DanbaidongRP is a Unity 6 render pipeline built for toon work

A URP 17.0.3 fork pinned to Unity 6000.0.30f1

DanbaidongRP is a custom render pipeline built based on Universal RP 17.0.3 and Unity 6, with the specific editor version 6000.0.30f1 named in the README and in the version badge. The package identity makes the lineage clear.

  "name": "com.unity.render-pipelines.danbaidong",
  "version": "17.0.3",
  "unity": "6000.0",

The name follows the com.unity.render-pipelines convention, the version number matches the URP release it derives from, and the unity field targets the 6000.0 line. The description calls it a prebuilt Scriptable Render Pipeline, made by Unity, for PCs.

The declared dependency is minimal, only com.unity.shadergraph at 17.0.3, which tells you the pipeline leans on Shader Graph for shader authoring rather than carrying a separate shader compilation stack. The keyword list gives the intent: graphics, performance, rendering, Toon, mobile, render, pipeline.

The repository layout follows the Unity package convention closely, with Runtime, Editor, Shaders, ShaderLibrary, Textures, Tests and ReadmeAssets directories, plus package.json, a ValidationConfig.json and a ValidationExceptions.json for Unity package validation. A Third Party Notices.md file sits at the root, which matters when a fork carries code from the original.

The default branch is urp17, which is the clearest signal of the design: this is a fork of a specific URP generation, and it will have to be rebased when Unity moves to the next one.

The roadmap shows which toon features actually exist

The README keeps a checked and unchecked feature list, and reading it is the fastest way to know what you can rely on today. Shipped are the PBR Toon Shader, the Danbaidong Shader GUI, PerObjectShadow, PCSS and PCF soft shadows, Shadow Scattering, Ray Tracing Shadow, Toon Toonmapping, Toon Bloom, Visual Sky, High Quality SSR with ray tracing, Cluster Deferred lighting and Character Forward lighting.

Not yet done are cel shading, Transparent Shadows, High Quality SSAO, High Quality SSGI, Atmosphere Fog, and an entry for a vocal performance feature. Several of the unticked items, SSAO and SSGI in particular, are ambient occlusion and global illumination, which in a forward-plus or deferred pipeline are usually the features a toon project expects to find.

There is also an honest note in the announcement section. It reads simply: Just add something I need. The author describes the pipeline as optimized for both PBR and NPR Toon Rendering and says future updates will include additional features tailored to their specific requirements.

Read that as a scope statement rather than a roadmap. The features are being added when the author's own project needs them, which means gaps are closed in the order the author hits them, not in the order a general user would want them.

Installing means three packages from disk and removing Universal RP

The usage section is a sequence of editor steps rather than a command line, so there is nothing to copy into a terminal. The first step is to create a new Unity 6 URP project on version 6000.0.30f1.

The second step is destructive, and the README is explicit about it. In Window -> Package Manager, remove Universal RP and delete the contents of the Assets/Settings folder. The settings have to go because the pipeline supplies its own assets in the next steps.

The third step is the installation. Add DanbaidongRP through the Package Manager, and the README recommends using the Install package from disk option to add the Core, Config and DanbaidongRP packages individually, selecting the package.json file for each. That means three separate packages from three separate repositories, installed by hand from disk rather than from a registry, which is the price of a fork that lives outside the Unity package registry.

The step order is not optional. Removing Universal RP before adding the fork, and adding all three packages together, is what keeps the project from ending up with two pipelines registered at once.

Recreating the renderer asset and repointing the Graphics settings

Once the packages are in, the pipeline needs its assets. In the Settings directory, recreate the DanbaidongRP Asset by right-clicking and selecting Create -> Rendering -> Danbaidong RP Asset and Renderer. Then in Edit -> Project Settings -> Graphics, set the Default Renderer Pipeline to the pipeline Asset that was just created. The README says the scene should now render correctly at that point.

That single setting is where the fork takes over from the stock pipeline. The Graphics settings hold the list of render pipeline assets Unity will use, and pointing the default at the Danbaidong asset means every camera in the project uses the new pipeline.

