[Best Tool Asset Store Award] Amplify Shader Editor - Node-based Shader Creation Tool

Hey benderete,

Thanks for sharing your latest work!

Concerning the Tau Node we already have a PI node on which you can specify a multiplier. We also have an internal Relay node which we will share soon with some other related goodies.
But again thank you so much for sharing it!

About the [Ext] nodes, their 'available' bool property is purposely set to false on the NodeAttributes(...) which make them hidden from the palette.

This is an early implementation of those operations with a dynamic number on input ports but it still does not correctly propagate types nor set internal values correctly.

They should NOT be used for now.

 

Great to heard about dynamic number of input ports!

About Tau, I did it to write into the shader the final constant instead a multiply operation, but after i noticed that pi node already output the operation result.

 

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Thank you all for supporting ASE! In case you missed it, or if you are new to the Amplify Shader Editor, BETA 2 is now available at the Unity Asset Store. As we mentioned in our first post, the price will increase with every major beta update. If you have not already, now is the best time to get it!

Among dozens of improvements, the editor is more stable and flexible. It already counts a couple of user created nodes and shader samples. We could not have done it in such a short period of time without your help. We welcome your feedback, bug reports, and contributions.

Be sure to check our Download Page for the full change list.

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I believe it might still be beneficial to have an explicit Tau node for readability. It's probably easier to read just Tau rather than PI and then look at the multiplier to figure out the final number.

For readability, having a Tau constant might be the more readable approach in my opinion.

 

I agree.

And, in general, would be awesome if, on future releases, the constant values on node ports could be seen on node graph, for readability making a shader and to share and/or learn from shared graphs.
Sometimes I have added int or float constant nodes instead write the values into port to best readability, but making grow the graph unnecessary.

 

is it possible to make a terrain shader with this?

with POM?

Edit:

Sorry to be more clear. I know how to do all the blend etc so it will work on a mesh, but how would I make it so that it knows to target the terrain splat.

Thanks

 

Bug report for latest version:

I get the following error in Unity when building to Android whilst using an ASE shader targeting SM3.0.

I edited the Unlit-ColoredAlpha.shader and cloned the target 2.0 SubShader to create a target 3.0 SubShader. Everything then worked fine.

EDIT: Actually, I looked at the previous pages for this thread and saw that the usual fix for weird errors was to delete ASE and re-import. So I did that and everything worked just fine. Can I suggest adding a line to the ASE manual (installation section) to alert new users they might need to do this during the beta phase ?

EDIT2: Ouch it's back. Everything builds okay the first time after deleting and then re-importing ASE but if I use ASE to edit and save a shader then the error comes back. Forget what I said about target 3.0, the real issue is that the GLDraw class loads that shader and sets the hide flags to HideAndDontSave but then doesn't unload the resource manually when the editor is closed. I added a Resources.UnloadAsset(GLDraw.lineMaterial.shader) line to the Destroy method of the AmplifyShaderEditorWindow class and the issue is now resolved.

 

Thanks Rick. This relates to additional optimization tests I have been working on that I hope you could add to the community roadmap as a requested feature.

I think it would be very useful for mobile if ASE had support for Standard lighting #define overrides. There is a catch when using these for surface shaders in 5.4.x which is explained in *this* issue tracker post. Basically the CgProgram code for the surface shader must contain the #includes for "Lighting.cginc" and "UnityPBSLighting.cginc", Unity's surface compiler will then skip it's own #include statements for these to allow the surface shader to get in the desired #defines before the lighting #include macros occur.

The #defines themselves can be done in a Shader CgInclude code block, a CgInclude file or simply as statements in the SubShader CgProgram code block. As long as the #defines are done before the lighting #includes mentioned above.

