Activate/Enable a Shader

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how would I simply toggle a shader on or off? Are their any precoded shaders that I could add to make an object semi-transparent?

I think you need to clarify what you want to do. Neither this question nor http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/44224 makes any sense to me, as it is. Perhaps if you explain the intent, instead of what theories you have about execution, we can help you.

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Not sure what you mean by on/off. You can enable/disable the renderer, and it won't render. Or the entire object. Or you can replace the material with another one.

Most shaders have a Main Color, and that main color includes and alpha channel, so put that at like halfway. You can also use textures with alpha channels, I like PNG myself.

Why do you like PNG? Do you use Fireworks? I've found them useless from Photoshop, but okay from Illustrator. I ask about Fireworks, because I've heard that it gives you control of the PNG's alpha channel, unlike Photoshop, where you have to rely on layered transparency.

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As opposed to Tiff or PSD or any of that. It's an open web standard, I like that. I use Paint Shop Pro which is much easier than Photoshop or Gimp and has very good transparency control.

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Alpha does not necessarily equate to transparency. Does Paint Shop Pro allow you to create PNGs where the alpha has nothing to do with transparency? Photoshop doesn't. I also think it's a pain to not use PSDs directly.

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Right, but generally, and in the cases I've seen it always is. I haven't played with other types of alpha. What else would it be used for in Unity? PSP allows for multiple alpha channels per image, I suppose you could use one for transparency and one for specular(?). I think PNG only allows one alpha. Most viewers assume it's for transparency. But you can author it for whatever you like of course.

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I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean toggle shader. You can't just turn a shader off because that tells Unity how to render the object.

  1. You could simply disable the renderer. That would turn off the shader and more :).

  2. You could use a Camera.RenderWithShader() and Camera.SetReplacementShader() which are both described here.

  3. You could change materials or change the materials properties. `material.shader = Shader.Find("YourShader");`