The final step is the one that catches people out. The README says to restart the project, and that a Wizard window will pop up, which contains the necessary configurations for the pipeline to use correctly. This is a first-run configuration step rather than an optional extra, so a project where the wizard is skipped or dismissed will render with defaults that the pipeline author did not intend.

The combination of a recreated asset, a repointed Graphics setting and a post-restart wizard means the setup is more involved than swapping a package version. Budget time for it, and keep the settings folder contents in version control once it works, because the asset holds the configuration that the wizard produces.

The shader GUI and the shadow controls are the author-facing parts

Two parts of the pipeline are aimed at whoever authors the assets rather than the engine programmer. The first is the Danbaidong Shader GUI, a custom editor registered under the name UnityEditor.DanbaidongGUI.DanbaidongGUI.

CustomEditor "UnityEditor.DanbaidongGUI.DanbaidongGUI"

The README shows two associated screenshots, one of the shader GUI and one of a gradient editor, which suggests the exposed parameters are grouped into curves and gradients rather than plain sliders.

The second is the shadow work, which is the largest group of shipped features. Shadow Scattering, PerObjectShadow and PCSS or PCF soft shadows are all ticked, and each has sample images in the ReadmeAssets directory. Per-object shadow control is the item that changes how a scene is authored, since it lets individual objects control their own shadow behaviour instead of following a single global setting, which is what toon work usually needs for characters.

The author-facing tools are also where the documentation is thinnest. The documents link in the README points to a Chinese-language document hosted on Feishu, so the detailed parameter reference is not in the repository itself.

Ray traced reflections and cluster deferred lighting sit on top

The graphics features beyond shading are the ones Unity's own pipeline would need work to provide. High Quality SSR is listed as ray tracing rather than screen space alone, and Ray Tracing Shadow is a ticked feature with sample images under Reflections and Shadows.

GPU lights appear under a Cluster Deferred lighting heading, with a screenshot of the clustered lighting result, and Character Forward lighting is ticked as a separate entry, which is the forward path for characters that cannot use the deferred cluster path.

The pair of deferred cluster lighting plus a separate forward character path is the structure of a modern console-style renderer, and it is a substantial amount of work for one author to maintain alongside the toon side of the pipeline. That is the main reason to read the unticked roadmap entries carefully.

A note on what the repository does not contain. There are no runtime performance figures, no benchmark tables and no frame timing data in the README, only rendered images. The sample screenshots show the result of a feature working, not the cost of running it, so a team evaluating this for a shipping project has no published data to plan a budget against.

A custom licence and a release history tied to one Unity version

The licence needs attention before adoption. It is recorded as a custom licence that the hosting platform could not classify, with the terms in a LICENSE.md file at the root of the repository, and a Third Party Notices.md file for the code carried over from Universal RP. Read LICENSE.md directly, since the classification tells you nothing about what the terms are.

The release history shows how tightly the pipeline tracks Unity. The tags are 6000.0.30.1 and 6000.0.30.2, both dated 2024-12-14, and 6000.0.30.3 dated 2025-08-16, each named after the Unity editor version it targets. Three releases against a single editor version is a narrow base, and the naming makes the coupling explicit: when Unity moves past 6000.0.30f1, this pipeline needs a new version, and the pattern of the last two releases on the same day suggests fast iteration rather than a long support commitment.

The last push was on 2026-10-11 and the repository is not archived, so work is happening on the current editor version. The primary language is C#, and the README links to the author's Zhihu and bilibili accounts where further discussion happens, since the in-repository documentation is mostly images and a single Chinese document link.

Editorial conclusion

Use DanbaidongRP if you are building a Unity 6 toon project and want the author's shadow, toon mapping and ray traced reflection work rather than the stock Universal RP, and do not expect it to be a drop-in improvement to an existing URP game. Before committing, read LICENSE.md, since the licence is custom and could not be classified, check the unticked roadmap items such as cel shading and transparent shadows, and confirm your project runs on Unity 6000.0.30f1, which is the version the pipeline is built against.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. danbaidong1111/DanbaidongRP on GitHub
2. Issues
3. README
4. Releases