Unity Manual

Welcome to Unity.

Unity is made to empower users to create the best interactive entertainment or multimedia experience that they can. This manual is designed to help you learn how to use Unity, from basic to advanced techniques. It can be read from start to finish or used as a reference.

The manual is divided into three sections. The first section, User Guide, is an introduction to Unity's interface, asset workflow, and the basics of building a game. If you are new to Unity, it is recommended that you start learning by reading the Unity Basics subsection.

The second section, FAQ, is a collection of frequently asked questions about performing common tasks that require a few steps.

The third section, Advanced, addresses topics such as game optimization, shaders, file sizes, and deployment.

When you're done reading, be sure to take a look at the Reference Manual and the Scripting Reference for further help while constructing your games.

If you find that any question you have is not answered in this manual please ask in the forum. You'll definitely find your answer there.

Happy reading,
The Unity team

Table of Contents

• User Guide
  • Unity Basics
    • Learning the Interface
    • Asset Workflow
    • Creating Scenes
    • Publishing Builds
    • Tutorials
  • Building Scenes
    • GameObjects
    • Using Components
    • Prefabs
    • Lights
    • Cameras
    • Particle Systems
    • Terrain Engine Guide
  • Working with Assets
    • Importing Assets
    • Meshes
    • Materials and Shaders
    • Texture 2D
    • Movie Texture
    • Audio Files
    • Using Scripts
    • Asset Server Guide
    • Behind the Scenes
  • Creating Gameplay
    • Instantiating Prefabs at runtime
    • Input
    • Transforms
    • Physics
    • Character Animation
    • Sound
    • Game Interface Elements
    • Networked Multiplayer
• FAQ
  • Game Code Questions
    • How to make a simple first person walkthrough
  • Graphics Questions
    • How Do I Import Alpha Textures?
    • How Do I Use Bump Maps?
    • How do I use Detail Textures?
    • How Do I Make a Cubemap Texture?
    • How do I Make a Skybox?
    • How Do I make a Mesh Particle Emitter?
    • How do I make a Splash Screen?
    • How do I make a Spot Light Cookie?
    • How do I fix the rotation of an imported model?
    • How do I use Water?
  • How do I import objects from my 3D app?
    • Importing Objects From Maya
    • Importing Objects From Cinema 4D
    • Importing Objects From 3D Studio Max
    • Importing Objects From Cheetah3D
    • Importing Objects From Modo
    • Importing Objects From Lightwave
    • Importing Objects From Blender
  • Workflow Questions
    • How do I reuse assets between projects?
    • How do I install or upgrade Standard Assets?
• Advanced
  • Loading Resources at Runtime
  • Modifying Source Assets Through Scripting
  • Update Order
  • Shadows in Unity
    • Directional Shadow Details
    • Troubleshooting Shadows
    • Shadow Size Computation
  • Optimizing Graphics Performance
    • Modeling Optimized Characters
    • Optimizing for integrated graphics cards
    • Rendering Statistics Window
  • Reducing File Size
  • Web Player Streaming
  • Web Player Deployment
    • HTML code to load Unity content
    • Customizing the Unity Web Player loading screen
    • Customizing the Unity Web Player's Behavior
    • Unity Web Player and browser communication
    • Detecting the Unity Web Player using browser scripting
    • Publishing active content
  • Web Player Debugging
  • Plugins - Pro only feature
  • Build Player Pipeline
  • Command line arguments
  • Shaders
    • Shaders: Getting started
    • Shaders: Vertex and Fragment Programs
  • Graphics Emulation
  • Network Emulation