Now Updated for Unity 2017 to Unity 6.
This course presents a comprehensive guide to programming with Cg and High Level Shader Language in Unity's Shaderlab, to create your own visual surface effects for colouring and lighting game objects. It covers the mathematics of light and surfaces and steps you through the recreation of some of the most popular shaders. Many computer graphics concepts will be presented to help you understand the graphics pipeline and provide you with an essential toolkit of rendering knowledge, that will have you developing your own transparent, animated and texturised shaders in no time.
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Now Updated for Unity 2017 to Unity 6.
This course presents a comprehensive guide to programming with Cg and High Level Shader Language in Unity's Shaderlab, to create your own visual surface effects for colouring and lighting game objects. It covers the mathematics of light and surfaces and steps you through the recreation of some of the most popular shaders. Many computer graphics concepts will be presented to help you understand the graphics pipeline and provide you with an essential toolkit of rendering knowledge, that will have you developing your own transparent, animated and texturised shaders in no time.
Now Updated for Unity 2017 to Unity 6.
This course presents a comprehensive guide to programming with Cg and High Level Shader Language in Unity's Shaderlab, to create your own visual surface effects for colouring and lighting game objects. It covers the mathematics of light and surfaces and steps you through the recreation of some of the most popular shaders. Many computer graphics concepts will be presented to help you understand the graphics pipeline and provide you with an essential toolkit of rendering knowledge, that will have you developing your own transparent, animated and texturised shaders in no time.
In this course, Penny teaches all the invaluable skills you will require to program the computer graphics pipeline in Unity from scratch using her internationally acclaimed teaching style and knowledge from over 25 years working with games and graphics. But hold on tight as you'll be taken on a journey across the computer graphics realm as it is taught to post-graduate university students. Through detailed descriptions and hands-on workshops examining all you need to know about rendering queues, vector mathematics, graphics buffers, colour theory, 3D meshes, texture mapping, lighting models and much more.
Learn how to program and work with:
variables and packed arrays
meshes, vertices and UVs
the mathematics for working with objects in 3D and 2D spaces
a variety of lighting models from creating flat shaded objects to highly reflective shiny surfaces
bump maps for adding extra depth and dimension to surface textures
special effects such as holographic, scrolling textures and surface deformations
the variety of graphics buffers used in the rendering pipeline
forward and deferred lighting
surface, vertex and fragment shaders written in CG/HLSL
volumetric rendering
Contents and Overview
After diving right in and creating your very first shader from scratch, we will begin the lessons by examining how 3D models are structured and how that is used within shader code to colour and display the surface in computer graphics. You'll discover all the properties of a shader and how they can be controlled in code and via values fed in through Unity's Inspector.
Following this, we will examine a variety of lighting models and how lights and surface textures can influence the final look of a render. Included here, an overview of the buffers involved in the rendering queue will be given with practical examples for creating special effects that require more than one draw call. Students will also be exposed to the power of vector mathematics and especially the dot product and its role in creating beautiful effects such as outlines, rim lighting and holograms. In addition, issues surrounding transparency and blending will be discussed along with many practical hands-on workshops in which students can flex their newfound skills to interrogate the code they write for better understanding.
The next section brings together all the skills learned throughout together, to develop some of the more popular complex shaders including animated plasma and animated water with waves.
Finally volumetric shaders are covered in which you will follow along to create special effects such as fake geometry, fog and clouds.
What students are saying about this course:
This is the best course I've ever taken. It is perfect for me. I worked for 15 years in feature animation. A large part of my career was spent developing shaders for a proprietary renderer. This course has already helped me to bring the value of my previous experience into Unity.
Best shader course I've come across. There are enough and more tutorials on youtube to teach you how to develop your own shaders, but nothing falls into the class of Penny's tutorials. They are clear and to the point. Really happy about this one.
Wow. Thank you so much. If there were 10 stars - this course would deserve it. Going from absolutely knowing nothing about Shader writing to have a profund understanding about it.
I wanted to let you know that I just finished your shader course and thought it was fantastic. It was a pleasure to take the course and finally get a grasp on a topic that seemed so foreign to me not so long ago. Your teaching style and personality really worked for me and made learning a breeze.
What's inside
Syllabus
In this section you will get aquainted with some basic shader code and the general formatting as well as learn about what to find in the course.
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Syllabus
This lecture introduces the course and takes you through the content that will be covered showing demos of the effects that will be covered.
H3D has a bustling online student community. Here's how to get involved.
