Mesh Shapes

Customise shape appearance with colours, gradients, borders, opacity, textures, blending, masking, progress effects, thickness, corners and other editable visual properties.

Mesh Shapes is designed for Unity 2021.3 LTS and newer, including Unity 6.

• Supports both MeshRenderer-based Scene content and CanvasRenderer-based UI
• Works with Built-in Render Pipeline and does not require URP-specific features
• Procedural geometry is generated at runtime and in the Editor
• Supports Sorting Layers, Sorting Order and SortingGroup workflows
• Includes custom masking for Scene and Canvas content
• Supports up to 8 nested mask layers with Inclusive, Exclusive and Ignore mask options.
• Shapes can be modified through C# or by an Animator at runtime
• Mesh and path data can be accessed for custom systems including Particle Systems
• Scene and Canvas hierarchies can be converted between workflows
• Editor-only tools are fully separated from runtime code
• Materials are reused where possible to reduce unnecessary allocations
• Complex shapes, gradients, masking and high point counts will have a higher rendering and geometry cost than simple shapes
• Some Canvas and Scene features behave differently due to Unity’s separate UI and MeshRenderer rendering systems. So dragging between each may require some setup in complex scenes.
• Intended primarily for 2D and 2.5D workflows, although MeshRenderer shapes can be positioned freely within a 3D scene as overlay graphics and uis
• No external packages are required for the core Mesh Shapes functionality

Key Features

Mesh Shapes is a powerful Unity tool for creating, editing and animating procedural 2D shapes directly inside the Editor. It is designed to support everything from rapid prototyping through to final production artwork, giving developers a flexible way to build UI, characters, environments, visual effects and gameplay elements without relying entirely on external art tools.

Create Shapes Directly in Unity

Build circles, rectangles, polygons, lines and Bezier paths directly in the Scene or Canvas. Shapes remain fully editable, so you can quickly adjust their geometry, proportions and layout at any stage of development.

Mesh Shapes is ideal for rapidly blocking out ideas, prototyping gameplay, creating placeholder visuals and then refining those same elements into finished game content.

Full Scene View Editing

Edit shapes visually inside the Unity Scene View (and Canvas too) using dedicated editing tools. Adjust points, tangents, anchors, bounds, thickness and other properties directly on the object rather than relying only on Inspector values.

For custom paths and Bezier shapes, points and tangents can be selected and edited interactively, making it practical to build more complex silhouettes, paths and hand-shaped geometry directly in Unity.

Highly Customisable Appearance

Control the look of each shape with a wide range of appearance options, including:

• Solid colours
• Opacity
• Linear and radial gradients
• HDR colours
• Textures and sprites
• UV tiling
• Texture scale and rotation
• Alpha, Multiply and Additive blending
• Borders and outlines
• Variable thickness
• Rounded, bevelled and mitred corners
• Progress and partial-shape drawing

These controls make it possible to create anything from simple flat graphics to more detailed stylised game elements.

Flexible Borders and Outlines

Add configurable borders to supported shapes and customise their thickness, alignment and appearance.

Borders can be positioned inside, centred on or outside polygon geometry, while open shapes can use different line cap styles and variable start and end thickness.

This makes Mesh Shapes useful for outlines, UI frames, paths, indicators, health bars, selection graphics and decorative elements.

Advanced Masking

Mesh Shapes includes its own masking system for building more complex layered visuals in both Scene and Canvas workflows.

Create nested masks, additive masking setups and custom mask hierarchies while keeping control over which objects participate in masking.

Masking can be used for:

• Character parts
• Environment artwork
• UI effects
• Reveal animations
• Clipping artwork inside custom shapes
• Layered procedural graphics
• Dynamic progress and transition effects

Objects can also be configured to ignore masks where needed, making complex compositions easier to manage.

Build Characters and Environments

Mesh Shapes can be used as more than a simple primitive generator. Multiple shapes can be combined to construct custom characters, props, scenery, interfaces and other game artwork.

