Apply materials and shaders to your guided project

In the previous tutorials, you selected your guided project, selected your preferred rendering pipeline, and set up your project environment.

Shaders and materials define the appearance of your objects when light interacts with them and are critical to expressing the style of your environment, whether it is intended to be realistic or artistic.

In this tutorial you’ll add some more life and color to your scene by creating materials and adding them to your project.

Before you resume work on your project, remind yourself of the project requirements specific to materials and shaders:

1. Open the design document for the project you selected:

• Alien video game shop
• Architectural rendering
• Beachside town

2. In the Project Specifications section of the design document, locate the materials and shaders requirements.

You’re now ready to apply your new skills in order to meet the requirements outlined in your design document.

In the following steps, you’ll find some project-specific considerations and hints. Use the links below to jump to the section that is relevant to your selected project:

• Alien video game shop → Step 4
• Beachside town → Step 5
• Architectural rendering → Step 6

Fix the materials

You will notice some of the objects are magenta colored. This means they currently have no materials applied to them. Fix this by applying materials from the assets folder to the following objects:

• Walls
• One shelf of games

Add a custom shader

Make things a bit more interesting by creating a new Shader Graph material for the till. Try to create a shimmering or bubbling shader and apply it to the till. For guidance, review the tutorial about Shader Graph.

Make it your own

Search the Unity Asset Store, the web, and your own projects to find new materials for the scene.

What other updates to shaders and materials can you make to customize this project?

Fix the materials

You will notice some of the objects are magenta colored. This means they currently have no materials applied to them. Fix this by applying materials from the assets folder to the following objects:

• The two buildings
• The beachball

Add a custom shader

Make things a bit more interesting by creating a new Shader Graph shader to make the flag move in the wind. See the video Making a flag wave with Shader Graph for step-by-step instructions.

Important: In the video, whenever you're instructed to create a new shader, right-click in the Project window and select Create > Shader Graph > URP > Lit Shader Graph. This video is based on Unity version 2019.4.

Make it your own

Search the Unity Asset Store, the web, and your own projects to find new materials for the scene.

What other updates to shaders and materials can you make to customize this project?

Fix the materials

You will notice some of the objects are magenta colored. This means they currently have no materials applied to them. Fix this by applying materials from the assets folder to the following objects:

• Two of the walls
• The chairs

Add a custom shader

Make things a bit more interesting by creating a new Shader Graph shader to make the TV screen show scrolling images or static noise. For guidance, review the tutorial about Shader Graph.

Make it your own

Search the Unity Asset Store, the web, and your own projects to find new materials for the scene.

What other updates to shaders and materials can you make to customize this project?

Congratulations! You’ve completed the Materials and Shaders mission. Next, you’ll learn about lighting and then apply this new knowledge to your guided project.