How to contact us
More often than not when you are learning something new with software you will find it difficult to tell when you've done something wrong or the software is not working. Here are a couple of common issues you might come across when you start to develop shaders. Be sure to use these as a go to when debugging your own work.
This article explains how to get the shaders in this course to work with Unity 6.
In this lecture we will take a look at the graphics pipeline and the stages in taking a model from virtual to an image on the screen.
There's nothing like seeing your first shader program come to life. There's still much to discuss about the technical and programmatic specifications of shaders, but lets start with a simple example to get the ball rolling.
Shader code has a lot in common with regular C# but can sometimes look a little strange especially with respect to data types. In this lecture we will go over these types and discuss how they are used.
The structure of a model's mesh is crutial in determiing how a shader will affect its surface. Understanding all the 3D components of a mesh is a fundamental you should have under your belt before attempting to manipulate the look of its surface with shaders.
In this lecture we will examine in detail the properties block and investigate how external values and images can be used in shaders.
Before you can start writing more complex shaders an understanding of the way surface brightness is calculated based on the lighting model is necessary. In this lecture we will introduce the concept of lighting models and examine the simpliest: Lambert.
In this lecture normal mapping will be introduced. The method is a way to add detail and depth to a model when no geometric detail exists.
This lecture is a challenge on modifying the bumped and diffuse textures.
Sometimes it can be difficult to visualise mathematical concepts without models to support them. In this article I will provide a tool for examining normals in Unity which will visualise them and how they change as their coordinates do.
In this section we will examine three illumination models from the history of computer graphics. Learning how each is applied across the surface of a polygon to give a resulting visual effect will give you a better appreciation for the role of the normal in developing shaders.
When you want to create an effect that involves multiple vectors, such as the world reflection and normals you need to mix these together in the shader so one affects the other before adding a texture. In this lecture you will learn how to effect a world reflection with a normal map.
At some point in the rendering pipeline a pixel ends up in a buffer or two. As you create more shaders and shaders containing multiple effects it becomes critical to understand exactly whats going on otherwise it becomes difficult to debug your code. In this lecture we will examing the roles of the frame buffer, z buffer and g buffer and touch on the processes of forward and deferred lighting.
Being able to tell where the part of a model is facing with respect to the viewer is critical for the production of numerous shader effects. The dot product function is "need to know" information for any shader writer.
Rim lighting demonstrates perfectly the use of the dot product, though it requires a little mathematical manipulation to get just the right results. In this lecture we will look at introducing other mathematical operations into the code to tweak the dot product.
When you want to vary the effect a shader has on different parts of a surface, logical statements are your friend. In this lecture we will explore the use of logical statements embedded in the code to turn parts of an effect on and off.
Thus far we've only used Lambert as the lighting model for our shader. To expand the possibilities of what you can do with shaders, we now examine the other lighting models available in Unity.
Lambert lighting cannot produce specular highlights. For that you need BlinnPhong. In this lecture we will employ the BlinnPhong lighting model to add glossy effects to our model.
In this lecture we take a look at the Unity Physically-Based Lighting Shaders and use the lighting models to investigate the metallic and specular features.
To the Standard PBR shader created in the last lecture add an emissive slider that makes the model glow in the same areas that are grey and white in the metallic gloss map. See the working example in this video. The solution is attached.
To the Standard Specular PBR shader created in the previous lecture reverse the glossiness effect so the black areas of the map are highly reflective and the grey and white much more diffuse. See the working example in this video. The solution is attached.
In this lecture we will explore the creation of custom lighting models through the development of our own Lambert, BlinnPhong and Toon Ramped lighting from scratch.
Many effects including particles and vegetation in games rely on textures which use the alpha channel. In this lecture we will explore the creation of shaders that manipulate this channel as well as discover how transparency works withing the rendering pipeline with respect to the Z buffer.
In this lecture we will use the alpha channel with rim lighting to create a holographic effect. Included in the lesson will be pointers on using mulitple passes to clear up z buffer issues arising from making models transparent.
Blending provides you with control over the way incoming colours are added to colours already in the frame buffer. Through a series of very simple blend statements you can create a plethora of effects. This lecture shows you how.
By default in computer graphics the reverse side of polygons are not shown to save on processing. However, in the case of billboards you might want to be able to draw on both sides. This lecture shows you how to turn on the drawing of the backfaces.
Sometimes you might want a shader that takes more than one image and then merges them together onto a single surface. In this lecture you will learn how to do this as well as dynamically turn one on and off at runtime.
