How to Use Post Processing in Unity

When you take a picture and edit it on your phone or computer, then depending on the software you could add things vignetting or colour overlays etc. This is commonly known as post-processing and in Unity, you can add effects like that.

In today’s article, we’ll be covering how to install the post-processing stack and use it in your project.

Installing the Post Processing Stack

With your project open in Unity go to Window then click on Package Manager. Next, you can search for “Post Processing” in the search bar. That will lead you to the package and then you can click the “Install” button. Once it’s installed then you can click the close button.

In your Hierarchy, you can create an empty game object and call it “PostProcessVolume”. On the object add the “Post Process Volume” component. Next, click on the “Main Camera” object and add the “Post Process Layer”. All that’s left to do is under the “Layer” Dropdown, create a new layer, and call it “PostProcessing” and assign it to the Camera and Post Process Volume. Back on the Post Process Volume next to the “Profile” box click the “New” button.

Adding Effects

At this point, all of the prerequisites for the Post Processing Stack has been set up and we’re ready to add some effects. In my scene, I added some Bloom with a red tint which looks really amazing with the red colours and explosions, and I added some light Color Grading with a pinkish tint. With enough time and patience, you can add amazing effects to your games with Post Processing.

Wrapping Up

See how in just a few steps you’re well on your way to adding a myriad of post-processing effects to your project. If you wish to extend the functionality you can even reference the post-processing in code to create interesting effects when interacting with the world and other objects.