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Is VFX graph always better than the particle system ?

Discussion in 'Visual Effect Graph' started by VincentAbert, Nov 12, 2020.

  1. VincentAbert

    VincentAbert

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    Hello everyone !
    I'm working a bit on some VFX, and when building basic particle effects, I'm wondering whether I should always go for VFX graph (provided there is no need for collision) no matter how few the particles, or if there's a cost to it that makes it bad for simpler systems...
    Cheers !
     
    VincentAbert, Nov 12, 2020
    #1

  2. VladVNeykov

    VladVNeykov

    Unity Technologies

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    Hi @VincentAbert ,

    Currently the built-in Particle System has less of an overhead when instantiated multiple times, so if you want to have many instances of small effects, it might be the better option at the moment.

    That being said, you can also use the VFX Graph as a master effect orchestrating all the smaller effects, meaning you can have one large VFX Graph effect and via script sent events to trigger particles of that effect at the desired position with any optional parameters (different color, velocity, etc.)

    An example of this is explained with the optimization of the shooting system in the FPS Sample project documented in this blog.

    Hope this helps!
     
    VladVNeykov, Nov 12, 2020
    #2
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  3. dgoyette

    dgoyette

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    I looked into this some months ago, to decide whether it made sense to keep my existing shuriken particle systems for lower end hardware:

    https://forum.unity.com/threads/sho...icles-for-lower-end-gpu-bound-systems.892072/
    .
    The main result was that Shuriken can definitely outperform VFX graphs in cases where the player doesn't have a good GPU. I ended up implementing a toggle in my game to allow players to switch between using VFX or Shuriken for particles. That's a fair bit of extra work, but I found that having some simple shuriken systems for low-end hardware performed better than using VFX graph in those cases.
     
    dgoyette, Nov 20, 2020
    #3
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  4. RamType0

    RamType0

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    RamType0, Dec 3, 2020
    #4
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  5. Korindian

    Korindian

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    When you say "at the moment", do you mean that there will be less of an overhead for VFX Graphs in the near future possibly? Thanks.
     
    Korindian, Dec 15, 2020
    #5
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  6. JulienF_Unity

    JulienF_Unity

    Unity Technologies

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    Yes we plan on optimizing CPU usage and scalability with lots of VFX components by adding "VFX instancing" in 2021
     
    JulienF_Unity, Dec 15, 2020
    #6
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  7. BobFlame

    BobFlame

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    What about persistant effect, such as missile/thruster flame, which need to be synced transform in local space. Does vfx have a better (or worse) performance of maintaining/interating (not only instantiate) through many small effects?
     
    BobFlame, May 19, 2021
    #7

  8. Shizola

    Shizola

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    Is there any progress on VFX instancing?
     
    Shizola, Oct 25, 2021
    #8

  9. JulienF_Unity

    JulienF_Unity

    Unity Technologies

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    VFX instancing is currently being actively developped. However target version is 2022 not 2021 as I stated in my previous message
     
    JulienF_Unity, Oct 27, 2021
    #9
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  10. Justin-Wasilenko

    Justin-Wasilenko

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    Hi @JulienF_Unity Can we expect VFX Instancing to support mobile android devices like Oculus Quest 2, or will it be limited to high end graphics?
    To that end, is Particle System the system of choice to use when developing for Quest 2 or should we be looking into switching over to VFX graph for future projects?
     
    Justin-Wasilenko, Nov 4, 2021
    #10
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  11. Innovine

    Innovine

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    Bump. What is the status of the quest 2 support`?
     
    Innovine, Feb 1, 2023
    #11
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