Course project set up

Now that you understand the fundamentals of shaders, let's look at what you'll accomplish throughout this course.

Course structure

This course is organized into units, with each unit focusing on a certain type of visual effect created with shaders. As you progress through the units, you will learn new concepts and gradually increase the complexity of the shaders you create, evolving toward more advanced techniques and theory.

1. Introduction to Shader Graph

Learn the fundamentals of shaders, understand how the Shader Graph window works, and set up your project for next units.

2. Highlight and X-Ray shaders

Create your first fragment shader while learning how visual effects like the Fresnel effect and transparency are used to emphasize GameObjects.

3. Hologram and Vertex Displacement shaders

Explore hologram effects and learn how textures and noise can be used to create movement. You’ll also create your first vertex shader that deforms geometry.

4. Pixel and Dithering shaders

Learn how to create fullscreen shaders that affect the entire scene by creating pixelation and dithering effects to your screen.

5. Three types of Liquid shaders

Build static liquid shaders, apply procedural noise to them, or connect them with scripts to simulate physics-driven movement.

6. Next steps

Review the Shader Graph concepts covered in this course and explore reference documentation for continued learning.

Hands-on learning

In this course, you'll learn by doing. Each shader tutorial provides step-by-step instructions that guide you through the following:

• Which nodes to use and why
• How to connect nodes to create specific effects
• Common patterns and problem-solving approaches in shader design

By creating multiple shaders, you'll start developing an intuitive understanding of how shader logic works and gain the abstract thinking needed to design your own effects in the future.

Portfolio opportunity

The course provides more than just learning materials. The project materials contain the following:

• A pre-built Showcase_Scene with a sci-fi alley environment for placing your final work at the end of the course
• Extra environment assets you can use to create your own showcase scene to use it as a portfolio piece

You're now ready to set up your project and begin creating shaders. In the next step, you'll download the starter project, explore its structure, and prepare your workspace for shader creation.

To begin creating your game, you’ll first create a new Unity project. Then you’ll download the assets we provided for you to complete this project.

To create a new project for this course and download and add the project assets to your project, follow these instructions:

1. Create a new project

• In the Unity Hub, ensure you have Unity 6.3 installed.
• From the Unity Hub, create a new project named “Get Started with Shader Graph” using the Universal 3D template on any version of Unity 6.3 LTS.

If you’re not sure how to do this, follow these instructions on how to create a new project from the Unity Hub.

Note: If you don’t have Unity 6.3 installed yet, please install it before you continue. For step-by-step guidance on how to install a new Unity version, follow these instructions on how to install a version of the Unity Editor.

We’ve provided you with all the assets you’ll need to complete this course.

2. Download the assets from the Asset Store

• In your internet browser, open the Get Started with Shader Graph assets.
• Follow these instructions to learn how to import assets to your project from the Asset Store.
• At the end of the installation process, a dialog will appear asking you to confirm that your current project settings will be overwritten. Select Import to proceed.

Important: Do not import this package into an existing project. This is why we recommend you to use an empty project, as importing will overwrite settings and may result in loss of your current work.

Once the assets have been imported, they’ll appear in the Assets folder of the Project window. When the import process is finished, close the Package Manager window and continue to the next step.

We’ve provided three different scenes where you’ll work. Let’s explore them before you start developing your shaders.

1. Go to the Scenes folder

• In the Project window, open the _GetStartedWithShaderGraph > Scenes folder.

2. Open the Development_Scene

• Double-click the Development_Scene to open it.

This scene contains many GameObjects, but the most important ones are the following:

• PlayerCapsule: This GameObject represents the player and has the FirstPersonController script attached. It contains other components and scripts required to move around the scene and interact with other GameObjects.
• PlayerFollowCamera: The camera used to view the scene from the player's perspective.
• TableSmall: A small table where you’ll place the GameObject you’re developing in each tutorial before turning it into a prefab.

You don’t need to worry about understanding all the scripts or GameObjects in detail. They’re included to make it easier to move around the scene and interact with GameObjects, providing a convenient environment for developing and testing your shaders.

3. Open the Showcase_Scene

• Double-click the Showcase_Scene to open it.

This scene contains an environment we’ve created where you can place the GameObjects that you’ll attach the shaders you craft during this course to. The idea is that you can expand and personalize this environment using the assets available in _GetStartedWithShaderGraph > Extra Resources > Prefabs. You can then use it as a portfolio scene to showcase your Shader Graph creations with high-quality assets.

4. Open the Sample_Scene

• Double-click the Sample_Scene to open it.

This scene contains the same environment as the Showcase_Scene, but including the objects with the final versions of the shaders you’ll learn how to make in this course. You can use it as a reference to see how the shaders should look and compare them with your own work.

Congratulations!

You’ve learned about this course’s structure and what you’ll be able to achieve at the end of it. You’ve also installed the project assets and explored the scenes provided. In the next tutorial you’ll learn more about the Shader Graph tool itself and how to start using it to create your own custom shaders.