I have compiled a list of examples for the most relevant lighting #defines that such a feature could support:

Spoiler: List of Lighting #Define Examples

// Significant quality and performance defines
#define UNITY_BRDF_PBS BRDF3_Unity_PBS
#define UNITY_BRDF_PBS_LIGHTMAP_INDIRECT BRDF3_Unity_PBS
#undef UNITY_SPECCUBE_BOX_PROJECTION
#define UNITY_SPECCUBE_BOX_PROJECTION 0
#undef UNITY_SPECCUBE_BLENDING
#define UNITY_SPECCUBE_BLENDING 0
#define UNITY_STANDARD_SIMPLE 1
#define _SPECULARHIGHLIGHTS_OFF
#define _GLOSSYREFLECTIONS_OFF

// Specialized support defines
#define UNITY_TANGENT_ORTHONORMALIZE 0
#define UNITY_GLOSS_MATCHES_MARMOSET_TOOLBAG2 0
#define UNITY_SAMPLE_FULL_SH_PER_PIXEL 0
#undef UNITY_LIGHT_PROBE_PROXY_VOLUME
#define UNITY_LIGHT_PROBE_PROXY_VOLUME 0

// Visual Tweaks
#define UNITY_SPECCUBE_LOD_EXPONENT (1.5)
#define UNITY_SPECCUBE_LOD_STEPS (6)
#define UNITY_CONSERVE_ENERGY 1
#define UNITY_CONSERVE_ENERGY_MONOCHROME 1
#define UNITY_BRDF_GGX 1

The Specular Highlights and Glossy Reflections defines can be done this way as well, thus avoiding surface shader variants if desired.

I suspect that once ASE supports custom CgInc files I could do all this manually, but a UI list built into the Master node would be a lot more effective

 

If you guys think it will improve readability then we'll add it, no problem at all. I will do some tweaking on benderete node so it will return the final calculated value and not do the 2*PI operation. This way will also be beneficial by saving a multiply operation.

I'm not sure I quite understand your request because we are already showing the constant value on the node title. Maybe it's not visible enough?

We will share some cool POM related features soon.

Zazy we really apologize for the GLDraw issues. It was indeed resources not being released. It will be fixed on our next update.
Also thank you so much for such a detailed post. Your request is indeed really nice and we have already registered it!

 

I can be wrong, but Tau node already write the calculated valued, not the operation... but anybody can have a bad day ;P

Yes, constant nodes show the value. But I speak about any other node type: If a node has a value written for a port instead a conecction, show the value written in that port, like constant nodes do.
For example, if PI node is used writing a value for multiplier port on the properties panel, that the node shows this value without need to click the node to see the properties panel.

 

Suggestion: Stencil Buffer

 

is it possible to make a terrain shader with this?

 

Depends on the type of shader. We are going to include terrain related samples soon, stay tuned!

 

Minimum required Unity version.

Some users reported not being able to download the latest package directly from the Unity Asset Store due to the required minimum version being set to 5.4.2. We already submitted a new package set to 5.4.0f3, it should be available soon. If you are using an older version and you would still like to download the latest ASE package, simply use your invoice number in the Amplify Creations Download Page to access it.

Thanks!

 

Sorry TechDeveloper when I first read your first question I was totally focused on the POM part since we are internally working on it and didn't answered the most important part of your question which was on your later edit.
For now it is not possible to create a shader which completely reproduces Unity native terrain splats shader. I went through it and there are a couple of features we need to include to be able to achieve that.
Again, I apologize for not giving you a full answer on my previous post.

Apart of that please expect a new build later today.

 

Hi guys,

As promised we've uploaded a new build into our download area.

Here are the release notes:

Release Notes v0.2.3 dev 001:

• New control points can be added to wires to better manipulate its shape
  • Double click a wire to create an additional control point
  • Control points are selected, moved and deleted similar to regular nodes
• Fixed issue with box selection being active when dragging nodes with the 'Shift' key held down
• Fixed issues with wire resources not being correctly released when ASE is shut down
• Fixed issues with 'Pixel Normal World' and 'Vertex Normal World' nodes
• Fixed issue with 'Multiply' node on Matrix/Vector multiplications
• Fixed issue with 'Break To Components' node
• Fixed issue with 'Component Mask' node
• Fixed issue with wrong type propagation when replacing node connections
• Fixed issue with instance references being lost on 'Texture Sample' and 'Screen Color' nodes
• Tweaked 'Object to World' and 'World to Object' nodes to be more compile friendly
• Added 'Model' matrix node
• Added 'Relay' node
• Added 'TriplanarObjectSpace' sample to samples folder
• Added precision selector for variables ( known issue: precision info is not being taken into account when auto local vars are created )
• Community Node additions
  • The Four Headed Cat
    • Added 'Tau' node
  • Rea
    • Added 'Height Map Blend' node

One cool new feature on this version is the ability to add additional control points to wires and shape it however you want. This feature combined with the new color debug mode from last build improves the overall graph readability.



