Unity Rendering — 4 — ShaderGraph
I am Samuel Asher Rivello, a professional game developer with 25 years of game development experience — over a decade with the Unity and C#. Unity is a powerful and popular suite of tools (Project IDE, Code IDE, and run-time).
Unity Rendering
ShaderGraph is Unity’s solution for building shaders through a visual, drag-and-drop interface. With ShaderGraph, you can create complex shaders using nodes that represent different mathematical and artistic operations. It supports a range of shaders, including those for the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) and High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP).
In this series we focus on URP since it is so versatile.
1. What is ShaderGraph?
ShaderGraph is a powerful tool that makes shader development accessible to artists and technical designers. With ShaderGraph, you can create custom shaders using a visual workflow, eliminating the need for hand-written code. This allows rapid prototyping and iteration of shader effects while providing a clear view of the shader’s structure.
2. Key Features of ShaderGraph
- Node-Based Editor: ShaderGraph’s interface uses nodes that represent various operations like mathematical functions, textures, and color adjustments. You can connect these nodes to build custom shaders that control surface appearances, transparency, and lighting.
- Sub Graphs: Sub Graphs allow you to encapsulate reusable shader nodes and reduce complexity. Use Sub Graphs to modularize shader code and maintain a clean and organized workflow.
- Preview and Debugging: ShaderGraph provides real-time previews of your shader, enabling you to see changes instantly. The debugging tools help identify performance bottlenecks and ensure visual fidelity.
3. ShaderGraph for URP
ShaderGraph is compatible with both URP and HDRP, making it easy to create high-quality shaders across different rendering pipelines. While URP focuses on efficiency and scalability, HDRP supports advanced features like subsurface scattering and ray tracing, providing opportunities for creating highly realistic effects.
Read More: Unity Rendering — 2 — URP Pipeline
Conclusion
ShaderGraph is an essential tool for creating custom shaders in Unity. Its visual interface simplifies the shader development process and provides an intuitive way to build complex visual effects. Whether you’re working on stylized shaders for mobile games or realistic materials for high-end platforms, ShaderGraph helps bring your creative vision to life.
Resources
🦜 Contact
- Samuel Asher Rivello has over 20 years of game dev XP. He is available for remote, contract hire as a game developer and game dev educator.
- Contact Sam today to say hi and discuss your projects!
📜 Articles
- Optimization Portfolio: Maximizing performance
- Rendering Portfolio : ShaderGraph / VFXGraph
- Unity Rendering — 1 — Overview
- Unity Rendering — 2 — URP Pipeline
- Unity Rendering — 3 — RenderGraph
- Unity Rendering — 4 — ShaderGraph
- Unity Rendering — 5 — VFXGraph
- Unity Rendering — 6 — Optimization
