Typography
February 2, 2026 · View on GitHub
GPU Text Rendering for Unity / VRChat
Render 32 texts in 1 draw call with high quality. Fully GPU-driven, no C# runtime required.
Performance
Fragment shader instruction counts (Unity compiled shader stats, d3d11):
| Math | Texture | Branch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typography | 920 | 3 | 31 |
| SSVFX | 3,702 | 102 | 201 |
| TexSvfx | 5,585 | 210 | 255 |
1/4 fragment instructions vs alternatives. Processing concentrated in Vertex Shader - performance gap widens with resolution.
| Avg | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|
| Typography | 0.471ms | 1x |
| SSVFX | 0.851ms | 1.8x |
| TexSV | 6.094ms | 13.0x |
Features
- High-quality edges with MSDF (sharp at any scale)
- Unicode support (Japanese, emoji, ligatures)
- Up to 8 fonts simultaneously
- 5 Root Transforms (hierarchical structure)
- Typewriter / Curve Path / Shake effects
- Outline / Shadow & Glow / Fractal Noise
- Stencil buffer support
- VR Scale adjustment
Installation
- Import Thry Editor
- Import Typography unitypackage
- Set
Typography/Mesh.assetto MeshFilter - Create Material with Shader:
GekikaraStore/Typography
Basic Usage
- Add fonts in Fonts section
- Enter text in Text Settings, click "Gen"
- Adjust Position / Rotation / Scale
Properties
Global
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Project | Project name (materials with same project share atlas) |
Camera Settings
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Position | Virtual camera position (for screen-space mode) |
| Rotation | Virtual camera rotation |
| FOV | Field of view (10-120) |
Root Transforms
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Position | Root position (cm) |
| Rotation | Root rotation |
| Scale | Root scale |
5 roots available. Assign texts to a Root for hierarchical transformation.
Text Settings
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Root | Parent root (None / Root 1-5) |
| Space | Screen / World coordinate mode |
| Mode | Text_Horizontal / Text_Vertical |
| Text | Text input + Gen button |
| Font | Font selection (from Fonts section) |
| Layer | Draw order (0-31, higher = front) |
| Color | Text color (HDR) |
| Position | Position (cm) |
| Rotation | Rotation (ZXY order, Unity standard) |
| Scale | Scale |
| Pivot | Rotation center (character width units) |
Animator
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Typewriter | |
| Type | Sequential (1 char at a time) / Block (fixed window) |
| Direction | Left to Right / Right to Left / Center Out (Sequential) |
| Centering | Center text alignment (Enable / Disable) |
| Progress | Display progress (0-1, Sequential) |
| Smooth | Character appear fade (0-1) |
| Fade Width | Next character overlap (0-1, 0=wait until complete) |
| Offset | Movement offset on appear |
| Rotation | Rotation on appear |
| Scale | Scale animation on appear |
| Visible Count | Static visible chars (Block) |
| Animating Count | Transitioning chars (Block) |
| Char Delay | Per-char stagger (Block) |
| Kerning & Tracking | |
| Anchor | Spacing anchor (Center / Left / Right) |
| Spacing | Character spacing (-1 to 1) |
Effector
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Curve Path | |
| X/Y/Z Curve | Curve for each axis |
| Intensity | Deformation strength (0-1) |
| Offset | Curve start position (0-1) |
| Speed | Animation speed |
| Rotation | Rotation along curve (0-1) |
| Shake | |
| Amplitude | Amplitude (0-1) |
| Frequency | Frequency (0-20) |
| Blend | Per-character to per-line blend |
| Outline | |
| Mode | Outline (filled) / Stroke (outline only) |
| Width | Width (0-1) |
| Color | Color (HDR) |
| Shadow & Glow | |
| Intensity | Intensity (0-1) |
| Softness | Soft shadow blur (0-1) |
| Offset | Offset |
| Color | Color (HDR) |
| Fractal Noise | |
| Mode | Simplex / Curl / FBM / Turbulence / Ridged / Marble |
| Intensity | Effect intensity (0-1) |
| Scale | Noise scale |
| Speed | Animation speed |
| Color | Effect color (HDR) |
| Blend | Multiply / Replace / Add |
Rendering Settings
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Fade Min/Max | Distance fade range |
| Render Type | Opaque / Transparent / Overlay |
| Cull | Culling mode |
| ZTest | Depth test |
| ZWrite | Depth write |
| Source/Destination Blend | Blend mode |
| Stencil | |
| Reference | Stencil reference value (0-255) |
| Read/Write Mask | Mask value |
| Compare | Comparison function |
| Pass/Fail/ZFail | Stencil operation |
| Utility | |
| Quad Padding | Character quad size expansion (0-1) |
| VR Scale | VR environment scale (0.1-1) |
Specifications
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Text count | 32 |
| Font count | 8 |
| Atlas | 4096x4096 BC7 |
| Max characters | 32 |
Dependencies
- Thry Editor - Material editor
License
MIT - See LICENSE
This project uses msdf-atlas-gen (MIT License). See THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.md for details.
Sample
https://vrchat.com/home/avatar/avtr_20c77b57-edc0-4de3-bace-3b7b21b998bd
Acknowledgments
This project was inspired by ShaderToyText by Krzysztof Narkowicz (knarkowicz). His elegant approach to GPU-based text rendering laid the foundation for this work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the community.
Special Thanks
- 皐月-Satuki
- ぷくぷくまる
- あまね
- 一ノ瀬
- みぃ_暇人
- UniTea (group)
- Everyone who helped with announcements