In this lecture we will examine the use of another buffer called the Stencil Buffer. This is useful for masking certain pixels to create a variety of effects including XRay Vision and Drawing Holes in walls.
The best way to get to understand the stencil buffer is to try it out many different ways. In this lecture we will use the stencil buffer to create a fun optical illusion as well as a dynamic piece of stencil code to let you play with the stencil settings via the Inspector.
In this lecture we'll examine the structure of a vertex/fragment shader. I'll point out a few of the nuances in the code and then show you how to create your own.
Both the vertex shader and fragment shader both deal with vertices and they can both produce colours. In this lecture we will examine the differences.
V/F shaders, like surface shaders, are capable of processing materials to colour the surface of objects. In this lecture we will look at how UV values are processed in both the Vert and Frag functions. Towards the end I will show you how to take a screen grab of a scene and use that as a manipulatable material on a plane.
While lighting is best kept to surface shaders that handle them elegantly on your behalf, it is handy to know how they work in V/F shaders. This lecture examines how to add a lambert lighting model to create diffuse light.
There's no point in having light if you can't have shadows. So let's modify the lighting shader in this lecture to examine how shadows are cast and received.
In this lecture we will start writing the value noise algorithm.
In this lecture we will examine the use of a vertex shader with a surface shader. The vertex shader will be used to extrude the surface of a mesh for a ballooning effect.
Outline is a cool effect you can combine with toon shading to get a Borderlands rendered look. In this lecture we will examine two ways to achieve the look.
In this lecture we will create everyone's favourite glass. But this glass isn't simply a transparent pane. It includes bump mapping, a stained-glass pattern and light refraction.
Once you know how, modifying vertices with mathematical functions can create all sorts of interesting effects. In this lecture we will examine the sin function for producing waves on the surface of a plane.
In this lecture we will examine a simple way to change the UV values of a surface over time to create a texture that rolls over the surface.
In this lecture we will use more sine functions and lots of them, plus a cosine, pow and squareroot to create some old school plasma to warp across the surface of objects.
In this lecture we will learn about the basics of ray marching and use it to render a sphere inside a cube with shader code.
In this lecture we will explore further facets of the ray marching algorithm and also calculate per pixel lighting.
In this lecture we will begin looking at another way to mathematically represent a sphere and depth test in two places.
In this lecture we will create the function that calculates the fog density.
In this lecture we will use the fog calculating function in the vertex shader to render a ball of volumetric fog.
In this lecture we will look at the Value Noise algorithm that will be used to create clouds as well as begin setting up the cloud environment.
In this lecture we begin with an overview of programming predictable random values and write some random functions for the shader.
In this lecture we complete the writing of the 3d value noise and test out some of its basic functionality.
In this lecture we will put the final function together that will combine lighting and cloud density into the shader for your first view of simple clouds.
In this lecture we will look at mixing and matching map functions and multiple marches to create better clouds.
In this lecture we will begin modifying the clouds shader to work on the camera.
In this lecture we will complete writing the Clouds.cs script that bypasses the normal Unity drawing to render the clouds on the camera.
In this lecture we will finished adjusting the existing clouds shader to work when attached to a camera.
In this lecture the camera direction is corrected for the cloud movement and a challenge involving plasma is presented.
This article presents some extra reading and content on volumetric shaders.
This link provides further information on the courses you can look at taking based on your interests and skill level.
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Reviews summary
Deep dive into unity shader development
Updated for recent Unity versions.
Includes workshops and challenges.
Highly recommended as a top resource.
Covers math, pipeline, and effects.
Instructor makes complex topics clear.
Develops a deep, fundamental grasp.
Activities
Review Vector Mathematics
Show steps
Strengthen your understanding of vector mathematics, which is crucial for manipulating objects in 3D space and creating shader effects.
Browse courses on
Vector Mathematics
Show steps
-
Review vector addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication.
-
Practice calculating dot products and cross products.
-
Work through examples of vector transformations.
The Book of Shaders
Show steps
Read 'The Book of Shaders' to gain a solid foundation in shader programming principles and techniques.
View
Putting Knowledge to Work
on Amazon
Show steps
-
Read the introductory chapters on GLSL syntax and basic shader structure.
-
Experiment with the interactive examples provided in the book.
-
Try to recreate some of the shader effects discussed in the book using Unity's ShaderLab.
Create a Simple Animated Shader
Show steps
Develop a simple animated shader to practice manipulating vertices and UV coordinates over time.