We hope everything runs smoothly on your end and let us know if you have any issues with this new build.

Have an awesome weekend and good shader creations!

 

Hi! I haven't done very much work with shaders, so I feel a bit lost. I bought ASE and am playing around with it in an attempt to create a stylized shader.

I want to use a dark-to-light gradient ramp texture to color the object, by sampling the darker values from that ramp texture for areas that are in shadow and sampling the lighter values from the ramp texture for areas that are directly illuminated by a scene light. Can you guys point me in the right direction?

 

Are you speaking about something like toon / cell shading?
I don't know if there is another approach, but time ago I was playing a little with toon shaders and making the shadowing with ramp (or other effects) was through custom lighting and is not supported by ase yet (on roadmap i think)
But, perhaps someone can give another solution without custom lighting.

 

Oh. That explains why the lighting model stuff is grayed out. Yeah, it's similar to toon shading. The basic effect I'm going for is a small painted miniature, which are painted in layers from darkest to lightest (a yellow area would be shaded with an orangey-yellow color with yellowish-white highlights for example), so the paint ramp is a gradient that contains the shade/midtone/highlight blend. Switching out the paint ramp recolors the area the material is assigned to.

On top of that, I want to use a second ramp that contains a gradient blending from a dark cool blue/purple up to a warm yellow for stylized lighting, which would tint the whole finger darker/cooler in the less illuminated areas and warmer/brighter in the more illuminated areas. It looks more natural than black/white shading.

Come to think of it, I might have to resort to using an cavity map texture for the paint gradient, which would make more sense anyway since the shading color tends to fill crevices and low areas, while the midtones tend to be on the higher areas, and the highlights are used to pick out sharp edges and detail. I'd still need the cool-to-warm ramp lighting for stylized scene lighting...so I guess I'll have to wait for the lighting model stuff to be exposed, or find some other solution if that's too far down the roadmap.

 

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EDIT: Added Luminance option to Grayscale Style
++++++

If it's usefull for someone, here i share a simple custom node to desaturate a colorfull image to grayscale.

The node will appear under Image Effects category.

To use the node copy it on your project into Asset/AmplifyShaderEditor/Plugins/Editor/Nodes/ImageEffects folder.

The node have a property called Grayscale Style, visible on node Property panel with three possible values: Luminance, Natural Classic and Old School.
- Luminance: The output will be a natural grayscale generated with the function Luminance (equal that if you use the ASE node Luminance).
- Natural Classic: The output will be a natural grasycale calculated with dot(rgb, float3(0.299,0.587,0.114))
- Old School: The output will be a grayscale based on rgb average of each color (r + g + b) / 3

Really, this is a personal election. For regular purposes is best suitable Luminance or Natural Computed (if prefer), but for pixelated old retro look i prefer
the averaging method (this is the way that i used for grayscaling on ms-dos times).

And you know: feel free of use it, improve it, etc, etc...

Spoiler: node view

Spoiler: shader example

Spoiler: output sample of natural classic and old school

++++++
EDIT: Added Luminance option to Grayscale Style
++++++

 

Hey guys, KRGraphics here...

I finally got my hands on this editor and it is very powerful indeed. I took one of my characters for my game project and I will say I am EXTREMELY impressed with the ease and quality of my textures. Right now, the only thing missing from this is specular, which is VITAL for PBR, especially if I will be creating custom values for Skin and Eyes.

