LineRenderer
Inherits from: Renderer
Have you ever wanted to draw lines in your Unity game? Maybe you're creating a laser beam, a route, or even a spider's web. If so, the LineRenderer class is just the tool you need! The LineRenderer class in Unity enables developers to draw a series of connected segments in your scene directly from your scripts.
LineRenderer is immensely versatile and can be used for almost anything that requires a dynamic line. You can customize the line's appearance using various properties like width, color, and texture. In addition, you can precisely control the line's shape by defining the points that the LineRenderer passes through.
Want to create a glowing neon trail in a dark room? Or the trajectory of a projectile? The LineRenderer has got you covered. Learn more by visiting Unity's LineRenderer Documentation.
Properties
The 'startWidth' property controls the width at the start of the line. Changing this value will make the beginning of the line wider or narrower. Check out Unity's LineRenderer.startWidth Documentation.
The 'endWidth' property works similar to 'startWidth', but it controls the width at the end of the line, effectively determining the tapering of the line. More details at Unity's LineRenderer.endWidth Documentation.
The 'widthMultiplier' property multiplies the width of the line by a certain factor, effectively scaling the whole line's width. Visit Unity's LineRenderer.widthMultiplier Documentation.
The 'numCornerVertices' property influences how many vertices are created when the line bends at a corner. It comes in handy when designing smoother or sharper corners. More information can be found in Unity's LineRenderer.numCornerVertices Documentation.
The 'numCapVertices' property dictates how many vertices are used to form the end cap of the line, controlling how rounded the end of a line appears. Check the Unity's LineRenderer.numCapVertices Documentation.
The 'useWorldSpace' property allows the line to move along with the GameObject if set to false, else the line will be drawn in the global space. Visit Unity's LineRenderer.useWorldSpace Documentation.
The 'loop' property, when set to true, connects the start and end of the line, forming a continuous loop. Check Unity's LineRenderer.loop Documentation for more details.
The 'startColor' property defines the color at the start of the line. You can achieve cool gradient effects by having different start and end colors. See Unity's LineRenderer.startColor Documentation.
The 'endColor' property modifies the color at the end of the line. Like 'startColor', this can help to create colorful gradients on your line. Check Unity's LineRenderer.endColor Documentation.
The 'positionCount' property is used to indicate how many vertices the line has, effectively defining the line's complexity. More in Unity's LineRenderer.positionCount Documentation.
The 'textureScale' property affects how often a texture is repeated along the line. Check Unity's LineRenderer.textureScale Documentation for more details.
The 'shadowBias' helps in eliminating undesired lines by tweaking the rendering of shadows. More details are available in Unity's LineRenderer.shadowBias Documentation.
The 'generateLightingData' property decides whether or not to generate lighting data for the line. Check the Unity's LineRenderer.generateLightingData Documentation for more insights.
With 'widthCurve', you can apply a complex pattern to the variation of width along the line. It essentially provides you a powerful tool to craft the line's width to your desire. You can find more details in Unity's LineRenderer.widthCurve Documentation.
Methods
The 'SetPosition' method allows you to manually set the position of any point along the line. This is important for defining the line's shape. More information can be found on Unity's LineRenderer.SetPosition Documentation.
Parameters
index
number
The index of the position to be modified.
position
Vector3The new position for the specified point along the line.
Returns
void
The 'GetPosition' method retrieves the position of a particular point along the line, helping in understanding and debugging the line's shape. Visit Unity's LineRenderer.GetPosition Documentation for further insight.
Parameters
index
number
The index of the position to retrieve.
Returns
Returns the current position of the specified point on the line.
The 'Simplify' method simplifies the shape of the line using the Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm, reducing the number of vertices on the line. This can help to decrease rendering cost. See Unity's LineRenderer.Simplify Documentation for more information.
Parameters
tolerance
number
The maximum allowed error when simplifying the line.
Returns
void
The 'BakeMesh' method allows you to create a static Mesh from the line. This could be extremely useful for saving the state of a line, or for use in other Mesh-based systems. More details can be found on Unity's LineRenderer.BakeMesh Documentation.
Parameters
mesh
MeshuseTransform
boolean
Returns
void
Updated 2 months ago
