Dissolve, holograms & sci-fi FX
Dissolves, holograms, glitches, force fields and other sci-fi effects mostly come from a handful of shader ideas: noise thresholds, fresnel and scanlines. These guides show how to build them and how to animate them from gameplay code. 27 hand-picked Unity guides, tutorials, videos and repos, kept current.
- Unity Shader Code Basics 10 - Dissolve & Noise
Builds dissolve and noise effects in hand-written Unity code shaders rather than Shader Graph.
danielilett.com · Sep 2026 - A dissolve effect in Unity using HLSL and VFX Graph
Dissolve shader paired with VFX Graph so particles spawn only around the dissolving region.
jettelly.com · Jul 2026 - Low Poly Glitch Effect
Patreon post on a low-poly glitch effect.
patreon.com · Aug 2025 - A look at Ghost Shaders
Patreon post surveying ghost shader approaches.
patreon.com · Oct 2024 - Glitchy Textmeshpro Shader
Patreon post on a glitchy TextMeshPro shader.
patreon.com · Oct 2024 - Fun with Wireframe shaders
Patreon post on wireframe shader effects, including dissolve variants.
patreon.com · May 2024 - Pokémon's Terastallize Effect in Shader Graph
Turns meshes into crystal by triangulating them and using random vectors for lighting, like Pokemon's Terastallize.
danielilett.com · Apr 2024 - MGS Stealth Camo in Shader Graph
Distorts the scene behind a mesh with Scene Color and a green tint for Metal Gear-style stealth camo.
danielilett.com · Mar 2024 - Unity Glitch Effect Patreon post
Patreon post on a glitchy effect in Unity.
patreon.com · ~Nov 2023 - GitHub - sichenn/odradek-terrain-scanner: Odradek Terrain Scanner from Death Stranding (Unity)
Repo: Death Stranding Odradek terrain scanner effect in Unity.
github.com · Apr 2023 - Energy Shield Hologram in Unity Shader Graph
Builds a reactive energy shield hologram in Shader Graph.
danielilett.com · Feb 2023 - Stylized VFX in Unity. Part 1: Step, Smoothstep, Dissolve
Explains step, smoothstep and dissolve for stylized VFX, part one.
torchinsky.me · ~Nov 2020 - joyrok
Joyrok's tech art challenge post about making visuals without textures.
joyrok.cargo.site · ~Sep 2020 - Shader animation in Unity
Explains shader-driven respawn animation and effects for a game character.
torchinsky.me · ~Jun 2020 - Lexdev: Overwatch Shield Case Study
Case study recreating Overwatch's shield effect with shaders.
lexdev.net · ~Apr 2020 - https://www.ronja-tutorials.com/post/038-dissolve/
Ronja tutorial on dissolve effects with a shader.
ronja-tutorials.com · Dec 2018 - Clipping a Model with a Plane
Makes a model's surface disappear beyond a plane.
ronja-tutorials.com · Aug 2018 - My take on shaders: Glitch image effect – Harry Alisavakis
Tutorial on building a glitch image effect.
halisavakis.com · ~Jan 2018 - My take on shaders: Dissolve shader – Harry Alisavakis
Tutorial on writing a dissolve shader.
halisavakis.com · ~Oct 2017 - 3D Printer Shader Effect – Part 2
Part two of replicating the 3D printer build-up shader effect.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2016 - 3D Printer Shader Effect – Part 1
Part one of replicating the 3D printer build-up shader effect seen in Astroneer.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2016 - LCD Monitor Shader Effect
Builds a photorealistic LCD monitor shader effect with code and package.
alanzucconi.com · May 2016 - Alien vs Wolfenstein – Cutting Torch
Looks at the cutting torch effect in Alien vs Wolfenstein.
simonschreibt.de · Mar 2016 - Metal Gear Rising – Slicing
Explains how Metal Gear Rising lets players slice objects into many pieces and how it can be approximated.
simonschreibt.de · Mar 2013 - Sacred 2 – Burning Map
Shows how Sacred 2's world map burns in and out using a burn-through transition effect.
simonschreibt.de · Feb 2013 - Nier Automata shader study | Sawce
Shader study recreating NieR:Automata's glitch effect.
sawcegames.com - Hologram effect - Death Stranding case study
Case study of the Death Stranding hologram effect.
realtimevfx.com