Overview

Flora is a powerful instancing solution designed to enhance the rendering of vast environments. This documentation will guide you through the requirements, setup, features, and usage of Flora.

Requirements

Ensure your system and Unity version meet the Requirements before installing Flora.

Getting Started

To start using Flora, follow these steps:

1. Import Flora Package: Import Flora from the Unity Asset Store into your project.

2. Run the Install Wizard: Use the install wizard for easy installation or updates. Access it from Flora -> Install Wizard in the top menu.

For detailed instructions, refer to the Getting Started page.

Additional Resources

• Discord

• Unity Support Forum

• Roadmap

Features

Flora offers a range of features to help with your Unity projects:

• Terrain Support: Efficiently render Unity's terrain details and trees.

• Instance Painting: Paint and manage instances on any mesh surface.

• Performance Enhancements: Includes dual-phase culling and GPU optimizations.

• Modern Indirect Rendering: Supports DX11, DX12, Vulkan, and Metal.

Rendering

Flora's rendering system is designed for efficiency and performance. Key aspects include:

• LOD Support: Supports up to 8 LOD levels with cross-fading transitions.

• Batching: Optimizes instance rendering by sorting and batching based on render state.

• GPU Streaming: Dynamically manages GPU memory, loading and unloading containers based on camera distance.

• GPU Occlusion: Uses a Hierarchical-Z implementation for efficient culling.

For more details, see the Rendering and Occlusion pages.

Shaders and Materials

Flora integrates seamlessly with Shader Graph and supports easy shader patching:

• Shader Graph Integration: Automatic patching for Shader Graph with the Built-in renderer.

• Flora Shader: Non-destructive importing and automatic synchronization with original shaders.

For comprehensive instructions, refer to the Shaders and Materials page.

Tools

Flora provides tools to populate scenes with detailed vegetation and objects:

1. Instance Context: Use the toolbar to enable the instance context.

2. Painting: Utilize painting tools for precise instance placement.

More details are available on the Tools page.

Components

Flora includes several components, each with its own documentation page. Here’s a brief overview:

• Instanced Mesh Container: Manages instances of a mesh prefab.

• Instanced Object Link: Links GameObjects to instances in an InstancedMeshContainer.

• Instanced Prototype: Configures settings for how instances of a model prefab are rendered.

• Instanced Terrain Foliage: Dynamically loads and unloads terrain instances based on camera distance.

• Instancing Camera Settings: Customizes instance rendering settings for specific cameras.

• Instancing Scene Settings: Manages global settings for rendering and culling instances.

Visit each component's page for more details on its usage and configuration.