Choose a lens flare type in URP

Understand the differences between lens flares and screen space lens flares.

Read time 2 minutes

Last updated a month ago

You can add the following types of lens flares:

Lens flares - use a Lens Flare (SRP) component to create lens flares for lights that have specific locations in your scene, for example the sun or bright bulbs.
Screen space lens flares - use a Screen Space Lens Flare override to create lens flares for emissive surfaces, bright spots, and onscreen lights.

You can use both types in the same scene.

Use the following table to help you choose a lens flare type:

Feature	Lens Flare (SRP) component	Screen Space Lens Flare override
Typical uses	Lens flares from the sun and specific lights, custom flare shapes, and cinematics	Lens flares on vehicles and water, first-person games, and science-fiction environments
Supported platforms	All platforms	All platforms
CPU and GPU use	CPU and GPU	GPU
Types of light	All Light objects, except Area Lights	All bright spots and visible lights
Placement	Attach to individual lights. Place lens flares manually	Generate inside a volume. Place all lens flares automatically with a single setting
Lens flares from offscreen lights	Yes	No
Light streaks	No, unless you create them manually	Yes
Configure flares	Configure per lens flare or per element	Configure for all lens flares together
Configure flare elements	Configure many settings for each element, per lens flare	Configure several settings for elements, for all lens flares together
Configure attenuation	Yes	No
Affected by the environment	Yes	Yes
Preserve aspect ratio	Yes	No
Chromatic aberration	No	Yes
Blend modes	Additive, Lerp, Premultiplied and Screen	Additive only
Occlusion	Screen space occlusion, and geometric occlusion for offscreen lights. Configurable. Occlusion might not always work at the edge of the screen.	Screen space occlusion, generated from the color buffer. Not configurable
Examples in package samples	Yes	No

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