Hello im pretty new to shaders and looking at Shader forge it seems to me that it is a powerful tool to be used (still complex for me). however, while looking for tutorials on google and you-tube i noticed that there is a serious lack of example tutorials; it would be nice to find a tutorial where all/most of the nodes could be explained, aswell as used together to create a variety of interesting basic effects.
If there is such a tutorial series then please point me to the right way ![]()
The shader forge website has a great beginner tutorial, wiki, node docs, and even a link to the Unity Forums ![]()
Once you have an understanding of how to use Shader Forge, you can get examples by simply recreating Unreal 4 materials within it. Complex examples may need some tweaking but the simpler ones should copy over easily.
Ahh yes i should have checked their website haha (well im watching their website tutorials atm and there is 6 videos which is not optimal for me but acceptable).
If anyone knows of any tutorials (video or written) that are separate from the creators that would be very nice.
“simply recreating Unreal 4 materials” @Ryiah that is such a good idea, i noticed that the UI of Shader Forge was inspired by UE4 material creation
A shame that Unity still doesn’t have a build-in node-based shader editor in 2015.
Unity thinks about the hardworking asset developers ![]()
Alright well i picked up ShaderForge and im quite happy with it (first time i’m creating shaders personally). Well anyways i feel like showing you guys my first shader that i created from scratch:
This shader is made up of an Albedo map, and two detail texture maps (the two detail textures use a specific mask selected by the dev. or the dev. can use the sliders present to create a detail mask from the original picture with different amounts of “wear”, also there is opacity on these masks / also there is a tint option for the Albedo and two detail texture maps). Every diffuse texture map has its own normal map slot which is then blended together with the other normal maps (note that the normal maps are also effected by the detail mask meaning the normal maps will match the texture / also im currently working to have each layer have a different gloss value).
COOL!!!
thank you for sharing!! I know the creator would love to see what you’ve done! If you feel comfortable, maybe share it via Twitter?? His twitter is @JoachimHolmer ![]()
Reminds me of dark amber. Well done sir.
Didn’t stop them from building a high quality UI solution that knocked at least one developer out of the race (Daikon Forge).
Well i sent him a tweet, and i have to say, twitters 125 character limit makes me feel claustrophobic >.>
Thanks but the real show is the shader construction, the textures used was just any old ones found in my asset folder (i used a random plastic, rock, and wood log texture, but of course any textures can be used).
whoa! that is totally what it looks like!
is it okay to give out a free shader i made from ShaderForge on the forum?(im guessing it is) If so id like to share a shader that i think is really useful for creating magic emissions on a object (from the base texture itself). It has animated emissions with the emissions pulsating and also moving around the object (it also takes an “emission noise map” which creates a less uniform and bland emissions / all the values such as speed can be adjusted by the user in the inspector). Anyways here it is:
It also accepts the same metallic, gloss, and a normal map slot found on the standard shader (minus the detail texture map).
Hey there,
I’m new to Shader Forge. Just watch the videos, what an amazing tool!!
I’m currently on a HTC Vive project using Tilt Brush. Google provides basic Shaders for Unity. I’m trying to turn the Opaque shader, into a similar one with Shader Forge for adding more effects. However I’m a bit stuck: not sure how to set up the Shininess information and also how to use the Input IN variable with Shader Forge…
This shader seems quite simple, but for a first try it’s not obvious.
Here is what I’ve at the moment:
The Shader I’m trying to translate:
Shader "Brush/Standard" {
Properties {
_Color ("Main Color", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
_SpecColor ("Specular Color", Color) = (0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0)
_Shininess ("Shininess", Range (0.01, 1)) = 0.078125
_MainTex ("Base (RGBA)", 2D) = "white" {}
_BumpMap ("Normalmap", 2D) = "bump" {}
_Cutoff ("Alpha cutoff", Range(0,1)) = 0.5
}
SubShader {
Tags {"Queue"="AlphaTest" "IgnoreProjector"="True" "RenderType"="TransparentCutout"}
LOD 400
CGPROGRAM
#pragma target 3.0
#pragma surface surf StandardSpecular vertex:vert alphatest:_Cutoff addshadow
struct Input {
float2 uv_MainTex;
float2 uv_BumpMap;
float4 color : Color;
};
sampler2D _MainTex;
sampler2D _BumpMap;
fixed4 _Color;
half _Shininess;
void vert (inout appdata_full i) { }
void surf (Input IN, inout SurfaceOutputStandardSpecular o) {
fixed4 tex = tex2D(_MainTex, IN.uv_MainTex);
o.Albedo = tex.rgb * _Color.rgb * IN.color.rgb;
o.Smoothness = _Shininess;
o.Specular = _SpecColor;
o.Normal = UnpackNormal(tex2D(_BumpMap, IN.uv_BumpMap));
o.Alpha = tex.a * IN.color.a;
}
ENDCG
}
FallBack "Transparent/Cutout/VertexLit"
}
Thanks for your help!

this is pretty much what the tb shader is minus in input IN stuff not quite sure what that is.
Thanks @DaDarkDragon ! I figured it out, I needed the Vertex Color too (for grabbing brush colors):
No probs, @Aymeric_1 , also the multiply node(add node does this as well, maybe a couple others, don’t remember) lets you connect up to 5 at once so you don’t need 2 multiply nodes there, another connector will appear under B when you are dragging the line.
also i stumbled upon this for more advanced shader editing.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4iw-WDWN3W9LsK8iVU1-vA/videos
Oh yes indeed @DaDarkDragon , I was looking a small “+” like in UE4 Blueprint, but didn’t try this directly. Thanks for the tips and links!


