Performance Optimization

Optimizing Graphics Performance

Optimizing Graphics Performance

Why is graphics performance low?

Optimizing Graphics Performance

Why is graphics performance low? Fillrate? (screen pixels * overdraw)

Optimizing Graphics Performance

Why is graphics performance low? Fillrate? (screen pixels * overdraw) Shader computations?

Optimizing Graphics Performance

Why is graphics performance low? Fillrate? (screen pixels * overdraw) Shader computations? Vertex count? (Intel GMA950)

Optimizing Graphics Performance

Why is graphics performance low? Fillrate? (screen pixels * overdraw) Shader computations? Vertex count? (Intel GMA950) Draw calls?

Draw calls

Draw calls
Lots of objects tax the CPU. On the other
hand lots of Triangles tax the GPU.

Draw calls
Lots of objects tax the CPU. On the other
hand lots of Triangles tax the GPU.

You still need the CPU for game code

Draw calls
Lots of objects tax the CPU. On the other
hand lots of Triangles tax the GPU.

You still need the CPU for game code On a modern machine you can use around
500 draw calls per frame

Draw calls
Lots of objects tax the CPU. On the other
hand lots of Triangles tax the GPU.

You still need the CPU for game code On a modern machine you can use around
500 draw calls per frame

Each pixel light renders a mesh one more

time. Dont use too many pixel lights!

Combining

Combining
Lots of objects in the scene - bad.

Combining
Lots of objects in the scene - bad. Spatially close objects combined - good.

Combining
Lots of objects in the scene - bad. Spatially close objects combined - good. Overcombined objects - bad again.

No Combining

No Combining
Lots of objects

No Combining
Lots of objects High draw count

No Combining
Lots of objects High draw count Bad on CPU and GPU

Good Combining

Good Combining
Combined objects are close to each other
and use the same material.

Good Combining
Combined objects are close to each other
and use the same material.

E.g. combine inside rooms of the house.

Good Combining
Combined objects are close to each other
and use the same material.

E.g. combine inside rooms of the house. Often requires using texture sheets!

Good Combining
Combined objects are close to each other
and use the same material.

E.g. combine inside rooms of the house. Often requires using texture sheets! Rule of thumb: object size and point/spot
light size about the same.

Bad Combining

Bad Combining
Never combine objects that are far apart!

Bad Combining
Never combine objects that are far apart! If light shines only on part of object, whole
object needs to be drawn.

Bad Combining
Never combine objects that are far apart! If light shines only on part of object, whole
object needs to be drawn.

If camera sees only a tiny corner of object,

whole object needs to be drawn.

Combining Demo

Combining Demo
How much do I actually gain?

Combining Demo
How much do I actually gain? Can your game afford not combining? Can
you afford a factor 30x in the worst case?

Combining Demo
How much do I actually gain? Can your game afford not combining? Can
you afford a factor 30x in the worst case?

Geometry matches lighting

Lights are for?

Lights are for?

Dynamic lights!

Lights are for?

Dynamic lights! Lightmapping to the rescue

Lights are for?

Dynamic lights! Lightmapping to the rescue Combine the two. Lightmap your scene to
get rid of all static lights. Its faster and looks better!

Lights are for?

Dynamic lights! Lightmapping to the rescue Combine the two. Lightmap your scene to
get rid of all static lights. Its faster and looks better! dynamic shadows

When to use lights? Rockets, torches and

Lights are for?

Dynamic lights! Lightmapping to the rescue Combine the two. Lightmap your scene to
get rid of all static lights. Its faster and looks better! dynamic shadows

When to use lights? Rockets, torches and Culling masks!

How to lightmap?

How to lightmap?
Lightmapping is done in Maya or other
rendering Tools.

How to lightmap?
Lightmapping is done in Maya or other
rendering Tools.

Easily imported into Unity, simply switch to

any lightmapped shader

How to lightmap?
Lightmapping is done in Maya or other
rendering Tools.

Easily imported into Unity, simply switch to

any lightmapped shader

Ask Ethan, our Maya expert! Hell happily

get you up to speed with Lightmapping in Maya. Use the sign up sheet!

