Unity 2017.3 Implements New Features, Enhances Interactive 360-Video Creation

A collection of new features and improvements have been introduced in Unity 2017.3, the third and final installation of the Unity 2017 cycle. The first and second installations released in July and October respectively, promising more powerful tools for artists and designers. Unity 2017.3 is the icing on the virtual cake.

As well as general physics and lighting enhancements, Standard Events has now exited beta stages, the Cinemachine camera system has been updated, and the 36o-Video player lets users import 2D or 3D 360-Videos straight into Unity and make standalone 360-Video experiences. A condensed list of Unity 2017.3 additions follows.

Unity 2017.3 features:

Panoramic 360/180 video – Import 2D & 3D videos into Unity, play back on Skybox, create 360-Video experience
Particle System improvements – Introduction of Unlit & Surface particle shaders
Script compilation – Split project script into multiple assemblies to reduce compilation time
Managed Memory Profiler support – Mono/.NET 2.0 support for APIs lets you take snapshots within editor
Crunch Library updates – Compresses DXT textures up to 2.5x faster with ~10% better compression ratio
Graphics improvements – Support for HDR compressed lightmaps on PC, Xbox One & PS4
Lighting improvements – Introduction of lighting modes for Progressive Lightmapper, LOD support, HDR encoding support for baked lightmaps
Physics improvements – Cloth self-collision, inter-collision technology & constraint painting updated
Animation improvements – Playable scheduling now allows data prefetching before playing
Xbox One X Support – Quality Settings enable support for 4K rendering
Easy publishing on Xiaomi Portal – Swiftly publish Android apps into China via editor