Unity 2018 Shaders and Effects Cookbook (eBook)

Bring realism to your games by mastering post-processing effects and advanced shading techniques in Unity 2018About This BookLearn the secrets of creating AAA quality shaders without writing long algorithmsMaster shader programming through easy-to-follow examplesCreate stunning visual effects that can be used in 3D gamesWho This Book Is ForUnity Shaders and Effects Cookbook is for developers who want to create their first shaders in Unity 2018 or wish to take their game to a whole new level by adding professional post-processing effects. A solid understanding of Unity is required to get the most from this book.What You Will LearnUnderstand physically based rendering to fit the aesthetic of your gameWrite shaders from scratch in ShaderLab and HLSL/CgCombine shader programming with interactive scripts to add life to your materialsDesign efficient shaders for mobile platforms without sacrificing their realismUse state-of-the-art techniques, such as volumetric explosions and fur shadingMaster the math and algorithms behind the most used lighting modelsUnderstand how shader models have evolved and how you can create your ownIn DetailSince their introduction to Unity, shaders have been seen as notoriously difficult to understand and implement in games. Complex mathematics has always stood in the way of creating your own shaders and attaining the level of realism you crave.Unity 2018 Shaders and Effects Cookbook changes that by giving you a recipe-based guide to creating shaders using Unity. It will show you everything you need to know about vectors, how lighting is constructed with them, and how textures are used to create complex effects without the heavy math.This book starts by teaching you how to use shaders without writing code with the post-processing stack. Then, you'll learn how to write shaders from scratch, build up essential lighting, and finish by creating stunning screen effects just like those in high-quality 3D and mobile games. You'll discover techniques, such as normal mapping, image-based lighting, and animating your models inside a shader. We'll explore how to use physically based rendering to treat light the way it behaves in the real world. At the end, we'll even look at Unity 2018's new Shader Graph system.With this book, what seems like a dark art today will be second nature by tomorrow.Style and approachThe recipes in this book contain step-by-step instructions, complemented with screenshots, code, and real-world examples.