Shader Development from Scratch with Cg - Unity 6 Compatible
Why take this course?
🎉 Course Title: Shader Development from Scratch for Unity with Cg 🎓
Course Headline:
🔥 Master the Graphics Pipeline in Unity & Create Unique Visual Surfaces! 🔥
Course Description:
Now Updated for Unity 2017 to 2019, this course presents a comprehensive guide to programming with Cg and High Level Shader Language (HLSL) in Unity's Shaderlab. It's designed to help you create your own visual surface effects for colouring and lighting game objects, all from scratch!
Dive deep into the mathematics of light and surfaces, as Penny de Byl guides you through the recreation of some of the most popular shaders. You'll gain a solid understanding of computer graphics concepts that will equip you with an essential toolkit for rendering knowledge. With Penny's internationally acclaimed teaching style, based on over 25 years of experience in games and graphics, you'll be developing your own transparent, animated, and texturised shaders in no time!
What You'll Learn:
Learn how to program and work with:
- 📋 Variables and packed arrays
- 🤖 Meshes, vertices, and UVs
- 🧮 Mathematics for 3D and 2D spaces
- 💡 A variety of lighting models from flat to shiny surfaces
- 🌲 Bump maps for added texture depth
- ✨ Special effects such as holographic textures and surface deformations
- 📺 Forward and deferred lighting techniques
- 🎨 Surface, vertex, and fragment shaders using CG/HLSL
- 💫 Volumetric rendering for creating atmospheric effects
Course Contents & Overview:
Begin your journey by creating your very first shader from scratch. Explore the structure of 3D models within shader code, understand the properties of a shader and how to control them via Unity's Inspector. You'll examine various lighting models and their effects on rendering, learn about the buffers in the rendering queue with practical examples, and delve into the world of vector mathematics to create stunning visual effects like outlines and holograms.
Discover how to handle transparency and blending, and participate in hands-on workshops to test your understanding. The course culminates in developing some of the most popular complex shaders, including animated plasma and water with waves, and creating special volumetric effects like fake geometry, fog, and clouds.
Student Reviews & Testimonials:
- 🌟 "This is the best course I've ever taken. It's perfect for me, given my background in feature animation and developing shaders for a proprietary renderer. This course has already helped me bring the value of my previous experience into Unity."
- 🌟 "Best shader course I've come across. Penny's tutorials are clear, concise, and incredibly helpful. They stand out from other resources available on YouTube."
- 🌟 "Wow! Thank you so much! This course deserves 10 stars if there were any. It has brought me from knowing nothing about shader writing to having a profound understanding of it."
- 🌟 "I wanted to let you know that I just finished your shader course and thought it was fantastic. Taking this course was a pleasure, and Penny's teaching style and personality made learning about shaders incredibly easy and enjoyable!"
Join us on this exciting journey into the world of Unity shaders and take the first step towards becoming a shader development pro! 🎥✨
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Comidoc Review
Our Verdict
Shader Development from Scratch with Cg – Unity 6 Compatible is an engaging Udemy course that lays a solid foundation for beginners interested in shader development within the Unity game engine. While there are some areas to improve, such as updating content for modern pipelines and refining code management between sections, students will still significantly benefit from this expert-led instruction and hands-on experience in manipulating visual surfaces. The course's strong points include a deep dive into volumetric rendering and the application of both Cg and Shaderlab to build practical shader effects.
What We Liked
- Comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of shader development, assuming little prior knowledge.
- Covers both Cg and Shaderlab for a robust understanding of different shading techniques in Unity.
- Hands-on approach allows learners to create unique visual surfaces, improving rendering and shader skills.
- Volumetric rendering segment appreciated for its advanced topic and impressive visual results.
Potential Drawbacks
- Dated content with lack of mention about modern Unity pipelines like URP and HDRP.
- Code organization could be improved, as it is slightly messy in certain sections.
- Some mathematical explanations may require additional research for thorough understanding.
- Absence of downloadable videos can prove challenging with video rendering issues.