# Particle shader optimization?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/particle-shader-optimization/457551>\
**Category:** FX\
**Tags:** particle-systems, unreal-engine, question\
**Created:** [October 26, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/particle-shader-optimization/457551 "2019-10-26T03:33:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![IndieGameCove](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@IndieGameCove](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/IndieGameCove)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/particle-shader-optimization/457551/2 "2019-10-26T04:19:41Z")

</div>

> **[VFX Optimization Guide](https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.27/en-US/RenderingAndGraphics/ParticleSystems/Optimization/)**
>
> Solving performance issues by optimizing Particle Systems.

> **[A new, community-hosted Unreal Engine Wiki](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/a-new-community-hosted-unreal-engine-wiki/141494)**
>
> After over a year in maintenance mode, the official Unreal Engine Wiki is now permanently offline. These resources now live on a new community-run Unreal Engine Community Wiki — ue4community.wiki! You will be able to find content from the official...

if masked materials look good use them, as the opaque parts will prevent overdraw. Could mix masked and translucent particles together in the same system, keeping masked particle toward the center of the flame and translucent on the outskirts.

I’ve heard additive materials are slightly cheaper than translucent, but i’m not certain if thats the case.

gpu particles are generally cheaper than cpu ones. not sure how many phones support gpu particles though.

Using particle cutouts on sprite particle can reduce overdraw.

overdraw cost will vary based on how much of the screen is covered by the translucency. Because things get smaller when you get further away from them, if you can prevent the camera from getting too close, that helps. Could also reduce the number of particles spawned whenever the camera is right on top of the particle system.

use LODs

---

_[View the full topic](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/particle-shader-optimization/457551)._