Scene Settings

Settings that apply to the whole scene. Open them with nothing selected (sections can be collapsed with their arrows to keep things tidy).

General

• Name – a clear scene name; the foundation of a manageable, larger experience.
• Tracking coaching overlay – on by default; prompts the user to move their device so it can establish solid tracking.
• Spatial pause controls (Apple Vision Pro) – the system controls for pausing/repositioning. Disable them when you don't want viewers to reposition a guided experience. (The pause menu can also be opened by long-pressing the surroundings.)
• SharePlay participation mode – in a shared session, Presenter only (only the host interacts) or All participants (everyone can interact, simultaneously). Pick by whether the experience is about watching together or interacting together.

The General scene settings.

Localization markers

Add a marker – a reference image for the whole scene – so content always appears in the same physical spot, and so multiple devices share one coordinate system (great for shared Vision Pro + iPad experiences). Give it an accurate physical width (cm), and a position/transform and heading (azimuth) to offset it relative to your content.

Range limits

A marker works well near where it was scanned; as the user walks ~50–100 m away, the device struggles to remember it and content can drift. Use markers for anchored, in-place scenes, not long walk-arounds. You can add multiple markers (they cycle in the coaching overlay) to re-localize across a space.

A Localization Marker – reference image, physical width, position, and heading.

Meshing & occlusion

• Floor mesh – on by default; gives physics a floor to rest on (without it, physics objects fall through).
• World mesh – off by default (performance); builds a mesh of the real environment so content can collide with or be occluded by it.
• Scene mesh lighting – let the mesh be lit by objects in the scene.
• Object occlusion – real objects hide virtual ones behind them (LiDAR devices only). Big realism win – a virtual dog correctly hidden behind a real desk.
• People occlusion – real people/pets correctly pass in front of virtual content (recommend with depth; iPhone XS and later). Crucial realism for photos and videos taken inside the experience.

The Meshing Options.

Physics

• Scene mesh collisions – enable so physics objects can interact with the real environment.
• Gravity – default −9.81 (Earth); change it to simulate the moon, space, etc.

See Physics actions for using physics.

The scene Physics Options.

Post-processing

• Surroundings effect – dim/tint the real surroundings (none, semi-dark, dark, custom dim, custom tint). Apple Vision Pro only.
• Custom effects – apply post-processing effects (filters/shaders) to the whole scene. iOS / macOS only.

Lighting & environment

These pair with the viewport's environment controls:

• Immersion mode – Mixed (AR) (default), Full VR (replace the camera feed with a background), or Progressive (Vision Pro: the user dials the virtual environment in/out within a range you set).
• Background – a custom colour, HDRI, or preset, used by Full VR / Progressive.
• Environment texturing – on by default (real-world lighting on PBR materials); off to use a custom light map you control.
• Adaptive resolution – automatically scales the render resolution to the device: a smooth frame rate on older hardware, best quality on newer. When it's on, a resolution multiplier (10–100%, default 100%) lets you fine-tune that balance by hand – lower it to render at a lower internal resolution for more performance headroom, or keep it at 100% for maximum sharpness.

Lighting & Rendering – immersion mode, environment texturing, and resolution.

Draw order groups

Control the order in which objects render. Normally automatic, but stacked transparent elements (overlapping images/videos) can render with artifacts. Create a draw-order group, add the objects, and pick a depth pass:

• Pre-pass – computes depth before colour (better transparency).
• Post-pass – computes depth after colour (fewer artifacts in complex scenes).
• None.

Try different passes to see which resolves your scene's transparency best.

A Draw Order Group and its Depth Pass.