Unity Character Surface Shader pack (trailer)

Hey guys! I've been hard at work trying to code a set of shaders for rendering characters in Unity 3D. I want to include an eye shader, hair shader, and skin shader in the pack. Here's some images of my progress so far:




And here's a trailer video showing the shaders in action!

Comments and crit welcome

 

Wow, that looks really good, love it!
But whats up with the creepy body texture? : D

 

Seems to be work in progress

It looks really great. Especially the eye shader!

 

Thanks for the support, Virror and Mauri.

Those textures are WIP. When I'm making skin tight suiting for sci fi characters, I trace out the suit topology in zbrush using polypaint. That's what the netting looking texture is. I guess it is a little strange if you don't know what it is!


Did some research today; I think I've settled on an algorithm for the skin shader I want to make. I'll keep you guys updated! Pack should be posted soon, tutorials soon after that.

 

Hi Panta, I have a clear and present need of a hair shader Is there any chance you might release before May? I kind of need to have it in my game in the next 2-3 weeks

 

Hey anadin,

It doesn't totally work yet unfortunately There's a problem in DX11 mode and I also am having trouble with mip maps. I'll try my best to release it next week when I go on break from university.

PS: will you be using it on mobile or desktop?

 

Great work, even now it looks a 1000 times better than the existing shaders that could be used for hair.

I assume the hair shader is double sided to display polygonal hair correctly?

Does it support alpha in the diffuse map and spec in the normal map?

 

You are correct! it is indeed double sided.

About the alpha - yes, it's stored with the color map (which is actually just black and white - color comes from the shader variables)

For normal - I'm not sure how much you've played with Unity texture compression, but the method used for Normal maps in shaderlab *does not* support an alpha channel. This is confusing to a lot of people when they wonder why their spec map (in alpha of normal) disappears

Therefore, spec is stored in a 3rd map, and the alpha is used for a noise/jitter pattern taken advantage of by the Kajiya kay lighting model. No wasted channels

 

Alright, have absolutely no plan of programing - just a 3d modeler.

But good to know about the double sided and that spec maps are supported.

Will definetively use the shaders.

 

Yes, thank you for your interest! I should release them next week while on break with an accompanying set of tools (for different eye colors/styles, etc.) and meet anadin's schedule.

keep a look out!

 

Sorry,But what does 'anadin' or 'anadian's schedule' mean?

 

.............

 

Yeah, sorry, that's what I meant by that.

 

Whoo Hoo! can't wait

 

Any news? Still hoping for this shaders.

 

Yeah chomping at the bit, how is it going?

 

Sorry to bug you but is this still coming?

 

So sorry guys, I promise I'll release this soon. I'm a senior in university and I'm incredibly stressed with trying to graduate this coming month. All my classes are piling up work. After May 15, I'm taking a 5 month break to work on a bunch of Unity stuff, so I'll be able to finish it then. Also Anadin, huge Cubemen fan! That's awesome that you're interested in this kind of thing

 

Yeah Cubemen was fun to work on, I did the animations but did not have time to work on Cubemen 2 unfortunately - go buy it!!

In the meantime, is there any chance of buying the hair shader as is now? We are supposed to be final in about a week and I still don't have one - eek!

 

I would also love to buy this shader pack, looks great.

Some questions :
* Does it work in both Forward and Deferred ?
* Does it cast shadows ?
* Does it receive shadows ?
* Does it Self Shadow ?
* Is it Shader Model 2.0 compatible?

In the meantime I really needed a hair shader here is my solution so far:

I started from : http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=Anisotropic_Highlight_Shader
and made some tweaks.

Negatives ( If anybody knows how to fix some of these, that would be great, thank you):

* I really don't know how to get it to self shadow
* the setup is a bit complex with the 3 channel _SpecularTex
* I removed the normal map, didn't feel necessary for hair ( do your hairs have normal maps ? )
* I removed the whole _AnisoTex deal, cause I really don't know how to create a proper directional texture. ( the wiki instructions are kinda vague, maybe somebody understood this deal ? )
* the spec is kinda wild
* the inside of the hair is as bright as the outside (maybe can be fixed with an if and some maths)

Positive:

* removed the #pragma target 3.0 (probably cause I removed all that stuff up there )
* made it cast receive shadows
* made it double sided
* only specular based on light angle ( original shader has specularity on dark areas)
* added a specular color intensity multiplier

