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Outline Techniques

Genesis offers three different outline systems, and each has a sweet spot. Picking the right one upfront saves rework: inverted-hull is per-material and cheap; screen-space-from-renderer is consistent but post-process; and the Screen-Space Outline module is the cinematic option that costs the most. This recipe walks through all three.

What you’ll build

The same character outlined three ways — an inverted-hull stroke, a screen-space depth-normal outline from the module, and the two combined — so you can pick the right system per asset.

Video

The same character shown with three outline systems in turn: an inverted-hull silhouette stroke, the screen-space depth-normal module catching inner creases, and both combined.

how-to/outline-techniques/result.mp4

The three outline techniques compared on one character.

Requirements

  • A character or prop mesh with consistent topology.
  • For screen-space techniques: the Screen-Space Outline module installed.

Inverted Hull

Per-material, vertex-pass outline. Expands the back-face along the normal and draws a stroke color.

Steps

  1. Effects → Outline → Enable.
  2. Width 1.5, Color black.
  3. Cull Mode → Front (required for the back-face pass).
  4. Optionally bake outline thickness into vertex color G.

Best for: characters, hero props, anywhere you need cheap per-material outlines. Limits: cannot outline screen-space cracks; topology-dependent.

Vertex color tricks

Paint vertex color G high on broad areas (1.0) and low on thin features (0.2) to keep outlines consistent.

material.SetFloat("_OutlineVertexColorMask", 1); // G channel
material.SetFloat("_OutlineWidth", 1.5f);

Screen-Space Outline (Module)

Renderer feature. Samples depth + normal in screen space and draws a stroke wherever they discontinue.

Steps

  1. Install the Screen-Space Outline module (see Modules).
  2. Add the feature to your renderer.
  3. Configure thickness, depth threshold, normal threshold.

Outline along silhouette only; inner creases sometimes missed.

Outline along every depth and normal discontinuity, including inner creases and props behind props.

Inverted hull
Screen-space module

Inverted hull versus the screen-space module. Drag to compare the edges each one catches.

Best for: stylized cinematic look, environments, full-scene consistency. Limits: one width for everything; cost scales with screen resolution.

Comparison

Inspector labelShader propertyTypeDefaultDescription
Inverted Hull_OUTLINE_ONPer-material—Vertex pass per mesh. Topology-dependent. Best for characters.
Screen-Space ModuleRenderer featureRenderer feature—Full-screen pass. Topology-independent. Best for environments.
CombinedBothBoth—Run both for thick character outline + thin world detail outline.

For most stylized games the answer is inverted hull on characters, screen-space module on environments. The two complement each other.

Inverted hull breaks on smooth-normal hard-edge meshes (cubes with shared normals). Split the smoothing groups or paint vertex color G to fix.

Variations

  • Colored outlines: tint outline by emission color for stylized HUD-like reads.
  • Distance falloff: animate _OutlineWidth to 0 over distance to avoid pixel-thin lines far away.
  • Highlight occluded enemies: combine _OutlineWidth with See-Through.
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