In Unity, you usually write shaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary programs in HLSL. To add HLSL code to your shader asset, you put the code inside a shader code block.
This page contains information about using shader code blocks. For information about writing HLSL itself, see Using HLSL in Unity.
Note: Unity also supports writing shader programs in other languages, although this is not generally needed or recommended. For more information, see Writing shaders.
Feature | 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 Scriptable Render Pipeline |
---|---|---|---|---|
HLSLPROGRAM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
HLSLINCLUDE | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CGPROGRAM | Yes | No | No | Yes Not compatible with custom render pipelines that use the SRP Core package. |
CGINCLUDE | Yes | No | No | Yes Not compatible with custom render pipelines that use the SRP Core package. |
To add HLSL code, you can use the following types of shader code block:
To understand which to use when, you must understand both their prefix (HLSL
or CG
), and their suffix (PROGRAM
or INCLUDE
).
The difference between the blocks that begin with HLSL
or CG
is:
CG
are older. They include several of Unity’s built-in shader include files by default, which can be convenient if you need this functionality. The built-in includes are only compatible with the Built-in Render Pipeline.HLSL
are newer. They do not include Unity’s built-in shader include files by default, so you must manually include any library code that you want to use. They are suitable for use with any render pipeline.For information on Unity’s built-in shader include files, see Built-in shader include files.
The difference between the blocks that end with PROGRAM
or INCLUDE
is:
PROGRAM
are called shader program blocks. You use them to write shader programs. You write your HLSL shader code inside these blocks, and then place them inside a Pass block in your ShaderLabUnity’s language for defining the structure of Shader objects. More infoINCLUDE
are called shader include blocks. You use them to share common code between shader program blocks in the same source file. You write HLSL shader code that you want to share inside these blocks, and then place them inside a Pass, SubShader or Shader block in your ShaderLab code. It works in a similar way to using an include in your HLSL code.Signature | Function |
---|---|
HLSLPROGRAM [source code for shader programs, written in HLSL] ENDHLSL
|
Adds the HLSL shader program to the Pass that includes this shader program block. Does not include Unity’s built-in shader include files. |
CGPROGRAM [source code for shader programs, written in HLSL] ENDCG
|
Adds the HLSL shader program to the Pass that includes this shader program block. Includes several of Unity’s built-in shader include files by default, enabling you to use built-in variables and functions. |
Shader "Examples/ExampleShader"
{
SubShader
{
Pass
{
Name "ExamplePassName"
Tags { "LightMode" = "ExampleLightModeTagValue" }
// ShaderLab commands to set the render state go here
HLSLPROGRAM
// HLSL shader code goes here
ENDHLSL
}
}
}
Signature | Function |
---|---|
HLSLINCLUDE [HLSL code that you want to share] ENDHLSL
|
Unity includes this code in all shader programs that are defined in HLSLPROGRAM blocks, anywhere in this source file. |
CGINCLUDE [HLSL code that you want to share] ENDCG
|
Unity includes this code in all shader programs that are defined in CGPROGRAM blocks, anywhere in this source file. |
Shader "Examples/ExampleShader"
{
SubShader
{
HLSLINCLUDE
// HLSL code that you want to share goes here
ENDHLSL
Pass
{
Name "ExampleFirstPassName"
Tags { "LightMode" = "ExampleLightModeTagValue" }
// ShaderLab commands to set the render state go here
HLSLPROGRAM
// This HLSL shader program automatically includes the contents of the HLSLINCLUDE block above
// HLSL shader code goes here
ENDHLSL
}
Pass
{
Name "ExampleSecondPassName"
Tags { "LightMode" = "ExampleLightModeTagValue" }
// ShaderLab commands to set the render state go here
HLSLPROGRAM
// This HLSL shader program automatically includes the contents of the HLSLINCLUDE block above
// HLSL shader code goes here
ENDHLSL
}
}
}
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