configuration. More info See in Glossary. |
| Sorting Layer | Name of the Renderer’s sorting layer. |
| Order in Layer | This Renderer’s order within a sorting layer. |
| Light ProbesLight probes store information about how light passes through space in your scene. A collection of light probes arranged within a given space can improve lighting on moving objects and static LOD scenery within that space. More info See in Glossary |
Probe-based lighting interpolationThe estimation of values that determine the shape of an animation curve between two keys. More info See in Glossary mode. |
| Reflection ProbesA rendering component that captures a spherical view of its surroundings in all directions, rather like a camera. The captured image is then stored as a Cubemap that can be used by objects with reflective materials. More info See in Glossary |
If enabled and reflection probes are present in the Scene, a reflection Texture is picked for this Line Renderer and set as a built-in Shader uniform variable. |
Details
To create a Line Renderer:
- In the Unity menu bar, go to GameObjectThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary > Create Empty - In the Unity menu bar, go to ComponentA functional part of a GameObject. A GameObject can contain any number of components. Unity has many built-in components, and you can create your own by writing scripts that inherit from MonoBehaviour. More info
See in Glossary > Effects > Line Renderer - Drag a Texture or Material onto the Line Renderer. It looks best if you use a Particle Shader in the Material.
Hints
- Line Renderers are useful for effects where you need to lay out all the vertices in one frame.
- The lines might appear to rotate as you move the Camera. This is intentional when Alignment is set to View. Set Alignment to Local to disable this.
- The Line Renderer should be the only Renderer on a GameObject.
- Unity samples colors from the Color Gradient at each vertex. Between each vertex, Unity applies linear interpolation to colors. Adding more vertices to your Line Renderer might give a closer approximation of a detailed Color Gradient.
Line Renderer example setup
2017–05–31 Page amended with editorial review
Some properties added in Unity 2017.1 NewIn20171
Shadow Bias property added to Line Renderer in Unity 2018.3 NewIn20183
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