Graphics compositor

AdvancedProgrammer

Note

This page requires a basic understanding of graphics pipelines.

The graphics compositor organizes how scenes are rendered. You can use it to customize almost every part of the rendering pipeline. For example, you can:

use one or multiple cameras
filter entities
render to one or more render textures, with different viewports
set HDR or LDR rendering
apply post effects to a render target, selected before or after rendering a camera
clear a render target or clear only the depth buffer (eg to always render on top of a render target in a FPS game, or render the UI)
modify the compositor from scripts (or any animation system), for example to modify post effects

Create a graphics compositor

Xenko includes a graphics compositor when you create a project.

If you need to create another graphics compositor, in the Asset View, click Add asset and select Misc > Graphics compositor.

You can choose one of two presets:

Level 10 (HDR with post effects)
Level 9 (LDR with no post effects)

Set the graphics compositor

You can have multiple graphics compositors in your project, but you can only use one compositor at a time. At runtime, Xenko uses the graphics compositor you specify in Game Settings.

You can also change the graphics compositor at runtime in a script.

Open the graphics compositor editor

You customize the graphics compositor in the graphics compositor editor.

Note

The graphics compositor editor is an experimental feature.

In the Asset View (in the bottom pane by default), double-click the Graphics Compositor asset.

The graphics compositor editor opens.

Nodes

The graphics compositor editor is divided into nodes. You can set the properties of each node in the Property Grid on the right.

Entry points

In the Entry Points node, you configure the pipeline for each entry point.

There are three entry points:

Game, to render your game
Editor, to render the Game Studio editor
Single view (referred to as Utility in the Property Grid), to render other things, such as light probes and cubemapsEach entry point can use a separate rendering pipeline. For example, the game and editor might share the same forward renderer and post-processing effects while your single view uses a separate forward renderer.

Connect an entry point to a renderer

Select the Entry point node.
In the Property Grid, next to the entry point you want to connect (Editor, Game or Utility), select the renderer you want to connect to.

For information about the different renderers, see Scene renderers.

Forward renderer

In a typical setup, the forward renderer renders almost everything in your scene. It renders, in order:

opaque objects
transparent objects
post effectsThe forward renderer is also where you set virtual reality options. You configure the forward renderer properties in the forward entry node.

Debug renderer

The debug renderer is used by scripts to print debug information. For more information, see Debug renderers.

Post-processing effects

The post-processing effects node comes after the forward renderer and controls the post effects in your game. For more information, see post-processing effects.