Expanded Library
Introduction to Scripting Shaders in Unity
by Joshua Kinney
In this series of tutorials we will learn the basics of scripting shaders in Unity. Software required: Unity 4.3.
What you'll learn
In this series of tutorials we will learn the basics of scripting shaders in Unity. We will start out by discussing the fundamentals of shaders where we'll learn about what a shader is, what shader languages are available in Unity and how to properly structure a shader. Once that is out of the way, we'll jump into creating a very simple shader to reinforce the foundation lesson. Then we'll start to add more and more functionality to our shader like how to add textures through properties. Then we'll learn about lighting models by modifying our shader to accept a specular map. We'll even add control to the inspector to adjust the overall glossiness of the shader. Finally, we'll finish off the training by adding emissive and alpha maps to our shaders. Software required: Unity 4.3.
About the author
Joshua is a devoted games author at Pluralsight. For years Joshua has been a key author behind Digital-Tutors' (now a Pluralsight company) popular game engine training. As a kid, he had a passion for playing video games, which eventually developed into a fascination with the process of game creation. The question of "How'd they do that?" led Joshua on a quest to learn to make these games himself. Ever since then, Joshua has devoted his life to creating games, as well as teaching others to build ... moretheir own fantastic video games.
He gets a huge sense of pride in knowing that he can make a difference in helping people create incredible games. From platformers to puzzlers, Joshua will gladly guide any artist who wants to start using a game engine and learn to put some power behind their polygons. At Pluralsight, he has been honored to develop the core curriculum for CryENGINE, Unity, UDK, and Unreal Engine 4.