Wireframe

Wireframe draws an anti-aliased outline along each triangle edge using barycentric coordinates derived in the fragment stage. It needs no geometry shader, runs on every URP-supported platform, and pairs with Emission for glowing sci-fi grid materials.

Video

A low-poly mesh rotating with a glowing cyan emissive wireframe over every triangle edge and a dark semi-transparent fill, the edges blooming through a sci-fi grid look.

features/wireframe/wireframe-grid.mp4

An emissive barycentric wireframe over a rotating low-poly mesh.

When to use it

Debug visualization — verify mesh topology in-engine.
Sci-fi grid materials — holographic ships and virtual-world props.
Construction previews in strategy games.
Stylized low-poly art — accentuate triangle edges.

Difference from Outline

Outline strokes the silhouette of the mesh. Wireframe strokes every triangle edge. Outlines hide topology; wireframes reveal it. They can stack — outline outside, wireframe inside.

How it works

Genesis writes a barycentric attribute per triangle vertex, then in the fragment stage computes the minimum barycentric and applies an anti-aliased smoothstep based on screen-space derivatives via fwidth(). No geometry shader and no mesh modification are needed.

A plain low-poly mesh with no triangle edges visible.

Every triangle edge glows cyan; the inside fades to a semi-transparent fill.

Off

Wireframe · cyan emission

A low-poly mesh with and without the wireframe overlay. Drag to compare.

Properties

Inspector label	Shader property	Type	Default	Description
Wire Color	_WireframeColor	Color (HDR)	RGB(0.3, 0.9, 1.0)	Wire tint. HDR for bloom.
Wire Width	_WireframeWidth	Float (0.5–8)	1.5	Edge thickness in screen pixels.
Smoothness	_WireframeSmoothness	Float (0–4)	1.0	Anti-aliasing softness around the edge.
Fill Color	_WireframeFillColor	Color	RGBA(0,0,0,0.2)	Inside-triangle tint and alpha.
Fill From Albedo	_WireframeFillFromAlbedo	Toggle	Off	Use the surface albedo as the fill.
Emissive	_WireframeEmissive	Float (0–8)	1.0	Multiplier on the wire; HDR for bloom.

Usage

Enable Wireframe; the barycentric attribute is generated automatically.
Set Wire Width in screen pixels (1.5 reads crisp, 3+ reads chunky).
Pick wire and fill colors independently — for sci-fi, a cyan wire over a dark fill.
For a debug overlay, enable Fill From Albedo to keep the surface readable beneath the wires.


material.SetColor("_WireframeColor", new Color(0.3f, 1.0f, 1.0f) * 3.0f);
material.SetFloat("_WireframeWidth", 1.5f);
material.SetFloat("_WireframeEmissive", 1.0f);

Tips & gotchas

It requires fwidth() derivatives — supported on every URP GPU, but verify on very old Android (PowerVR SGX) if you target it.
Triangle count matters: a 100k-tri mesh becomes mostly wire at any reasonable width, so use proxy meshes for huge wireframes.
Static batching merges meshes and can confuse barycentrics. Disable static batching on wireframe materials or use a unique submesh.
Pairs with Emission and Bloom — HDR wire tints sell the sci-fi grid look.

Emission — feeds bloom for glowing wires.
Outline — silhouette stroke alongside wireframe.
Hologram — wireframe plus holo gives the full sci-fi look.
Rendering Modes — pair with Unlit for pure-grid materials.