Keep up the good work guys... I can see this being perfect for a lot of us here who are NOT shader programmers. If I can add some requests for :

• In the editor, I would love the ability to group my nodes, and make comments for myself as I create them. I use Substance Designer a lot and a feature like this is always useful.
• Will there be an ability to make double sided shaders with different textures? Would be useful for things like Jackets
• Shading Models like Kajiya-Kay, Marschner for hair would be ideal. I know that is coming.
• A graph for potential performance would also help here... I don't want to make something that would be too heavy, though it's next gen. Who cares lol...
• Does the standard shading model support parallax mapping?

 

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Apologies for the shameless plug Amplify Bloom, our high-quality and high-performance bloom effects solution, is one of the lucky finalist in the Asset Store Award category. If you happen to use it, please consider showing your support by voting today. https://unity3d.com/awards/2016

Thanks!

 

Have you thought about using Unity's Luminance function, found in UnityCG.cginc? That one handles both color spaces, gamma and linear.

 

Hi @Peter77,

Really I made this node for this two approach of grayscale (for personal preference on same cases). ASE already have the Luminance node to grayscale through this UnityGC function. You can found it under Generic category.

Edit thinking on @Peter77 suggestion: How I said, this node include two grayscale approach for personal preference and I have shared it in case of somebody like it. Initially it have no sense to be included in ASE because it have the Luminance node, but is possible that it could include the three grayscale methods: Luminance, natural computed and old school (for example). Perhaps for some people that start with ASE will be more easy find a node named "Grayscale" that a node "Luminance". I don't know, it's an idea.

 

Yes, we had multiple requests on this one and is really high on our priority list.

We'll add this request to our community suggestions section of the roadmap.

That would be useful when creating shaders for mobile. Another community member also gave a similar suggestion to mark nodes which may not be performance friendly.
We will definitely look into this.

We will soon have some cool stuff to share regarding paralax occlusion mapping

 

I think not, but is possible stencil buffer on ASE or any alternative to it?

 

The minimum required Unity version has been reverted to 5.4.0, it was accidentally set to 5.4.2. You shouldn't have any issues downloading it directly from the Unity Asset Store. Apologies for the inconvenience.

 

Hey everyone!

So I'm been working on parallax and I started with the most simple one, parallax mapping. I understand unity already has one but to me it has a few problems with how it offsets the height texture and the way it does the parallax. The proper way should have the depth of the view direction into account and theirs doesn't. So I went and created a new parallax that has both the approximation that unity uses and an option for the other in case you want it.

Also, I made it deepen the lower parts of the heightmap instead of the raising the high parts. This is the proper way to do it and it's a step closer to a POM shader. It's even possible to link a bunch of these together to do a iterative parallax mapping.

Here's an example on a brick floor/wall. Got the textures from http://freepbr.com/materials/1x1block/ but I had to invert the green channel of the normal map and I'm not using their height map.



And here's another mimicking one of the examples from unreal engine VRdemo. The interior was made from a screenshot captured using the Interior Vol.2 by ArchivzPro https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/50665



And here's the package with the above examples:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzxBIMuBW-4GOTRsSDZGWDdFcFE

Feel free to ask anything if you are curious about something or want to know how to do something with it.

cheers

 

That parallax map is impressive and I like that you lowered the darker parts too which is amazing. How is it performance wise?

 

The calculations are pretty simple, at worst it's as bad the unity parallax which is already an approximation so it's really barebones. I just made it "more right" and usable in the editor. My intention is to eventually create a POM which is much more expensive.

An intermediate solution would be to use a iterative one. Which you can create using this node in the editor and create each iteration individually.

 

Hi, I just bought this asset. I found occlusion map is not working, even example shader. Maybe I missed something, does anybody test occlusion map?

 

Hi Shiyao.

Thank you so much for purchasing ASE.
I've done a simple test, analyzed its code and its working as intended. Here's a shot of my test.



By looking at the generated shader we can see that we are feeding the occlusion texture to the correct channel. Since we are connecting an RBGA output port into a Occlusion port ( which is an Float type input port ) it automatically chooses its first channel [ tex2D( ).x ].

Is it possible for you to share your shader with us to see what might be happening?

 

Make sure your occlusion texture is not greyscale...

