Glass, refraction & transparency
Glass, water surfaces, ice and anything see-through are harder than they look: sorting, refraction, depth and reflections all interact. These guides cover blending modes, refraction using the scene colour, frosted and stained glass, and the fixes for common sorting artefacts. 30 hand-picked Unity guides, tutorials, videos and repos, kept current.
- GitHub - Youssef-Afella/UnityURP-FakeRealGlass: Fast glass shader that doesn't require any RayTracing or RayMarching
Repo: URP glass shader that fakes realistic refraction without ray tracing or raymarching.
github.com · ~Feb 2026 - Unity Shader Code Basics 03 - Transparency
Explains drawing transparent objects and blending in hand-written Unity shaders.
danielilett.com · Jan 2026 - Pokémon Emerald cartridge shader walkthrough
Achieving a translucent plastic cartridge effect by modelling internals and layering transparency tricks.
bobacupcake.com · Nov 2025 - CD bagel shader walkthrough
From a 3D-scanned donut to an iridescent CD-like shader: model, textures and shading choices.
bobacupcake.com · Sep 2025 - Transparency Scene Color Renderer Feature
Patreon post on a renderer feature for a transparency scene color texture.
patreon.com · Jun 2025 - Sims 4: Mirrors
Analysis of how mirrors are rendered in The Sims 4.
simonschreibt.de · Mar 2025 - Infinity Nikki: One-way Window
Looks at the one-way window effect in Infinity Nikki.
simonschreibt.de · Feb 2025 - A look at Ghost Shaders
Patreon post surveying ghost shader approaches.
patreon.com · Oct 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 Shader Graph Basics (Part 3 - Transparency & Alpha)
Explains transparency, draw order and alpha clipping in Shader Graph.
danielilett.com · Dec 2023 - https://www.cyanilux.com/tutorials/snowglobe-breakdown/
Cyanilux breakdown of a snow globe effect built with shaders.
cyanilux.com · ~Jan 2023 - Snowglobe Breakdown
Breaks down a snow globe: refractive glass shader with particles inside following the rigidbody.
cyanilux.com · Jan 2023 - Order independent transparency, part 1
Explains order-independent transparency approaches for rendering, part 1.
interplayoflight.wordpress.com · Jul 2022 - Coloring Raymarched Volumetric Light Through Stained Glass
Colors raymarched volumetric light as it passes through stained glass, continuing a previous tutorial.
valeriomarty.medium.com · ~Aug 2021 - Technically Speaking Challenge Stained Glass — Joyrok
Tech art write-up on a stained glass effect for the Technically Speaking challenge.
joyrok.com · ~Jun 2021 - Mafia II – Hat vs. Hair
Looks at the hat versus hair problem in Mafia II.
simonschreibt.de · Nov 2020 - RandomDevNotes/UnityAlphaBlending at master · Demkeys/RandomDevNotes
Repo: Research notes on alpha blending in Unity.
github.com · Feb 2020 - Alpha to Coverage Anti-Aliasing
Patreon post on alpha-to-coverage and anti-aliasing for cutout transparency.
patreon.com · ~Jan 2020 - Shader Showcase Saturday #1: Volumetric Crystals
Creates volumetric crystals with shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2018 - Basic Transparency
Basic transparency in shaders by blending with the screen.
ronja-tutorials.com · Apr 2018 - 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 Case Study - Spelunky Ice Cave Crystals
Case study recreating Spelunky's ice cave crystal look with shaders.
youtube.com · Apr 2016 - Blubb! – Fish Tanks in Games
Looks at fish tanks in games.
simonschreibt.de · Feb 2016 - Alpha 1 – My Top 5 Usecases
Five favorite use cases for the alpha channel.
simonschreibt.de · Jan 2016 - Sacred 2 – Fake Mirror
Explains the fake mirror trick in Sacred 2.
simonschreibt.de · Jul 2015 - Windows AC/Row/Infinite
Overview of advanced window rendering tricks in games.
simonschreibt.de · Apr 2014 - Sacred 2 – Crystal Reflexion
Explains how Sacred 2 gets convincing crystal reflections in its Ice and Blood add-on.
simonschreibt.de · Feb 2013 - Assassins Creed 3 – Windows
Explains how Assassin's Creed 3 fakes interiors visible through building windows.
simonschreibt.de · Jan 2013 - URP Shaders in Code, Part 3: Transparent and Crystal Clear
Part three of writing URP shaders in code, covering transparency and crystal-clear materials.
nedmakesgames.medium.com - A New & Unique Approach to Creating Mirrors for Games in Unity
Describes a mirror rendering approach faster than ray tracing and more detailed than screen space reflections.
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