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Visual Graph with OpenGLES 3 [Android]

Discussion in 'Visual Effect Graph' started by Cec, Apr 2, 2020.

  1. Cec

    Cec

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2014
    Posts:
    92
    As raised in this thread, I've encountered an issue with VFX Graph as I was trying to use it in ARFoundation.

    It seems that when not using Vulkan as renderer, the Visual Effects graph are not visible (Android at least). That's a huge drawback for ARFoundation since Vulkan is not (yet) supported with it. So no way to use Visual Graph with ARFoundation (with URP at least, I've haven't tested with HDRP).
    Tested on 2020.1.0b3.3385 + URP 8.0.1 + Visual Effect Graph 8.0.1

    I've filled a bug report here for those interested in the issue.

    I tried to build with "Require ES3.1" : not working
    with "Require ES3.1+AEP" : not working
    with "Require ES3.2" : not working either.
    In my test project, I have just a camera with a couple of VFX Graph in front of it. No Post processing, no ArFoundation, no extra packages...
    I stress that the couple of VFX Graph are prefabs taken from the Visual Effect Graph package samples without any transformation.
    So, from what I can see: VFX Graph is not working with OpenGLES 3 whatever the conditions.

    Maybe I've missed something. If someone could test as I did to confirm the issue...
    Thanks.
     
    Cec, Apr 2, 2020
    #1

  2. Cec

    Cec

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2014
    Posts:
    92
    Ok.
    Thanks to @aleksandrk who found the reason of the issue in this thread.
    It seems that every single Samsung Galaxy users are unable to use Visual Graph on OpenGLES 3 (so with ARFoundation actually) because of its Mali GPU which have only read-only support for ComputeBuffers in stages other than compute and fragment.
    Too bad for Samsung Galaxy users ! Very disapointing...

    EDIT : According to Wikipedia, only US Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners can see Visual Effect Graph on OpenGLES 3 (Adreno GPU chip instead of Mali)...
    So for US developers : Carefull not to use Visual Effect Graph with ARFoundation because, the rest of the world Samsung Galaxy users won't be able to see your work.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2020
    Cec, Apr 3, 2020
    #2

  3. PaulDemeulenaere

    PaulDemeulenaere

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2016
    Posts:
    136
    Hello !
    Thanks for you reporting this issue.

    I agree with you, these different processor behind the same brand name are really confusing for users, North America and Asia are shipped with Adreno while the rest of the world are Mali.

    It's actually the lack of Shader Storage Buffer Object at vertex stage on Mali which is problematic for Visual Effect Graph runtime shaders.

    You can eventually check this compatibility programmatically.
     
    PaulDemeulenaere, Apr 4, 2020
    #3

  4. Cec

    Cec

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2014
    Posts:
    92
    Merci beaucoup.
     
    Cec, Apr 4, 2020
    #4

  5. Cec

    Cec

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2014
    Posts:
    92
    Yes, you're right but that imply to double the work for that part (and double the risk of failure or bug), just to compensate the lack of some GPU devices.
    Unfortunately, that kind of cost/risk is not an option especially since Visual Graph is a young feature. And time has taught me Unity can develop features that are at best changing constantly (which is a nightmare to maintain), or at worst simply dropped. (I refer you to a previous post from me about this issue)
    We will have to level down and not use Visual Graph, which have such incompatibilities (added to the limited compatibility of ArCore actually on the device market). Wait and see...maybe in the future.
     
    Cec, Apr 4, 2020
    #5

  6. JulienF_Unity

    JulienF_Unity

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Posts:
    310
    VFX Graph is not considered out of preview with OpenGLES 3 at the moment. The tool is out of preview on the same range of devices as HDRP at the moment and considered production ready only when used alongside with this render pipeline.

    Supporting the whole range of devices Unity support and being out of preview with URP is something that will be added in the future.
     
    JulienF_Unity, Apr 5, 2020
    #6

  7. Cec

    Cec

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2014
    Posts:
    92
    Yep.
    Another reason not to use it... yet.
     
    Cec, Apr 5, 2020
    #7
    xiangshushu and jaimelugo like this.

  8. jaimelugo

    jaimelugo

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2019
    Posts:
    27
    Thanks for posting any updates or workarounds!
     
    jaimelugo, Jun 22, 2020
    #8

  9. calc1fer

    calc1fer

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2019
    Posts:
    62
    any update with OpenGL ES 3.0+ with VFX Graph?
     
    calc1fer, Oct 28, 2021
    #9

  10. Ellukitas_123

    Ellukitas_123

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2021
    Posts:
    21
    I think that no
     
    Ellukitas_123, Nov 16, 2021
    #10