MultiMesh provides low-level mesh instancing. Drawing thousands of MeshInstance3D nodes can be slow, since each object is submitted to the GPU then drawn individually.
MultiMesh is much faster as it can draw thousands of instances with a single draw call, resulting in less API overhead.
As a drawback, if the instances are too far away from each other, performance may be reduced as every single instance will always render (they are spatially indexed as one, for the whole object).
Since instances may have any behavior, the AABB used for visibility must be provided by the user.
TRANSFORM_2D = 0
Use this when using 2D transforms.
TRANSFORM_3D = 1
Use this when using 3D transforms.
INTERP_QUALITY_FAST = 0
Always interpolate using Basis lerping, which can produce warping artifacts in some situations.
INTERP_QUALITY_HIGH = 1
Attempt to interpolate using Basis slerping (spherical linear interpolation) where possible, otherwise fall back to lerping.
Note: The returned array is copied and any changes to it will not update the original property value. See PackedFloat32Array for more details.
Deprecated: Accessing this property is very slow. Use set_instance_color() and get_instance_color() instead.
Array containing each Color used by all instances of this mesh.
Note: The returned array is copied and any changes to it will not update the original property value. See PackedColorArray for more details.
Custom AABB for this MultiMesh resource. Setting this manually prevents costly runtime AABB recalculations.
Deprecated: Accessing this property is very slow. Use set_instance_custom_data() and get_instance_custom_data() instead.
Array containing each custom data value used by all instances of this mesh, as a PackedColorArray.
Note: The returned array is copied and any changes to it will not update the original property value. See PackedColorArray for more details.
Number of instances that will get drawn. This clears and (re)sizes the buffers. Setting data format or flags afterwards will have no effect.
By default, all instances are drawn but you can limit this with visible_instance_count.
Mesh resource to be instanced.
The looks of the individual instances can be modified using set_instance_color() and set_instance_custom_data().
Choose whether to use an interpolation method that favors speed or quality.
When using low physics tick rates (typically below 20) or high rates of object rotation, you may get better results from the high quality setting.
Note: Fast quality does not equate to low quality. Except in the special cases mentioned above, the quality should be comparable to high quality.
Deprecated: Accessing this property is very slow. Use set_instance_transform_2d() and get_instance_transform_2d() instead.
Array containing each Transform2D value used by all instances of this mesh, as a PackedVector2Array. Each transform is divided into 3 Vector2 values corresponding to the transforms' x
, y
, and origin
.
Note: The returned array is copied and any changes to it will not update the original property value. See PackedVector2Array for more details.
Deprecated: Accessing this property is very slow. Use set_instance_transform() and get_instance_transform() instead.
Array containing each Transform3D value used by all instances of this mesh, as a PackedVector3Array. Each transform is divided into 4 Vector3 values corresponding to the transforms' x
, y
, z
, and origin
.
Note: The returned array is copied and any changes to it will not update the original property value. See PackedVector3Array for more details.
Format of transform used to transform mesh, either 2D or 3D.
If true
, the MultiMesh will use color data (see set_instance_color()). Can only be set when instance_count is 0
or less. This means that you need to call this method before setting the instance count, or temporarily reset it to 0
.
If true
, the MultiMesh will use custom data (see set_instance_custom_data()). Can only be set when instance_count is 0
or less. This means that you need to call this method before setting the instance count, or temporarily reset it to 0
.
Limits the number of instances drawn, -1 draws all instances. Changing this does not change the sizes of the buffers.
Returns the visibility axis-aligned bounding box in local space.
Gets a specific instance's color multiplier.
Returns the custom data that has been set for a specific instance.
Returns the Transform3D of a specific instance.
Returns the Transform2D of a specific instance.
When using physics interpolation, this function allows you to prevent interpolation on an instance in the current physics tick.
This allows you to move instances instantaneously, and should usually be used when initially placing an instance such as a bullet to prevent graphical glitches.
An alternative to setting the buffer property, which can be used with physics interpolation. This method takes two arrays, and can set the data for the current and previous tick in one go. The renderer will automatically interpolate the data at each frame.
This is useful for situations where the order of instances may change from physics tick to tick, such as particle systems.
When the order of instances is coherent, the simpler alternative of setting buffer can still be used with interpolation.
Sets the color of a specific instance by multiplying the mesh's existing vertex colors. This allows for different color tinting per instance.
Note: Each component is stored in 32 bits in the Forward+ and Mobile rendering methods, but is packed into 16 bits in the Compatibility rendering method.
For the color to take effect, ensure that use_colors is true
on the MultiMesh and BaseMaterial3D.vertex_color_use_as_albedo is true
on the material. If you intend to set an absolute color instead of tinting, make sure the material's albedo color is set to pure white (Color(1, 1, 1)
).
Sets custom data for a specific instance. custom_data
is a Color type only to contain 4 floating-point numbers.
Note: Each number is stored in 32 bits in the Forward+ and Mobile rendering methods, but is packed into 16 bits in the Compatibility rendering method.
For the custom data to be used, ensure that use_custom_data is true
.
This custom instance data has to be manually accessed in your custom shader using INSTANCE_CUSTOM
.
Sets the Transform3D for a specific instance.
Sets the Transform2D for a specific instance.