unity-particles-vfx

name	unity-particles-vfx
description	Unity Particles and VFX

Unity Particles and VFX

Use this skill when creating particle effects, configuring the Shuriken Particle System, building VFX Graph effects, or optimizing visual effects performance.

Particle System (Shuriken) Overview

Unity's CPU-based particle system. Each ParticleSystem component has a set of modules that control emission, movement, appearance, and lifetime.

Module Overview

Module	Purpose	Key Properties
Main	Lifetime, speed, size, gravity, simulation space	Duration, Start Lifetime, Start Speed, Start Size, Gravity Modifier
Emission	How many particles spawn	Rate Over Time, Rate Over Distance, Bursts
Shape	Where particles spawn from	Shape type, radius, angle, emit from
Velocity Over Lifetime	Modify velocity after spawn	Linear/Orbital/Radial velocity curves
Limit Velocity Over Lifetime	Cap speed, apply drag	Speed, Dampen
Inherit Velocity	Inherit emitter movement	Mode (Initial/Current), Multiplier
Force Over Lifetime	Apply forces (wind, gravity)	XYZ force curves
Color Over Lifetime	Fade in/out, color shift	Gradient
Size Over Lifetime	Grow/shrink	Curve
Rotation Over Lifetime	Spin particles	Angular velocity
Noise	Turbulence, organic motion	Strength, Frequency, Scroll Speed
Collision	Bounce off surfaces	World/Planes, Bounce, Lifetime Loss
Trigger	Detect entry/exit from colliders	Inside/Outside/Enter/Exit callbacks
Sub-Emitters	Spawn child particles	On Birth/Death/Collision/Trigger
Texture Sheet Animation	Flipbook animation	Grid mode, rows, columns, frame curve
Renderer	How particles look	Billboard, Stretched, Mesh, Trail, Material

Shape Module

Controls where particles originate:

Shape	Emit From	Use Case
Sphere	Volume / Surface / Edge	Explosions, magic orbs
Hemisphere	Half sphere	Ground bursts
Cone	Base / Volume / Shell	Torch fire, spotlight dust
Box	Volume / Surface / Edge	Snow, rain (wide area)
Mesh	Vertices / Edges / Triangles	Emitting from a character mesh
Circle	Edge / Ring	Ground ring effects
Edge	Along a line	Waterfall edge
Sprite	Sprite shape	2D effects

// Fire torch shape:
Shape: Cone
  Angle: 15
  Radius: 0.3
  Emit from: Base
  Randomize Direction: 0.1

Emission Module

Rate Modes

Rate Over Time: 50         // 50 particles per second (continuous)
Rate Over Distance: 10     // 10 particles per unit moved (tire marks, footprints)

Bursts

Emit a batch at a specific time:

Bursts:
  Time: 0.0,  Count: 30,  Cycles: 1,  Interval: 0,  Probability: 1.0
  Time: 0.5,  Count: 15,  Cycles: 3,  Interval: 0.2, Probability: 0.8

Texture Sheet Animation

Animate particles using a sprite sheet:

Texture Sheet Animation:
  Mode: Grid
  Tiles: 4 x 4              // 16 frames
  Animation: Whole Sheet
  Frame Over Time: Curve (0 to 1 over lifetime)
  Start Frame: Random Between 0 and 3   // Variety
  Cycles: 1

Useful for: cartoon smoke puffs, explosions, fire, stylized effects.

VFX Graph vs Particle System

Criteria	Particle System (Shuriken)	VFX Graph
Execution	CPU	GPU (compute shaders)
Particle Count	Thousands	Millions
Render Pipeline	Built-in, URP, HDRP	URP, HDRP only
Authoring	Inspector modules	Node graph
Collision	Built-in world collision	Simplified (planes, spheres)
SubEmitters	Full support	Event-based (different model)
Physics Interaction	OnParticleCollision messages	No direct physics callbacks
Script Control	Extensive API	Exposed properties + events

Use Particle System when: You need CPU-side collision callbacks, script-driven emission, small-to-medium particle counts, or Built-in Render Pipeline support.

Use VFX Graph when: You need massive particle counts (100K+), GPU-driven simulation, complex behaviors via visual programming, or HDRP integration.

Topic Pages

• Sub-Emitters
• Renderer Module
• Common Effect Recipes