Produces the most realistic directional light shadows in URP and also adds contact shadows to enhance fine details and small objects.
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This is a paid asset, but now you can download the “Umbra Soft Shadows – Better Directional & Contact Shadows for URP” for FREE. Please keep in mind that this package is provided only for learning purposes or to test before buying the product, NOT FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.
Umbra Soft Shadows – Better Directional & Contact Shadows for URP v10.0.3 (Latest version)
Umbra Soft Shadows – Better Directional & Contact Shadows for URP v7.1.2 (09 Dec 2025)
Umbra Soft Shadows – Better Directional & Contact Shadows for URP v7.1 (20 Aug 2025)
Umbra Soft Shadows – Better Directional & Contact Shadows for URP v6.1 (28 May 2025)
Umbra Soft Shadows – Better Directional & Contact Shadows for URP v6.0 (30 Dec 2024)
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Description
* Unity 6 compatible *
Nominated for Best Artistic Tool in the 16th Unity Awards.
Umbra significantly improves the quality of directional light shadows in the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) for Unity. It introduces advanced shadow rendering techniques, resulting in beautiful shadows that are sharper near obstacles and softer, more diffuse, at a distance, thanks to its implementation of contact hardening.
Umbra also adds Contact Shadows to enhance fine details at close and far distances. Combining the powerful soft and contact shadows you will get the most realistic and immersive scenes.
** Key features **
Configurable Shadow Appearance: Adjust the look and smoothness of shadows to achieve the desired visual style for your project.
Contact Hardening: customize the shadows to look crisp near the shadow casters while smoother at the distance as in real life.
Stylized Shadows: now you can texture the shadows or create a posterization effect when using blur (great for toon style).
Contact Shadows: get shadows for all small details without compromise, either at close or at far distances. Combine it into the resolved shadow texture or render it as a separate pass.
Cascade Blending: Achieve smoother transitions between shadow cascades, reducing noticeable edges and enhancing overall visual coherence.
Profiles: Easily store settings in profile assets which can be easily swapped or set at runtime.
Optimization Options: Advanced options to improve performance such as loop and frame skip optimization which allows reusing of shadow map texture from previous frame.
Transparent Receiver Plane for XR: Includes a custom shader made with Shader Graph that supports soft shadows rendering on a transparent plane/ground commonly used in XR applications. Demo scene included.
** Easy Installation **
Umbra is very easy to setup and use. Import the package, add the Umbra Render Feature to the URP and the Umbra Soft Shadows script to the Directional Light you want to enhance. That’s it.
Documentation and a demo scene are included with the asset.
Elevate the realism and visual quality of your Unity projects with these enhanced shadow capabilities, providing a more immersive and dynamic lighting experience.
Have any question? Don’t hesitate to contact us.
Related assets:
Umbra Soft Shadows is included in our Visual Fidelity Pro and Ultimate Bundle. You can buy Umbra Soft Shadows now and later upgrade to any of these bundles with a discount.
Technical details
** Requirements **
Universal Render Pipeline (URP): Ensure your project is set up with URP.
Compatibility: Works seamlessly with Unity 2022.3 and Unity 6.
Also supports the new URP Render Graph.
Designed to improve directional lights, no other light types are supported.
Tested on Windows / Mac / WebGL / Android / iOS / VR.
Contact Hardening option not supported on WebGL.
Regular transparent objects/surfaces will receive normal shadows. Umbra includes a custom transparent shader made with ShaderGraph that supports soft shadows designed for ground/floor.
Not suitable for low end mobile devices.