Show steps
-
Create a new shader in Unity using ShaderLab.
-
Write code to modify the vertex positions based on a sine wave function.
-
Adjust the speed and amplitude of the animation using shader properties.
-
Apply the shader to a simple mesh and observe the animation.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Document Shader Creation Process
Show steps
Create a blog post or video tutorial explaining the process of creating a specific shader effect covered in the course.
Show steps
-
Choose a shader effect from the course that you want to document.
-
Recreate the shader effect from scratch.
-
Document each step of the process, explaining the code and the underlying concepts.
-
Publish your blog post or video tutorial online.
Recreate Example Shaders
Show steps
Practice recreating shaders from existing games or demos to improve your understanding of different techniques.
Show steps
-
Find examples of interesting shaders in games or online demos.
-
Analyze the visual effect and try to break it down into smaller components.
-
Recreate the shader effect in Unity using ShaderLab.
-
Compare your implementation with the original and identify any differences.
Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook
Show steps
Use the 'Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook' as a reference for implementing common shader effects and learning new techniques.
View
Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook
on Amazon
Show steps
-
Browse the cookbook and identify shader effects that are relevant to your projects.
-
Implement the shader effects in your own Unity projects.
-
Customize the shader effects to fit your specific needs.
Contribute to a Shader Project
Show steps
Contribute to an open-source shader project to gain experience working with a team and learn from other developers.
Show steps
-
Find an open-source shader project on GitHub or GitLab.
-
Fork the repository and set up a local development environment.
-
Identify a bug or feature that you want to work on.
-
Implement the fix or feature and submit a pull request.
-
Respond to feedback from other developers and revise your code as needed.
Review Vector Mathematics
Show steps
Strengthen your understanding of vector mathematics, which is crucial for manipulating objects in 3D space and creating shader effects.
Browse courses on
Vector Mathematics
Show steps
- Review vector addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication.
- Practice calculating dot products and cross products.
- Work through examples of vector transformations.
The Book of Shaders
Show steps
Read 'The Book of Shaders' to gain a solid foundation in shader programming principles and techniques.
View
Putting Knowledge to Work
on Amazon
Show steps
- Read the introductory chapters on GLSL syntax and basic shader structure.
- Experiment with the interactive examples provided in the book.
- Try to recreate some of the shader effects discussed in the book using Unity's ShaderLab.
Create a Simple Animated Shader
Show steps
Develop a simple animated shader to practice manipulating vertices and UV coordinates over time.
Show steps
- Create a new shader in Unity using ShaderLab.
- Write code to modify the vertex positions based on a sine wave function.
- Adjust the speed and amplitude of the animation using shader properties.
- Apply the shader to a simple mesh and observe the animation.
Document Shader Creation Process
Show steps
Create a blog post or video tutorial explaining the process of creating a specific shader effect covered in the course.
Show steps
- Choose a shader effect from the course that you want to document.
- Recreate the shader effect from scratch.
- Document each step of the process, explaining the code and the underlying concepts.
- Publish your blog post or video tutorial online.
Recreate Example Shaders
Show steps
Practice recreating shaders from existing games or demos to improve your understanding of different techniques.
Show steps
- Find examples of interesting shaders in games or online demos.
- Analyze the visual effect and try to break it down into smaller components.
- Recreate the shader effect in Unity using ShaderLab.
- Compare your implementation with the original and identify any differences.
Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook
Show steps
Use the 'Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook' as a reference for implementing common shader effects and learning new techniques.
View
Unity Shaders and Effects Cookbook
on Amazon
Show steps
- Browse the cookbook and identify shader effects that are relevant to your projects.
- Implement the shader effects in your own Unity projects.
- Customize the shader effects to fit your specific needs.
Contribute to a Shader Project
Show steps
Contribute to an open-source shader project to gain experience working with a team and learn from other developers.
Show steps
- Find an open-source shader project on GitHub or GitLab.
- Fork the repository and set up a local development environment.
- Identify a bug or feature that you want to work on.
- Implement the fix or feature and submit a pull request.
- Respond to feedback from other developers and revise your code as needed.
Career center
Shader Programmer
Rendering Engineer
Graphics Programmer
Technical Artist
Real Time Rendering Specialist
Material Artist
Visual Effects Artist
Creative Coder
Virtual Reality Developer
Game Developer
Motion Graphics Designer
Augmented Reality Developer
Simulation Developer
Pipeline Developer
Software Engineer
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