Because every element remains editable inside Unity, shapes can be repositioned, resized, recoloured, masked and reshaped throughout development without having to recreate the original asset.

This makes it particularly useful for stylised 2D games, vector-inspired artwork and projects where fast iteration is important.

Rapid 2D Game Prototyping

Create game elements immediately without waiting for finished artwork.

Mesh Shapes can be used for:

• Characters
• Platforms
• Environment pieces
• Obstacles
• UI
• Indicators
• Paths
• Zones
• Debug visuals
• Temporary game art

Once the gameplay is working, these same shapes can be refined and styled for production rather than automatically becoming disposable prototype content.

Production-Ready Game Graphics

Mesh Shapes is designed to remain useful beyond prototyping.

Use procedural shapes as final game assets for interfaces, effects, gameplay elements, backgrounds, characters and environments. Appearance controls, masking, gradients, textures and runtime animation allow simple geometry to become polished final content.

This helps keep more of the visual workflow inside Unity and makes future adjustments easier.

Scene and Canvas Support

Use Mesh Shapes with both MeshRenderer-based Scene content and Unity Canvas UI.

This allows the same general workflow to be used for:

• World-space game graphics
• UI
• HUD elements
• Menus
• Overlays
• World-space interfaces
• Procedural gameplay visuals

Tools are also provided for converting Mesh Shape hierarchies between Scene and Canvas workflows.

Progress and Animated Shapes

Shapes and borders can be partially drawn using progress controls.

Adjust the visible start and end of a shape, offset the drawing position and create repeating or wrapping effects around the path.

This is useful for:

• Loading indicators
• Health bars
• Timers
• Cooldowns
• Selection effects
• Animated borders
• Path indicators
• Drawing animations
• Circular meters

Because Mesh Shape properties can be modified at runtime, these effects can be driven directly by gameplay.

Runtime Control

Most visual and geometry properties can be changed while the game is running.

Animate colours, progress, opacity, shape dimensions, borders and other properties to create dynamic game elements without requiring pre-rendered animation.

This makes Mesh Shapes suitable for procedural UI, gameplay feedback, animated environments and reactive visual effects.

Paths and Constraints

Lines, polygons and Bezier curves can also be used as paths.

Objects can be positioned along generated geometry using normalised progress or distance, with support for clamping, repeating and runtime movement.

This is useful for:

• Moving objects along paths
• Enemy movement
• UI animation
• Camera paths
• Decorative motion
• Procedural placement
• Track and route systems

Custom Geometry

Configure shape geometry in detail with options for polygon sides, rotation, anchors, shear, open and closed paths, Bezier sampling and sidedness.

Custom path points can be manipulated directly, allowing Mesh Shapes to create geometry beyond basic primitives.

Anchors and Layout Tools

Custom anchors make it easier to control how a shape behaves when resized, positioned or adjusted.

Shapes can be aligned relative to their geometry or other Mesh Shapes, with utilities for positioning above, below, at the top or at the bottom of related content.

Canvas workflows also integrate with RectTransform pivots and layout behaviour.

Designed for Fast Iteration

A major advantage of Mesh Shapes is keeping geometry editable for as long as possible.

Instead of exporting a new texture every time a shape, colour, border or layout needs to change, developers can make those adjustments directly inside Unity and immediately see the result in context.

This can significantly speed up iteration during both prototyping and final polish.

Performance-Focused Procedural Workflow

Mesh Shapes generates and updates geometry only when required and reuses materials where possible.

Path data and other generated information are cached to avoid unnecessary recalculation, while editor and runtime systems are separated to keep builds focused on the functionality required by the game.

Built for Unity Projects

Mesh Shapes supports Unity 2021.3 LTS and newer, including Unity 6, and is designed to work across both Scene and Canvas workflows without requiring a URP-specific rendering setup.

Whether you need quick prototype graphics, custom procedural UI, advanced masking, editable character artwork or final production visuals, Mesh Shapes provides a flexible set of tools for creating and controlling 2D shapes directly inside Unity.