Avert Fate Demo

Optimizing Script code

Be aware of expensive functions

Be aware of expensive functions

A lot of Utility functions may be slow.

Be aware of expensive functions

A lot of Utility functions may be slow. So while useful and sometimes necessary.
avoid it.

Raycasting

Raycasting
Raycasting against Meshes is slow. Dont do
a lot of raycasts each frame

Raycasting
Raycasting against Meshes is slow. Dont do
a lot of raycasts each frame

Use culling mask to early out raycasting

Raycasting
Raycasting against Meshes is slow. Dont do
a lot of raycasts each frame

Use culling mask to early out raycasting Raycast only every third frame?

Finding objects

Finding objects
FindObjectsOfType, FindGameObjectWithTag,
GameObject.Find

Finding objects
FindObjectsOfType, FindGameObjectWithTag,
GameObject.Find

Avoid doing it too much. Its convenient but

those calls can quickly add up

Finding objects
FindObjectsOfType, FindGameObjectWithTag,
GameObject.Find

Avoid doing it too much. Its convenient but

those calls can quickly add up

Use static variable

Finding objects
FindObjectsOfType, FindGameObjectWithTag,
GameObject.Find

Avoid doing it too much. Its convenient but

those calls can quickly add up

Use static variable Store all active components of a type using a

static ArrayList and OnEnable / OnDisable

Only Update nearby objects

Only Update nearby objects

Dont run scripts at all, when far away

Only Update nearby objects

Dont run scripts at all, when far away function Update () { if (far away) return; }
does NOT count. Use enabled = false;

Only Update nearby objects

Dont run scripts at all, when far away function Update () { if (far away) return; }
does NOT count. Use enabled = false;

Use triggers for nding out when player is

close by or use coroutine that updates every 5 seconds

Math

Math
Add, subtract, multiply: a couple cycles

Math
Add, subtract, multiply: a couple cycles Divide: 30-40 cycles

Math
Add, subtract, multiply: a couple cycles Divide: 30-40 cycles Square root, sin, cos: 60-100 cycles

Sqrt and Normalize

Sqrt and Normalize

In inner loops avoid Sqrt and Normalize.
They are fairly expensive. (Normalize internally uses Sqrt)

Sqrt and Normalize

In inner loops avoid Sqrt and Normalize.
They are fairly expensive. (Normalize internally uses Sqrt) +vec.z ); Use sqrMagnitude instead.

Normalize = vec / Sqrt (vec.x+ vec.y

Sqrt and Normalize

In inner loops avoid Sqrt and Normalize.
They are fairly expensive. (Normalize internally uses Sqrt) +vec.z ); Use sqrMagnitude instead.

Normalize = vec / Sqrt (vec.x+ vec.y if (distance > dif.magnitude) Bad!

Sqrt and Normalize

In inner loops avoid Sqrt and Normalize.
They are fairly expensive. (Normalize internally uses Sqrt) +vec.z ); Use sqrMagnitude instead.

Normalize = vec / Sqrt (vec.x+ vec.y if (distance > dif.magnitude) Bad! if (distance * distance > dif.sqrMagnitude)

Cache

Cache
Cache hit: a couple cycles

Cache
Cache hit: a couple cycles Cache miss: 40-hundreds of cycles

Cache
Cache hit: a couple cycles Cache miss: 40-hundreds of cycles What does a simple transform.position do
internally?

Cache
Cache hit: a couple cycles Cache miss: 40-hundreds of cycles What does a simple transform.position do
internally?

Walk memory linearly (Structs)

JavaScript

JavaScript
Dynamic typing is slow!

JavaScript
Dynamic typing is slow! Static typing gives you the same
performance as C#

JavaScript
Dynamic typing is slow! Static typing gives you the same
performance as C#

50% the performance of optimized C++

code. 20x faster than Mozilla JavaScript

JavaScript
Dynamic typing is slow! Static typing gives you the same
performance as C#

50% the performance of optimized C++

code. 20x faster than Mozilla JavaScript

#pragma strict to the rescue

Demo Boids

Questions?