Course introduction 

Course project set up

Understanding Shader Graph

Learn what shaders are, how to import the course assets, and how to navigate Unity's Shader Graph tool. 

This unit provides the foundational knowledge you need to begin creating shaders in Unity. It also prepares you with the theoretical background and practical workspace setup required for the next units.

By the end of this unit, you’ll be able to do the following:

Understand what shaders are and how they control object appearance

Import course assets to your Unity project

Introduction

Create a Highlight shader

Create an X-ray shader

Create a Hologram shader

Create a Hologram shader with Vertex Displacement

Create a Pixel shader

Create a Fullscreen Pixel effect (optional)

Create a full-screen Dithering shader

Create a full-screen Dithering shader with color

Create a simple liquid shader

Create a Liquid shader with Wave Animation

Create a Physics-Driven Liquid Shader

Resources and next steps

Learn how to use the Fresnel effect to create edge-based glows and how transparency and depth testing work together to create see-through effects. 

This unit introduces you to Fragment shader creation. These tutorials teach fundamental shader concepts that form the building blocks for more complex effects in later units.

Understand how the Fresnel effect node can create an edge glow

Use Sample Texture 2D nodes to apply textures to surfaces

Create adjustable parameters using Float, Color, and Texture2D properties

Make surfaces glow by adding color unaffected by lighting

Configure Graph Inspector settings for see-through effects

Use Branch and Is Front Face nodes for different visual outputs

Highlight and X-ray shaders

Learn how to use noise textures efficiently, animate shaders with time-based logic, and work with both Fragment and Vertex Master Stacks.

This unit advances your shader skills by introducing animated effects and vertex manipulation. You'll create holographic displays with moving scan lines and flickering, then expand into vertex shaders that deform geometry.

Use pre-made noise textures for complex patterns

Use the Time node to create continuously moving effects

Control texture tiling and offset for animated patterns

Modify geometry by manipulating vertex positions

Hologram and Vertex Displacement shaders

Learn how to create a pixelation shader through UV manipulation and a full-screen dithering shader using Bayer Matrix textures.

This unit explores retro-styled visual effects and introduces fullscreen post-processing shaders, you’ll learn how to integrate shaders into Unity's rendering pipeline using Renderer Features. It also teaches an alternative approach to creating full-screen effects using Render Textures.

Use UV coordinate manipulation to create pixelation.

Implement Floor and Divide nodes for blocky sampling.

Learn how to use Render Textures as an alternative approach to create full-screen effects.

Create post-processing effects that affect the entire scene.

Use Bayer Matrix patterns for dithering and retro aesthetics.

Work with HSV for brightness-based effects.

Pixel and Dithering shaders

Learn how to build liquid fill effects using world-relative position calculations and more. 

This unit teaches you how to create dynamic liquid shaders and introduces shader-script interaction. It also demonstrates how shaders can integrate with Unity's broader systems to create gameplay-responsive effects.

Calculate fill height based on object position.

Create sharp boundaries for liquid surfaces using Alpha Clipping.

Display different colors on inside/outside faces.

Generate wave patterns using Sine functions.

Create moving animations by blending position and time.

Control shader properties dynamically from C# code.

Three types of Liquid shaders

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

This unit is designed to serve as a reference for your future work. It includes tables summarizing the nodes, properties, and graph settings used throughout the course, along with links to useful documentation to support your ongoing learning journey.

Next steps

Useful resources for educators, who want to bring Unity content to their students.

Learn the fundamentals of Shader Graph by creating a variety of real-time visual effects in Unity. 

In this course, you’ll explore the fundamentals of Shader Graph by creating a range of real-time visual effects in Unity. You’ll work with core concepts such as nodes, data types, and material properties, while learning how to build dynamic and interactive shaders.

By the end of the course, you’ll be comfortable navigating the Shader Graph window and will have created over 8 shaders that introduce fundamental techniques. You’ll also be able to showcase these skills into a final portfolio piece using interchangeable assets to display your results.