Shader basics & recipes
The foundations of shaders in Unity, whatever tool you use: what a shader is, how vertex and fragment stages work, UVs, normals, depth and custom functions, plus small self-contained recipes. Start here before moving to a specific effect. Use the "Built with" filter to see only Shader Graph or only HLSL guides. 25 hand-picked Unity guides, tutorials, videos and repos, kept current.
- Understanding Unity shader structure
Quick look at what goes into a Unity shader: ShaderLab, HLSL and related pieces.
jettelly.com · Aug 2026 - Custom Shader FX Nodes - No Boilerplate
Discover Unity 6.5’s powerful new Shader Function Reflection API. Write normal HLSL functions, add minimal boilerplate, and Unity automatically turns them into fully-featured Shader Graph nodes with p
youtube.com · Jun 2026 - Unity Shader Code Basics 01 - Your First Shader
Introduces writing HLSL shader code in Unity, where Shader Graph falls short.
danielilett.com · Oct 2025 - @halisavakis.com: HLSL function declared in one file, defined in another
Shader tip: split declaration and definition across include files so passes share code while implementations vary.
bsky.app · Sep 2025 - Unity Shader Graph Basics (Part 10 - Custom Functions)
Injects custom HLSL functions into Shader Graph, including access to additional point light data.
danielilett.com · Jul 2024 - Unity Shader Graph Basics (Part 9 - Scene Intersections 2)
Uses scene intersections for foamy coastal water edges and glowing edges on passing objects.
danielilett.com · May 2024 - New Shader Graph feature examples in 2022 LTS
Sample set of Shader Graph feature examples you can import to learn many effects and techniques.
unity.com · Mar 2024 - Unity Shader Graph Basics (Part 3 - Transparency & Alpha)
Explains transparency, draw order and alpha clipping in Shader Graph.
danielilett.com · Dec 2023 - The Best Darn Grid Shader (Yet)
How to draw a clean, anti-aliased grid in a shader that holds up at any distance and viewing angle.
bgolus.medium.com · Oct 2023 - Unity Shader Graph Basics (Part 1 - Your First Graph)
Beginner guide to creating your first Shader Graph shader in Unity.
danielilett.com · Sep 2023 - patreon.com
Patreon post on building an effect in Shader Graph.
patreon.com · ~Apr 2023 - Distinctive Derivative Differences
A look at the different kinds of shader derivatives and how they differ in practice.
bgolus.medium.com · Apr 2021 - What is a Shader? | Unity Tutorial
Explains what a shader is in Unity.
youtube.com · Feb 2021 - Skillshot Arrow Shader | Sawce
Blog post on a skillshot arrow indicator shader.
sawcegames.com · ~Mar 2020 - What should I know about shaders | Unity Tutorial
Overview of what to know before learning shaders in Unity.
youtube.com · Feb 2020 - What is a Shader | Unity Tutorial
Explains what a shader is in Unity.
youtube.com · Feb 2020 - Shader structure | Unity Tutorial
Explains the structure of a Unity shader file.
youtube.com · Feb 2020 - Sharper Mipmapping using Shader Based Supersampling
A shader-based supersampling approach for sharper results than plain mipmapping.
bgolus.medium.com · Aug 2019 - The Team Color Problem
Approaches to recolouring part of an object, such as team colours, in a shader.
bgolus.medium.com · Jul 2018 - Shader bits: World and screen space position – Harry Alisavakis
Shader snippets for getting world and screen space position.
halisavakis.com · ~Nov 2017 - Shader bits: Camera distance, view direction and normal vectors – Harry Alisavakis
Shader snippets for camera distance, view direction and normal vectors.
halisavakis.com · ~Nov 2017 - Normal Mapping for a Triplanar Shader
How to get correct normal mapping on triplanar-mapped surfaces.
bgolus.medium.com · Sep 2017 - Anti-aliased Alpha Test: The Esoteric Alpha To Coverage
How alpha to coverage gives anti-aliased alpha-tested edges, which matters most in VR.
bgolus.medium.com · Aug 2017 - Shaders 101 - Intro to Shaders
Introduction to what shaders are and how they work in Unity.
youtube.com · Feb 2016 - Intro to Shader Graph
Detailed Shader Graph introduction covering graph setup, data types, previews and more.
cyanilux.com