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Shader "Aniso Shadow"
3. {
4.     Properties
5.     {
6.          _MainTex ("Diffuse (RGB) Alpha (A)", 2D) = "white" {}
7.          _SpecularTex ("Specular (R) Gloss (G) Anisotropic Mask (B)", 2D) = "gray" {}
8.          _SpecularMultiplier ("Specular Multiplier", float) = 1.0
9.          _SpecularColor ("Specular Color", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
10.          _AnisoOffset ("Anisotropic Highlight Offset", Range(-1,1)) = 0.0
11.          _Cutoff ("Alpha Cut-Off Threshold", Range(0,1)) = 0.5
12.     }
13.    
14.     SubShader
15.     {
16.         Tags {"Queue"="AlphaTest" "RenderType"="Transparent"}
17.         Cull Off
18.  
19.         CGPROGRAM
20.         #pragma surface surf Aniso alphatest:_Cutoff addshadow
21.        
22.              struct SurfaceOutputAniso
23.              {
24.                 fixed3 Albedo;
25.                 fixed3 Normal;
26.                 fixed3 Emission;
27.                 half Specular;
28.                 fixed Gloss;
29.                 fixed Alpha;
30.                 fixed AnisoMask;
31.              };
32.                    
33.              struct Input
34.              {
35.                  float2 uv_MainTex;
36.                  float2 uv_SpecularTex;
37.              };
38.              
39.              sampler2D _MainTex, _SpecularTex;
40.                  
41.              void surf (Input IN, inout SurfaceOutputAniso o)
42.              {
43.                 fixed4 albedo = tex2D(_MainTex, IN.uv_MainTex);
44.                 o.Albedo = albedo.rgb;
45.                 o.Alpha = albedo.a;
46.                 fixed3 spec = tex2D(_SpecularTex, IN.uv_MainTex).rgb;
47.                 o.Specular = spec.r;
48.                 o.Gloss = spec.g;
49.                 o.AnisoMask = spec.b;
50.              }
51.              
52.              float _AnisoOffset, _SpecularMultiplier;
53.              fixed4 _SpecularColor;
54.    
55.              inline fixed4 LightingAniso (SurfaceOutputAniso s, fixed3 lightDir, fixed3 viewDir, fixed atten)
56.              {
57.                 fixed3 h = normalize(normalize(lightDir) + normalize(viewDir));
58.                 float NdotL = saturate(dot(s.Normal, lightDir));
59.                
60.                 fixed HdotA = dot(normalize(s.Normal ), h);
61.                 float aniso = max(0, sin(radians((HdotA + _AnisoOffset) * 180)));
62.                
63.                 float spec = saturate(dot(s.Normal, h));
64.                 spec = saturate(pow(lerp(spec, aniso, s.AnisoMask), s.Gloss * 128) * s.Specular);
65.                 spec = spec * _SpecularMultiplier;
66.                
67.                 fixed4 c;
68.                 c.rgb = ((s.Albedo * _LightColor0.rgb * NdotL) + (_LightColor0.rgb * spec * _SpecularColor * NdotL)) * (atten * 2);
69.                 c.a = 1;
70.                 return c;
71.              }
72.              
73.         ENDCG
74.     }
75.     FallBack "Transparent/Cutout/VertexLit"
76. }
77.  

 

Your work looks great so far, I'm especially interested in the hair shader. Trying to deal with sorting issues is driving me crazy. Glad to hear this is still in the works!

 

your shaders looks really impressive, i'm waiting for it.

 

Any word on this? Is it still in production?

 

Here is a hair test: ( unity webplayer )
what do you guys think ?

I borrowed this head model (just for testing purposes) from a game. See if you can guess which one = ]

One head is using a fancier version of the shader above lets call it (fakey aniso) and
the other is using what I believe is a simple Kajiya-Kay specularity.

Panta's shader still fancier with the added Marschner and all, but I had to make due !
Panta we want your shader already = O !

If somebody is really interested you can assemble it together, I'll leave some breadcrumbs:

1) look at the shader I posted above for fake hair like specs.
2) http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Components/SL-AlphaTest.html , look at that Vegetation shader closely
3) read this: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/96393-Achieving-a-multi-pass-effect-with-a-Surface-Shader
4) http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/269292/having-an-invisible-object-that-casts-shadows.html get those shadows back
5) http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=2208 , kajiya-kay ; )
6) take a look at this post for tangents: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/184441-How-can-I-get-tangent-on-a-surface-shader

if you cant hack it together I'll trade what I know/have for a nice hair model for testing or
applicable practical information from any of these papers below:

Marschner, http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~srm/publications/SG03-hair-abstract.html
Henrik, http://graphics.ucsd.edu/~henrik/papers/artist_hair.pdf
Zinke-Yuskel, http://www.cemyuksel.com/research/dualscattering/
d' Eon, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2011.01976.x/full


here is a picture using same kajiya-kay shader as in webplayer example above,
but using the Scheuermann trick to shift the highlight using a texture as seen in this presentation:
http://developer.amd.com/wordpress/media/2012/10/Scheuermann_HairRendering.pdf

 

Just FYI, I've put up these hair shaders on the asset store:

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/11331

 

Hair shader looks awesome. Too bad they are all surface shaders

 

Why ? Whats the problem with surface shaders?

In my opinion, making them surface shaders makes them the most flexible to work in all Unity target platforms.

 

We decided not using them because of low performance on mobile devices. I also think they suffer from lack of flexibility.

 

part of what you get when you purchase, is support, so if you need the shader with a specific something I can make a variation of it for you.

About them running slow on mobile, anything with alpha test runs crappy on mobile,
if you want a version with no alpha, just any of the 3 specularities, I can strip it down and
make a variation that will run faster on mobile.

