Opaque to Transparency Shader Mode Failing in Build Version

I've been stumped on this one for several hours.

Here's some background:
I am working on a project that handles character occlusion by fading out objects that come between camera's view of the player. I use the following method to switch the Standard Shader properties around based on whether the material should be opaque of transparent. Everything works perfectly in the editor, but when I build it, I suspect this method is failing. Material colors will still change normally, but there is no transparency in my objects.

Code (CSharp):

1. void SetMaterialBlendMode(Material material, string BLEND_MODE)
2.     {
3.         switch (BLEND_MODE)
4.         {
5.             case "Opaque":
6.                 material.SetInt("_SrcBlend", (int)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.One);
7.                 material.SetInt("_DstBlend", (int)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.Zero);
8.                 material.SetInt("_ZWrite", 1);
9.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHATEST_ON");
10.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHABLEND_ON");
11.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHAPREMULTIPLY_ON");
12.                 material.renderQueue = -1;
13.                 break;
14.             case "Fade":
15.                 material.SetInt("_SrcBlend", (int)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.SrcAlpha);
16.                 material.SetInt("_DstBlend", (int)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.OneMinusSrcAlpha);
17.                 material.SetInt("_ZWrite", 0);
18.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHATEST_ON");
19.                 material.EnableKeyword("_ALPHABLEND_ON");
20.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHAPREMULTIPLY_ON");
21.                 material.renderQueue = 3000;
22.                 break;
23.             case "Transparent":
24.                 material.SetInt("_SrcBlend", (int)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.One);
25.                 material.SetInt("_DstBlend", (int)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.OneMinusSrcAlpha);
26.                 material.SetInt("_ZWrite", 0);
27.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHATEST_ON");
28.                 material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHABLEND_ON");
29.                 material.EnableKeyword("_ALPHAPREMULTIPLY_ON");
30.                 material.renderQueue = 3000;
31.                 break;
32.         }
33.     }

After searching around, I have found a few solutions that do not work for me. Here is what I have tried:

Placing relevant assets in the Resources folder. (Shader, Material, Prefab) (no change)
Adding the standard shader to the "Always include" setting in the Graphics Settings. (causes freeze during build)
Building on different architecture setting. (no change)

 

Still no solution found. Any help or direction would be appreciated.

 

Solved the issue. In case anyone else runs into this...
If you plan to swap shaders at run-time, the shaders need to be in the scene when you build the project. In other words, I did not have a transparency shader on any objects. I just added a cube to the scene with a transparent shader and viola it worked.

 

Thats strange but your advice doesnt work for me.

 

The right way to get Unity to include the shader variants you like to use at runtime you should user ShaderVariant Collections.
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/ShaderVariantCollection.html

 

Hi fffMalzbier!

Thank you for your reply. I just changed from "Fade" to "Transparent" and now it's work.

 

OMG THANK YOU IT WORKS in Unity 2020.3.21.f1 !!
Also, if u want to change the texture... insert a dummy texture into that cube. Otherwise it won't work

 

Unfortunately, the trick of simply packing a GameObject into the scene with the Standard shader and Rendering Mode set to Transparent doesn't work for me. In the Unity Editor I can change the transparency of the objects without any problems in runtime, but in the build version nothing happens. Did anyone have the same problem and a solution?

 

Same problem and no solution yet sadly :3
Unity 2022.1

 

Update: I found a solution the following day ! (it isn't mentioned anywhere I checked sadly)
Basically don't change the material's shader instead make a new material copy and assign the Standard shader to it like this (the emission & glossiness parts are optional but safeguards against visual issues, works on Unity 2022.1.12f1 windows build):

Code (CSharp):

1. private Material CreateTransparentMaterial(Material origMaterial)
2.         {
3.             var material = new Material(origMaterial);
4.             material.shader = Shader.Find("Standard");
5.             material.name += "X";
6.             material.SetFloat("_Mode", 3f);
7.             material.renderQueue = 3000;
8.  
9.             material.DisableKeyword("_EMISSION");
10.             material.globalIlluminationFlags = MaterialGlobalIlluminationFlags.EmissiveIsBlack;
11.             material.SetColor(EMISSION_COLOR, Color.black);
12.  
13.             material.SetOverrideTag("RenderType", "Transparent");
14.             material.SetFloat("_SrcBlend", (float)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.One);
15.             material.SetFloat("_DstBlend", (float)UnityEngine.Rendering.BlendMode.OneMinusSrcAlpha);
16.             material.SetFloat("_ZWrite", 0.0f);
17.             material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHATEST_ON");
18.             material.DisableKeyword("_ALPHABLEND_ON");
19.             material.EnableKeyword("_ALPHAPREMULTIPLY_ON");
20.  
21.             var col = material.color;
22.             col.a = ALPHA_TO_APPLY;
23.             material.color = col;
24.          
25.             if (material.HasFloat("_GlossMapScale"))
26.                 material.SetFloat("_GlossMapScale", 0);
27.  
28.             return material;
29.         }

You can make the code faster by caching some of the keywords with ints like this:

private static readonly int SHADER_RENDERING_MODE = Shader.PropertyToID("_Mode");

Then you do the assignment like this:

someRenderer.material = CreateTransparentMaterial(someRenderer.material);

but if this code is to be ran more than once then you should cache the transparentMaterial:

Code (CSharp):

1. transpMaterial = CreateTransparentMaterial(someRenderer.material);
2.  
3. ---
4.  
5. someRenderer.material = transpMaterial;

If the renderer has multiple materials you just iterate through them and create a transparent copy for each, put them in an array then you just assign the plural version of the mat field:

someRenderer.materials = transpMaterials;