In Unity, when you work with shaders that are part of the graphics pipeline, you usually work with instances of the ShaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary class. An instance of the Shader
class is called a Shader object.
A Shader object is a Unity-specific way of working with shader programs; it is a wrapper for shader programs and other information. It lets you define multiple shader programs in the same file, and tell Unity how to use them.
Feature name | Built-in Render PipelineA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info See in Glossary |
Universal Render Pipeline (URP) | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) | Custom SRP |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shader objects | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A Shader object contains shader programs, instructions for changing settings on the GPU (collectively called the render state), and information that tells Unity how to use them.
You use Shader objects with materialsAn asset that defines how a surface should be rendered. More info
See in Glossary to determine the appearance of your sceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info
See in Glossary.
You can create Shader objects in two ways. Each has its own type of asset:
.shader
extension.Whichever way you create your Shader object, Unity represents the results in the same way internally.
A Shader object has a nested structure. It organizes information into structures called SubShaders and Passes. It organises shader programs into shader variants.
A Shader object contains:
You can also define additional information such as shared shader code, or whether to use a custom editor. For information on defining a Shader object, see ShaderLab: defining a Shader object.
SubShaders let you separate your Shader object into parts that are compatible with different hardware, render pipelines, and runtime settings.
A SubShader contains:
You can also define additional information, such as render state that is common to all of its Passes. For information on everything you can define in a SubShader, see ShaderLab: defining a SubShader.
A Pass contains:
You can also define additional information such as a name. For information on everything you can define in a Pass, see ShaderLab: defining a Pass.
The shader programs that a Pass contains are organised into shader variants. Shader variants share common code, but have different functionality when a given keyword is enabled or disabled.
The number of shader variants in a Pass depends on how many keywords you define in your shader code, and the target platform. Each Pass contains at least one variant.
For more information, see Shader variantsA verion of a shader program that Unity generates according to a specific combination of shader keywords and their status. A Shader object can contain multiple shader variants. More info
See in Glossary.
This is a high-level description of how Unity uses Shader objects to render geometry, in all render pipelines.
Before Unity uses a Shader object:
When Unity first renders geometry using the Shader object, or when the shader LOD value or active render pipeline changes:
Unity can identify geometry that uses the same shader variant and organize it into batches for more efficient rendering. Once per frame, for every batch of geometry:
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Some 3rd party video providers do not allow video views without targeting cookies. If you are experiencing difficulty viewing a video, you will need to set your cookie preferences for targeting to yes if you wish to view videos from these providers. Unity does not control this.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.