A shader, a material, or even a texture for that matter, and how it relates to the lighting system are all basic concepts that you should learn before using the editor. Shader development books or online resources are a great way to get acquainted with the terminology used. You don't necessarily need to be a shader expert, but there are some basic concepts that users should learn in order to make the most out of any shader editor. Node editors, such as ASE, breaks down these barriers by allowing experimentation and iteration over a functional shader base without needing to write a single line of code. The initial learning curve will no doubt discourage many artists who might have an understanding of how things work but are unable to translate their ideas into functional code.
Programing shaders can be hard for beginners.
We include several shader types and samples to get you started, but our open approach allows users to extend its functionalities using our Custom Node API and Template system.
Our editor is capable of creating shaders for both the legacy built-in renderer and the new Scriptable Rendering pipeline(HD/LW/URP). Whether you’re looking to create your own game shaders, Sinespace compatible content, or even build a business around shader development at the Asset Store, our community and team are here for you. Given our technical background and expertise in graphical computation, we began to develop our own vision of what a future-proof shader editor could be in an effort to offer a rich and complete feature set.įor beginners and professionals, our editor is designed to be easy to pick up by providing a familiar and consistent development environment based on Unity's own UI/UX conventions.
We found that most editors available at the time of its conception were somewhat lacking and not extensible in any reliable manner that would allow users to adapt them to their specific pipeline requirements. ASE is a community-driven shader editor for Unity inspired by professional development tools.