Quick Reference to Setup Universal Render Pipeline for Unity Projects

Medium Link: Quick Reference to Setup Universal Render Pipeline for Unity Projects
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Intro

Universal Render Pipeline (URP) is something that I would need to set up whenever I want to use shader graphs in my Unity projects. However, more often so than not, I will forget how to set up URP since it is typically set up only once. Hence, this story is simply a short step-by-step writeup on how to set up URP for Unity projects. Enjoy :)

PS: At the point of writing, I am using the Unity 2022.3 version.

Guide

Step 1: Install URP from the Unity Package Manager

images/install_package.png — Screenshot by Author

Open up the package manager (Top bar -> window -> package manager).
Select Packages: Unity Registry.
Search for Universal RP.
Click on Install.

Step 2: Create the Universal Render Pipeline Asset

images/create_urp.png — Screenshot by Author

URP Asset is an instance of the rendering pipeline that contains all the rendering and quality settings for the project. To create the asset,

Go to the Project window, and create a new folder (Eg. Renderer).
Right-click to create the URP asset (Create -> Rendering -> URP Asset). For 2D projects, I typically use URP Asset (with 2D Renderer), and for 3D projects, I use URP Asset (with Universal Renderer).

Step 3: Set URP as Active Render Pipeline

images/project_settings.png — Screenshot by Author

Open project settings (Top bar -> Edit -> Project Settings -> Graphics).
In the Scriptable Render Pipeline Settings field, select the URP Asset that you created in the previous step. Click on continue.

The graphics settings will be changed immediately.

Step 4: Set URP Asset for Quality Levels (Optional)

images/quality_settings.png — Screenshot by Author

Open project settings (Top bar -> Edit -> Project Settings -> Quality).
In the Render Pipeline Asset field, select the URP Asset that you created in the previous step. Click on continue.

Step 5: Fix the Incompatible Shader Issue

images/shader_issue.png — Screenshot by Author

After step 3, you will notice that your project is pink. This is probably due to incompatible shaders. Unity requires shaders that are specifically designed for URP and assets using incompatible shaders may appear pink (this “missing material” colour). You can try the following:

Step 5 (Option 1): Render Pipeline Converter

images/render_pipeline_converter.png — Screenshot by Author

Convert the Built-in Render pipeline to URP-compatible Unity shaders.

Open Render Pipeline Converter (Top bar -> Window-> Rendering -> Render Pipeline Converter).
Check Rendering Settings and Material Upgrade.
Click on Initialize Converters.
Click on Initialize And Convert.

Step 5 (Option 2): Use the Upgrade Material Script

images/update_material.png — Screenshot by Author

Select your materials and run the script (Top bar -> Edit -> Rendering -> Materials -> Convert Selected Built-in Materials to URP).

Step 5 (Option 3): Manually Update Material’s Shader

images/update_material_manual.png — Screenshot by Author

Select your “Pink” object and assign an appropriate shader to the material. In the example above, Instead of Default Material, we should use Lit Material.

References

Most of the content stated above can be found in the following tutorials:

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