Setting up post-processing in VRC

Note: 1's VRWorld Toolkit can set up post-processing for you! I recommend using it to install it and set it up in your scenes, because it handles the basic process for you!

Okay, having it installed is great, but how do you use it? Well, the setup is a bit involved. It has:

• A Post Processing Layer, which goes on the camera and receives post processing. When you add this to your camera, it sets the camera as the Layer Trigger, which interacts with...

• A Post Processing Volume, which goes in the map and presents post processing. When a Layer Trigger is inside a volume, it will gain that volume's assigned post processing. You can have several volumes in your map with different colour grading settings, or even create adjustable graphical options by animating or toggling objects!

A volume with a collider/trigger component will affect anything inside it. You can set the width of the transition from not applied to applied here, too.

A volume set to Global will cover the entire map. This means you can modify post processing from triggers and animations through volumes!

The volume intensity slider can be animated. This means you can have post processing tied to triggers that animate the intensity of a volume.

And how do you set this up? First, let's cover adding a global scene profile.

1. Add a Post Processing Layer to your Main Camera. The Layer is what receives the post processing. Note that the Trigger is automatically set to your camera. This means the Camera position is what controls what the post-process layer uses up.

   
   
   

   Make sure this camera is set as the Reference Camera in the VRC_Scene Descriptor.
   
   

   
   
   

    

   Also, you will need to decide on a Layer - as in, a regular Unity Layer - for your Post Processing Layer to process. This is important, because without a Layer set it won't see your Post Processing Volumes. All your Volumes will need to be assigned this Layer in Unity. Because the post processing system will be scanning all objects on this layer, I recommend something that doesn't have many other objects on it - here, we'll use Water.
   
   

   Note: Set Anti-aliasing to "No Anti-aliasing". Don't change it. Using anything else can cause brain-searing double vision in VR in the worst case, and glitchy flashing transparency in the best case. VRC already enables anti-aliasing.
   
   

2. Create a new GameObject in your scene, and add a Post Processing Volume component to it. Tick the box for Is Global.

   Note: You can't have a volume and layer on the same object. Make sure this object isn't a child of your camera, or you'll run into issues.
   
   

3. I've made a sample profile to make things easier. You can download it here! (Right-click and Save As...) Drop it in your Assets folder, and then drag and drop it into your Post Processing Volume.
   
   

4. We're done! You should see a noticeable difference in your scene now.

Creating a Post Processing Volume

Next, let's cover adding a custom effect.

1. Create a new GameObject in your scene and add a collider to it, like a Box Collider. Tick "Is Trigger" on the collider.

2. Add a Post Processing Volume component to the object with the collider, and click the New button next to Profile.

3. When you click New, a new profile will be created next to your map, with the name Default Post Profile. Unlike Stack v1, you must add specific effects before you can use them. This allows for the Volume blending to work.

   

   

    

4. Click Add effect... and add some effects! To start, I recommend adding Color Grading.

   You can use the On/Off button in the top right corner to toggle the individual effects. When activated, you'll also need to activate the specific overrides for each sections' options. For a base profile, you can click All at the top, which toggles all options to be effective.

5. At this point, everything will still look the same. Play around with the settings, and you might notice nothing happens. But if you move the Main Camera inside the collider, you'll see them take effect! You should be able to tweak the post processing effects as you desire, and add more. Volumes tied to collider shapes that will only affect the player inside their area. For example...

   

   

    

   This depicts a volume that, while inside, everything will go a deep and crazy red. Not for the faint of heart, or sound of mind!

   But what settings should you use? Keep reading...