Dynamic batching is a draw call batching method that batches moving GameObjectsThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary to reduce draw calls. Dynamic batchingAn automatic Unity process which attempts to render multiple meshes as if they were a single mesh for optimized graphics performance. The technique transforms all of the GameObject vertices on the CPU and groups many similar vertices together. More info
See in Glossary works differently between meshes and geometries that Unity generates dynamically at runtime, such as particle systemsA component that simulates fluid entities such as liquids, clouds and flames by generating and animating large numbers of small 2D images in the scene. More info
See in Glossary. For information about the internal differences between meshes and dynamic geometries, see Dynamic batching for meshes and Dynamic batching for dynamically generated geometries.
Note: Dynamic batching for meshes was designed to optimize performance on old low-end devices. On modern consumer hardware, the work dynamic batching does on the CPU can be greater than the overhead of a draw call. This negatively affects performance. For more information, see Dynamic batching for meshes.
This section includes information about the render pipelineA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info
See in Glossary compatibility of dynamic batching.
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | Universal Render Pipeline (URP) | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) | Custom Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic Batching | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Unity always uses dynamic batching for dynamic geometry such as Particle Systems
To use dynamic batching for meshes:
If your project uses URP, the Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP) batcher is enabled by default. To enable dynamic batching instead, go to the URP Asset and enable Dynamic Batching.
Unity automatically batches moving meshes into the same draw call if they fulfill the criteria described in the common usage information.
Dynamic batching for meshes works by transforming all vertices into world space on the CPU, rather than on the GPU. This means dynamic batching is only an optimization if the transformation work is less resource intensive than doing a draw call.
The resource requirements of a draw call depend on many factors, primarily the graphics API. For example, on consoles or modern APIs like Apple Metal, the draw call overhead is generally much lower, and often dynamic batching doesn’t produce a gain in performance. To determine whether it’s beneficial to use dynamic batching in your application, profile your application with and without dynamic batching.
Unity can use dynamic batching for shadows casters, even if their materials are different, as long as the material values Unity needs for the shadow pass are the same. For example, multiple crates can use materials that have different textures. Although the material assets are different, the difference is irrelevant for the shadow caster pass and Unity can batch shadows for the crate GameObjects in the shadow render step.
In the following scenarios, Unity either can’t use dynamic batching at all or can only apply dynamic batching to a limited extent:
The following renderers dynamically generate geometries, such as particles and lines, that you can optimize using dynamic batching:
Dynamic batching for dynamically generated geometries works differently than it does for meshes:
This approach is similar to how Unity submits draw calls for static batchingA technique Unity uses to draw GameObjects on the screen that combines static (non-moving) GameObjects into big Meshes, and renders them in a faster way. More info
See in Glossary.