 

Thanks for your reply. Here is my shaders. In first image, I just connected AO map, and the shadow part just became dark. by the way, I made this AO map by substance painter. In second image, I used remap to change contrast of AO, but the AO still not working correctly. The last two images are stander unity shader and shader from shader forge. you can see the different between second and third image. shadow of gap is darker. Right? Finally, thanks again about fast support.

 

Thanks for sending those shots, they really helped!

We've created a material using Unity Standard shader and placed it side by side with our default one created with ASE. There where indeed some visual differences but it was a matter of switching the Shader Model from 3.0 to 2.5 ( which is the one used by default ) and then they matched.

We will upload a new build today with all of the supported targets available to choose via the 'Shader Model' dropdown on the master node.
If possible, and after we upload the new version, we would like you to try this change on your end and let us know if it solved your issue.

Thanks for your patience!

 

Hi guys,

Just uploaded a new build into our download area.

Release Notes v0.2.3 dev 002

• Added 'Custom Expression' node
• Precision used is now the least between the one selected in the node and main one selected on the master node
• 'Register Local Var' and 'Get Local Var' nodes can now be used on Master Node Vertex ports
• Improved wires visuals
• Fixed issue with local variables generation
• Fixed issue with switching port internal data from float to int
• Fixed cast issue with 'Remap' node
• Added all the supported shader models into the Master Node dropdown
  • When creating a shader the default selected is now 2.5 to match Unity default
• Community Node additions
  • The Four Headed Cat
    • Added 'Grayscale' node

Shiyao can you try the suggestion from my earlier post on this new build and let us know if it fixes your issue?

 

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Be sure to also check out the Triplaner Sample included in the latest ASE package. Keep an eye out for updates, more cool examples coming soon.

 

Will there or is there support for tessellation/displacement?

 

Thank you for your interest, we really appreciate it. Tessellation/displacement support is going to be included soon.

 

Hi, I have an improvement idea for this package:
I am using The Lab Renderer asset from Valve for my VR projecst, it use only few kinds of shaders and it is really hard to develop new shaders, it could be great to be able to design custom shaders for this renderer using your tool.

 

I tested shader in new versions, unfortunately I still got same result. I think problem maybe is nor about shader model. Right now, AO map just occlusion all shadow area. Shader calculate AO map as a solid color, even it is not. AO is very important map for PBR workflow, so I wish it can be fixed soon.

One more question, I did not see custom lighting in the roadmap, so when do you guys want to work on it?

 

Is your AO map still greyscale..?

 

I never said my AO map is greyscale.

 

I mean when you generate your AO map in Substance Designer/Painter... it will generate it as greyscale.

 

When I exported AO map from substance, it generated AO map as indexed mode. After you side did not use greyscale mode, I converted it into RGB mode, but nothing changed.

 

That is odd... In Substance Designer, I would plug the AO texture into a Gradient node and then plug it into the output...

 

First of all, it is a great tool!

So is it allready implemented support for Texture2DArray?

 

That's a great idea, we would love to support it at a later stage.

Thank you for the additional information, we really appreciate it. Based on your feedback we were able to identify the possible cause of the problem but, unfortunately, it seems to be an actual Unity issue specific to a couple of versions. What Unity version are you currently using? We filled a bug report, hopefully we will know more about the issue soon. Until then, we will continue to explore possible workarounds.

Custom lighting should be available soon, we don't have an exact estimate but, along with additional shader types, it's high on our private development roadmap.

It should be resolved soon.

Thanks! Not yet, unfortunately. We received a few requests for Texture2DArray support, it's definitely something that we would like to support. We will register your request and let you know as soon as it's available.


Thank you all for your questions and feedback. Keep them coming

 

Quick update - Seems to be working in Deferred mode.

 

Hi guys,

We couldn't enter the weekend without uploading a fresh new build for you.

Here are the release notes:

Release Notes v0.2.4 dev 001

• Added 'Parallax Mapping' node
• Added 'Negate' node
• Added Fake Window user sample
• Added Parallax Mapping example with 4 iterations using the basic Parallax Mapping node

Hope you guys have an awesome weekend and happy shader creations!