Mastering Unity Shaders and Effects

Description

With the inclusion of Physically Based Shading and the Standard Shader, Unity has changed the game for independent and large scale developers alike. Never before has it been so easy to create startling high quality visuals in games and other interactive projects. This book will give you a solid understanding of the interaction of shaders, lighting and effects in Unity 5, and give you some great ideas for how you can maximize the visual impact of your own games for PC, mobile and other platforms. In the sequence of chapters you will find solutions to some of the major challenges to the creation of responsive and realistic looking games. As you work on example scenes, you will get to know the syntax of ShaderLab and CG languages, creating simple and complex shader solutions for a variety of different surface effects. You will see how Unity’s responsive lighting solutions can be harnessed to build immersive and appealing game experiences. 1: Getting to Grips with Standard Shaders Creating the project Importing the project files Loading and navigating the spacecraft maintenance scene Summary 2: Creating Custom Shaders Opening the project Creating better transparency for the astronaut's helmet Improving the planet's atmosphere Summary 3: Working with Lighting and Light-Emitting Surfaces Looking at the scene light setup Creating a wireframe emissive material for the planet-surface scanner Summary 4: Animating Surfaces with Code and Shaders Starting the scene Creating a dynamic warning light effect Animating the control panel illumination Animating the planet projection display Summary 5: Exploring Transparent Surfaces and Effects Starting the scene Creating a better transparent glass material Setting up the whirlwind effect Summary 6: Working with Specular and Metallic Surfaces Starting the scene Locating and modifying shader light models Summary 7: Shaders for Organic Surfaces Start the scene Understanding the complexities of human skin Creating the skin shader Creating the eye material Creating the hair material Summary 8: Custom Particle Shaders – Smoke, Steam, and Fluids Starting the scene Adding a particle system Creating the particle shader Summary 9: Optimizing Shaders for Mobile Starting the scene Writing a simple mobile shader Writing an advanced mobile shader Summary