 

It's not that hard to convert stuff to vert/frag shaders... do #pragma debug, copy-paste the code and strip down the stuff you don't need. You can throw away half of the computations in the vertex shader in general case and a few bits in fragment as well.

 

I remember once I tried this #pragma debug, but the compiled shader was looking like shader assembly. Maybe I should try that again. Anyway, lets not hijack Invadererik's thread. Also it doesn't matter if we can convert these shaders to vert/frag. There are at least few years for such realistic hairs on mobile.

 

I've just purchased your package and looks superb. Reading the thread concerning surface shaders and performance on mobiles. Would you be able to put together some mobile friendly shaders based on these shaders and add them to your asset store Advanced Hair Shaders asset?

For us guys not very good at converting shaders over to vert/frag would be a big bonus!

 

GXMark, I'll look into making a version that is more optimized for mobile, thanks for the purchase !

 

recently purchased as well...happy with the shaders for the information in the lighting mdels...

1) why am I not getting blend from a diffuse png. that has an alpha? (it is using cutoff...but your screen shot has it using blend?
2) Are you planning on supporting normal maps? (our own Anisotropic looks really good with normal maps btw...)
3) Are you still interested in trading knowledge/development for art resources? (... really great girl's head and hair model?)

(Running 4.2.2 Full Registered Pro)

 

Hi, thanks for the purchase!

1) The shader uses both alpha cut and alpha blend, you control that using the alpha cutoff value, I recommend using a pretty high value as close to .99 depending on your alpha channel of course. Notice the example material has a pretty high alpha value.

2) If you want a version with normal maps shoot me an email and I'll be happy to make one, if you send me your invoice number I'll email it back quickly and I'll also include it in the next update along with a couple of other requests/bug fixes from other users
( optimized mobile shaders, skyshop support etc. )

3) Yes ! I still would love to showcase these shaders with some great art. I'm looking for something that's textured and possibly animated. Email me = )

 

Hey just wanted to let people know that I have updated the package to version 1.004 with:

Better mobile support ( now all 3 versions of the shader can run on shader model 2.0, and are optimized to run on mobile, I have tested the circular version on ipad 2, ipad 3, iphone, ipad mini and it runs pretty well )

Direct3d 11 support ( previous versions alpha did not work correctly on d3d11 )

Normal mapped versions ( shader variations with normal maps added )

Skyshop integration example ( 1 example skyshop shader, shows how you could layer these specularities on top of your regular skyshop shaders) ( only works in forward rendering mode)

Correct non correct double sided version ( in case you don't want to have double the geometry with flipped faces )

no-alpha or tube shading support ( in case your hair doesn't need alpha )

Support for hair with horizontal uv's ( I forgot to mention that the shader technique relies on your hair uv's being layed out vertically, these versions use the the u instead of the v direction )

Most of these updates are a direct result of user requests, so make sure to email me with your requests!

Also please take the time to rate the package on the store, I wish to get enough reviews so that it actually shows up.

So now that I got most of the requests out of the way, I plan to work on the Marschner shader next. Looking forward to
adding more value to the package in 2014 = ]

 

can your shader get aniso even without lighting?

 

Hi OneWayRoad,

Currently I have not included versions that require no lighting, but it would be simple enough to add using a map or world normal to simulate the light source. Let me know if you really need this feature, and I can make a version for you if you send me your invoice.

 

Your hair shader looks pretty but Im now more interested in PBS.
are you planning to make a pbs version of your hair shader?

 

Hi OneWayRoad,

I have a shader for Lux. Which pbs system are you interested in? I havent looked into adapting it to work with unity 5 pbs system yet, but I do plan to look into it.

 

By the way, a couple of people have contacted me regarding support for Unity 5 for the Advanced Hair Shader Package, since the alpha is not working the same as in Unity 4.6. I found a temporary fix for this problem and if you need it right now, shoot me an email with your invoice number so I can provide the temporary fix.

I want to better address the issues and integration with Unity 5 features better to release a Unity 5 package. Hopefully I will have it ready for when Unity 5 is officially released.

 

Does current version on Asset Store support Unity 5?

 

Not yet, sorry. However, if you email me your invoice I can send you the version that I have so far.

Here is a link to pretty much same demo as I had for 4 running in 5:

http://www.inversethought.com/Eriks/hair5/

 

when will you update your hair shader on Asset Store?

 

I'll try to get around to it sometime soon.

For unity 5 its worth taking a look at this package, it might provide what you need?:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/39945

 

Hello guys,

Any of you have an idea of why this Unity hair shader doesn't work on Consoles? Any ideas?

Regards,
Carlos

 

I've never had the chance to build Unity for any console so no idea really. Is there a specific
error that shows on the console or shader warning / error ? Which console are you targeting ?

 

I am targeting XBOX ONE Erick,

I will try the update you emailed me and see what happen. thanks so much.

Regards,
Carlos

 

Just wondering how this hair:
https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/photorealistic-character-sample-released
would look with my shader:
http://www.inversethought.com/Eriks/unityassets/u4_sample/index.html